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Newspaper The St. Paul Echo (St. Paul ; Minneapolis, Minn.) 1925-1927 Saint Paul echo

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About The St. Paul Echo (St. Paul ; Minneapolis, Minn.) 1925-1927

Though published for less than two years–late 1925 to mid-1927–the St. Paul Echo was a robust weekly newspaper serving Minnesota’s growing African American population. The Echo‘s first editor, and guiding force, was Earl Wilkins. Earl and his brother Roy were graduates of the University of Minnesota’s journalism department, and both launched careers in the black press. Roy worked for the Kansas City Call newspaper but made his national reputation as the president of the NAACP during the 1950s and 60s. Earl’s career was just as promising but was cut short by illness and early death.

The St. Paul Echo was like many weekly African American newspapers of its era: a modest eight pages of local and national news items. But the Echo was always distinguished by a strong editorial voice that showed the influence of young Earl Wilkins. Though still a student at the University of Minnesota when the paper was born, Wilkins feared no institution in the region. Less than one month after the paper was first published, the Echo editorialized against institutional racial bias in St. Paul. The paper soon promised a study on the St. Paul Police Department. The mainstream press was called to task for the way it identified race in crime stories. Next came strong editorials about discrimination in local movie theaters. To underscore the value of the written word, the Echo mailed a pen to every new subscriber.

The St. Paul Echo was noteworthy not just for the volume of its editorials but for its eloquent voice. The September 18, 1926 issue featured the following evocative description of St. Paul’s main African American commercial thoroughfare: “If New York has its Lenox Avenue, Chicago its State Street and Memphis its Beale Street, just as surely has St. Paul a riot of warmth, and color, and feeling and sound in Rondo Street. There are sights which would make a man from rural portions of the south feel perfectly at home; there are sights which would make the man from parts of Harlem or State Street feel at ease. It is alive with feeling.”

Just three months after this editorial appeared, Earl Wilkins announced in a front page story in the Echo that he was stepping down as the paper’s editor on the orders of a physician. The paper only lasted six more months before shutting down in the summer of 1927. Earl Wilkins later joined his brother Roy on the staff of the Kansas City Call, but his poor health returned. Earl Wilkins died in 1941 leaving behind a young son named Roger Wilkins, who went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist in his own right. The Echo is a window to better understanding the Wilkins family’s multi-generational newspaper legacy.

In addition to its sterling editorials and emphasis on civil rights stories, the St. Paul Echo is a fine source for articles about black students at the University of Minnesota, articles on organized labor in the Twin Cities, and items on the emerging National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) organizations in the region.

Provided By: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The St. Paul Echo (St. Paul ; Minneapolis, Minn.) 1925-1927

Other Title

  • Saint Paul echo

Dates of Publication

  • 1925-1927

Created / Published

  • St. Paul ; Minneapolis, Minn. : St. Paul Echo Co., 1925-

Headings

  • -  African Americans--Minnesota--Saint Paul--Newspapers
  • -  Saint Paul (Minn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Minneapolis (Minn.)--Newspapers
  • -  African Americans
  • -  Minnesota--Minneapolis
  • -  Minnesota--Saint Paul
  • -  United States--Minnesota--Ramsey--St. Paul
  • -  United States--Minnesota--Hennepin--Minneapolis

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Nov. 7, 1925)-
  • -  Ceased in 1927.
  • -  Available on microfilm from the Minnesota Historical Society.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn90059272

OCLC Number

  • 1645574

ISSN Number

  • 2694-5754

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 St. Paul Echo St. Paul ; Minneapolis, Minn. -1927. (St. Paul, MN), Jan. 1 1925. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn90059272/.

APA citation style:

(1925, January 1) The St. Paul Echo St. Paul ; Minneapolis, Minn. -1927. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn90059272/.

MLA citation style:

The St. Paul Echo St. Paul ; Minneapolis, Minn. -1927. (St. Paul, MN) 1 Jan. 1925. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn90059272/.