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Newspaper The Conservator (Chicago, Ill.) 18??-1???

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About The Conservator (Chicago, Ill.) 18??-1???

The Chicago Conservator was the first Black newspaper in Chicago, IL; it published weekly from 1878-1914. The newspaper’s original editor and proprietor was Ferdinand Barnett, an African American lawyer and journalist. Over the course of the Conservator’s 36-year history, it was edited and owned by several notable figures. In 1882, Andrew F. Bradley became editor and proprietor, but he was soon succeeded by Alexander Clark and Alexander Clark, Jr., who maintained co-ownership with Barnett during their editorship.

In 1895, renowned civil rights activist Ida B. Wells became an editor, and later, an owner of the Conservator. According to Linda McMurry in To Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B. Wells, Wells joined the Conservator as a journalist in 1893 after being ousted from Memphis, TN, and she later married Barnett. McMurry notes that Barnett and Wells were ideologically aligned and formed a strong journalistic union dedicated to highlighting and fighting the racialized violence perpetuated against African Americans.

Throughout its many editors, the Conservator remained dedicated to providing news and editorials focused on issues of racism, politics, religion, interracial relations, and daily life. The newspaper worked to advance racial pride and justice for African Americans. In 1883, the Conservator aligned itself with William “Billy” Mahone and advocated for the Mahone Movement and Readjuster Party, a Southern political coalition comprised of African Americans and working white Americans in Virginia. In the September 8, 1883 issue, the Conservator stated “we are for Mahone because Mahone is for us.” The issue included reporting on African Americans in Virginia, and it ultimately affirmed that the status of African Americans was improving in Virginia? Or generally? I wasn’t sure.

The Conservator was a strong believer in the power of the Black press and published several brief statements about why African Americans should direct their focus to supporting Black newspapers. In the December 18, 1886 issue, the newspaper reprinted the article “Why Colored Men Should Subscribe for a Paper Published by his Own Race” from the Austin Citizen that offered several compelling reasons to support the Black Press. In the December 23, 1882 issue, the newspaper proclaimed “we have type, press and material to all kinds of printing. Shall they rust while you take your tickets, circulars and invitations to white people, or shall we be kept busy and made prosperous by your patronage? We believe that Chicago colored people will help their own people first.”

Beyond editorials, the newspaper offered general national news updates in the “Events of the Week” column, later named “News Condensed.” The “City News” column provided news about Chicago church events, society and organizational meetings, and political activities.

In 1885, the Conservator was circulated to 1,500 readers in the Chicago area and beyond. By 1905, circulation had decreased to 1,000. Wells stepped down as editor in 1897 to focus on her family but continued to write for the Conservator and other newspapers. The Conservator was edited by multiple figures until the newspaper eventually ceased publication around 1914.

Note: The issues digitized for this newspaper were microfilmed for and sponsored by the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies and Bell & Howell, a microfilming company, by the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service in 1947, compiling African American newspapers published in the U.S. throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. 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 many 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 Conservator (Chicago, Ill.) 18??-1???

Names

  • Wells-Barnett, Ida B., 1862-1931, contributor

Dates of Publication

  • 18??-1???

Created / Published

  • Chicago, Ill. : A.F. Bradley

Headings

  • -  African Americans--Illinois--Chicago--Newspapers
  • -  Chicago (Ill.)--Newspapers
  • -  African Americans
  • -  Illinois--Chicago
  • -  United States--Illinois--Cook County--Chicago

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Available on microfilm; Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 5, no. 42 (Nov. 18, 1882).
  • -  Latest issue consulted: Dec. 18, 1886.

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84024048

OCLC Number

  • 10356720

ISSN Number

  • 2836-1210

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 Conservator Chicago, Ill. 18??-1???. (Chicago, IL), 18??. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84024048/.

APA citation style:

(18??) The Conservator Chicago, Ill. 18??-1???. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84024048/.

MLA citation style:

The Conservator Chicago, Ill. 18??-1???. (Chicago, IL) 18??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84024048/.