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Newspaper The Virginia Star (Richmond, Va.) 1877-18??

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About The Virginia Star (Richmond, Va.) 1877-18??

The Virginia Star was established in 1877 in Richmond, Virginia, making it in the first Black newspaper in the city. It was published every Saturday. The founders of the paper were Otway M. Steward, Peter Henry Woolfolk, and R.A. Green, M.D. Woolfolk was a native of Richmond, born enslaved. He and Steward were both teachers. There is little information known about Green; however, on May 11, 1878, the newspaper noted, “We have received intelligence as we go to press, that Dr. R.A. Green, our esteemed associate, lies dangerously ill at Norfolk.” In the December 14, 1878, issue, Green was no longer listed on the masthead. In the same issue, Woolfolk and Steward were listed as proprietors, but Robert Peel Brooks was listed as the sole editor. Born enslaved in Richmond, Brooks graduated from the Howard University School of Law in 1875. One of the first Black lawyers in Richmond, he continued to practice while also serving as the Star‘s editor.

The Virginia Star included local, national, and international news. On September 8, 1877, the newspaper stated, “The STAR is independent in thought, radical in principle, and vocal for the Social, Moral, and Educational interests of the colored people.” The paper was often used as a platform for parents’ and community members’ demands for African American public-school teachers. The December 16, 1882, issue stated, “We want colored teachers to instruct our young when we can find them competent.” The newspaper supported William Mahone of the Readjuster party, a biracial political party of poor whites and African Americans. They asked poor white voters to back their cause, writing in December 16, 1882, “All we ask of our white friends is to help is at the polls with 78,000 of their votes….”

Brooks died of typhoid on October 10, 1882. The competition in the local newspaper market grew with the arrival of the Richmond Planet in that year. On January 19, 1884, the New York Globe wrote, “The Richmond Planet and the Virginia Star are waging a furious war upon each other.” The Star likely ceased publication around 1884 or 1885. On September 20, 1884, the New York Globe noted, “We regret to state that the Virginia Star has indefinitely suspended.” It is unclear if the newspaper ever restarted.

Note: A portion of the issues digitized for this newspaper were microfilmed as part of the Miscellaneous Negro newspapers microfilm collection, a 12 reel collection containing issues of African American newspapers published in the U.S. throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Creation of the microfilm project was sponsored by the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies in 1947. For more information on the microfilm collection, see: Negro Newspapers on Microfilm, a Selected List (Library of Congress), published in 1953. While this collection contains selections from more than 150 U.S. newspapers titles, for further coverage, view a complete list of all digitized African American titles available in the Chronicling America collection.

Provided By: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Virginia Star (Richmond, Va.) 1877-18??

Dates of Publication

  • 1877-18??

Created / Published

  • Richmond, Va. : R.A. Green, O.M. Steward, P.H. Woolfolk

Headings

  • -  African American newspapers--Virginia
  • -  African Americans--Virginia--Newspapers
  • -  Richmond (Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  African American newspapers
  • -  African Americans
  • -  Virginia
  • -  Virginia--Richmond
  • -  United States--Virginia--Richmond

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1877.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 23 (Sept. 8, 1877).

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83027093

OCLC Number

  • 9973874

ISSN Number

  • 2835-897x

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Virginia Star Richmond, Va. -18??. (Richmond, VA), Jan. 1 1877. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83027093/.

APA citation style:

(1877, January 1) The Virginia Star Richmond, Va. -18??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83027093/.

MLA citation style:

The Virginia Star Richmond, Va. -18??. (Richmond, VA) 1 Jan. 1877. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83027093/.