Top of page

Notice
Monday, February 16, 2026: For the President's Day holiday, The Library will open under normal operating hours.
Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Washington Bee (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922 Bee

View All Front Pages

About The Washington Bee (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922

The first issue of the Bee was printed on June 3, 1882. William C. Chase, a lawyer, local politician, businessman, and native Washingtonian took over as the paper’s principal editor by the end of the first year of publication, and his superb editorial skills eventually turned the Bee into one of the most influential African American newspapers in the country. The Bee represented the Republican attitudes of its editor, although Chase did not hesitate to criticize Republican Party leaders when he thought they were on the wrong side of an issue. The initial motto of the paper was “Sting for Our Enemies—Honey for Our Friends.” Civil rights for America’s blacks was a primary concern. Although figures are not available for each year of publication, circulation of the Bee varied from a low of 1,250 in 1892 to a high of 9,700 in 1922.

The Washington Bee focused much of its attention on the activities of the city’s African Americans, and its society page paid special attention to events at local black churches. The paper also covered national issues; by the turn of the 20th century it was publishing articles about events across the country by its own correspondents as well as from wire services. Like most publications of the day, there was also an extensive array of advertising, much from white-owned businesses. The remaining space included the typical filler content purchased from various sources.

Through his editorials, Chase conveyed his passionate views on a variety of issues. The Bee’s editorials were noted for their criticism of Booker T. Washington and his apparently conservative positions on black racial progress. The attacks on Washington intensified in 1904 when the noted black educator provided financial assistance to the rival Colored American. The criticisms ended abruptly, however, when Chase’s paper began experiencing its own financial difficulties, and Washington, apparently, contributed financial support to the Bee. Chase remained as editor until his death in 1921. Unfortunately, the paper’s financial troubles continued unabated. The Washington Bee, whose presses had operated at 1109 I Street in the city’s northwest quadrant, folded the year after its long-time editor died.

Provided By: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Washington Bee (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922

Other Title

  • Bee

Names

  • Chase, W. C. (William Calvin), -1921, editor

Dates of Publication

  • 1884-1922

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C. : Bee Pub. Co., 1884-1922.

Headings

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 3, no. 9 (Aug. 2, 1884)-v. 41, no. 34 (Jan. 21, 1922).
  • -  Publisher varies: The Chase Publishing Co., June 22, 1918-Sept. 3, 1919; The Bee Newspaper Co., Sept. 20, 1919-Dec. 17, 1921; The Bee Publishing Co., -Jan. 21, 1922.
  • -  Editor: W. Calvin Chase, .
  • -  Suspended Jan. 21, 1893 and between Feb. 23 and Apr. 6, 1895; some issues published combined.
  • -  Some issues accompanied by supplements.
  • -  Microfilmed for the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies by the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84025891

OCLC Number

  • 10587828

ISSN Number

  • 1940-7424

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 Washington Bee Washington, D.C. 1884 to 1922. (Washington, DC), Jan. 1 1884. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84025891/.

APA citation style:

(1884, January 1) The Washington Bee Washington, D.C. 1884 to 1922. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84025891/.

MLA citation style:

The Washington Bee Washington, D.C. 1884 to 1922. (Washington, DC) 1 Jan. 1884. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84025891/.