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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Leader (Washington, D.C.) 1889-18??

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About The Leader (Washington, D.C.) 1889-18??

The National Leader was established in 1888 as a weekly newspaper by brothers Robert B. Robinson and Magnus Lewis Robinson in Washington, DC. Robert B. Robinson was the business manager for the paper, and Magnus L. Robinson was the managing editor. Magnus began his career in the newspaper industry by writing for the Baltimore Sun, the Baltimore American, and the Lynchburg Daily Bee. He was also the first Black reporter hired by a white newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland: the Baltimore Daily Bee. Together, the brothers founded the Virginia Post in Harrisonburg, Virginia, which lasted for three years. They then moved to Washington, DC, where they began the National Leader.

Frederick Douglass Jr., the eldest son of Frederick Douglass, was also listed as an associate editor of the National Leader in the December 8, 1888, issue. Frederick Douglass Jr. had apprenticed as a printer and editor for his father's newspaper, the North Star of Rochester, New York, and later became co-editor of the New National Era of Washington, DC, in the early 1870s. However, by July 11, 1889, the newspaper noted that "Mr. Douglass is not on active editorial duty as he is at present engaged in private business."

The National Leader advocated for the Black community and appealed to Republicans. In the January 19, 1889, issue, Frederick Douglass Sr. pronounced that the National Leader was "one of the most staunch supporters of the Republican party now published…" The National Leader focused on Black advancement, injustice and civil rights, and fighting violence against the Black community, both locally and nationwide. On December 29, 1888, the Leader published this message: "Let it be known that citizenship of the colored man in the South is to be protected at all hazards, and there will be an end to the lynching of negroes…"

The National Leader merged with the Echo on January 12, 1889. In 1890 the paper was renamed the Leader and moved from Washington to Alexandria, Virginia. Magnus Robinson was a leader in the Black community in both cities as well as within the Masonic community. On December 29, 1900, the Indianapolis Freeman described him as "the sole colored Masonic editor of the country." The Leader likely ended in the early 1900s. Around this time, Robinson's focus had switched over to the William McKinley Normal and Industrial School, in Alexandria, where he was president.

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 Leader (Washington, D.C.) 1889-18??

Dates of Publication

  • 1889-18??

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C. : Robinson Bros.

Headings

  • -  African Americans--Newspapers
  • -  African Americans--Washington (D.C.)--Newspapers
  • -  Washington (D.C.)--Newspapers
  • -  African Americans
  • -  Washington (D.C.)
  • -  United States--District of Columbia--Washington
  • -  United States--Virginia--Alexandria

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 2, no. 32 (Oct. 12, 1889)-
  • -  Published in Alexandria, Va., <1890-1900>
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Microfilmed by the Library of Congress for the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies.
  • -  Leader and clipper

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84025835

OCLC Number

  • 10373277

ISSN Number

  • 2995-8989

Preceding Titles

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.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://aj.sunback.homes/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://aj.sunback.homes/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

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

Chicago citation style:

The Leader Washington, D.-18??. (Washington, DC), Jan. 1 1889. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84025835/.

APA citation style:

(1889, January 1) The Leader Washington, D.-18??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84025835/.

MLA citation style:

The Leader Washington, D.-18??. (Washington, DC) 1 Jan. 1889. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84025835/.