Editor A.D. Griffin: Envisioning a New Age for Black Oregonians (1896–1907)

Abstract

The New Age, a weekly newspaper for Oregon's small but vibrant black community, offers stark insights into race relations in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the twentieth century. The newspaper also provides details about culture, religion, education, migration, politics, job opportunities, and other topics that were critical to residents. Despite its importance to black Oregonians, scholars who study the black press have overlooked the Portland paper and its editor/publisher, Adolphus D. Griffin. This article addresses that gap in journalism history and aims to restore a forgotten journalist to the canon. More than one hundred issues of The New Age published between 1899 and 1907 were examined using historical methods and interpretive textual analysis. Topics and themes in editorials and news articles were analyzed for denotative and connotative meanings; the content also was viewed through the lens of identity construction and counter-narratives. Census and voting records, and articles published in the white and black press were consulted to supplement this study and shed light on Griffin, his career, and the complexities of race relations in the late 1800s and early 1900s.