List of African American newspapers in Indiana Facts for Kids

Front page of the Indianapolis Leader, one of Indiana's first African American newspapers.

Newspaper rack with issues of the Gary Crusader in 2020.

Various African American newspapers have been published in Indiana. The Evansville weekly Our Age, which was in circulation by 1878, is the first known African American newspaper in Indiana. Alternatively, some sources assign the title of first to the Indianapolis Leader or the Logansport Colored Visitor, both of which were first published in August 1879.

A 1996 survey of Indiana's African American newspapers found that two-thirds were founded before the Great Migration began in 1915. Only a quarter of the newspapers surveyed lasted for more than five years. Despite the high rate of attrition, African American newspapers continued to be established in Indiana throughout the 20th century and into the 21st.

More than half the African American newspapers in Indiana have been published in Indianapolis and Evansville. In the northern part of the state, the greatest number of such newspapers have been published in Gary.

The following list contains some newspapers published only on an irregular or sporadic basis, or for which no information on frequency is available. Many of these shorter-lived newspapers, particularly in the 19th century, were political broadsheets produced only in connection with a specific election.

African American newspapers published in Indiana today include the Gary Crusader, the Indianapolis Recorder, the Fort Wayne Ink Spot, and Evansville's Our Times Newspaper.

Northern Indiana
Central Indiana
Southern Indiana
See also

Northern Indiana

Northern Indiana is the northern third of the state, home to the industrial Calumet Region as well as small cities further east such as South Bend, Fort Wayne and Logansport.

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
East Chicago	The Forum	1950	?	Weekly
East Chicago	East Chicago Voice Citizen Voice	1962	1970s	Weekly		Edited by Thorton Smith.
Elkhart	Spirit Publications	1975	?	Weekly	LCCN sn87056390	Attested through at least 1976.
Fort Wayne	Coffee Break	1960s	1960s	Weekly	LCCN sn87056700	Published by Joe H. Andrews. Extant issues date from 1968 and 1969.
Fort Wayne	Frost Illustrated	1968	2017	Weekly	LCCN sn87055965
Fort Wayne	Ink	2001	2009	Weekly
Fort Wayne	Fort Wayne Ink Spot	2018	current	Biweekly		Official site: https://www.fwinkspot.com/
Fort Wayne	The Fort Wayne Observer	1900s	1900s	Weekly	LCCN sn90068952	Attested from 1955.
Gary	Gary American The Gary Colored American (1927–1928)	1927	?	Weekly, later biweekly	LCCN sn86058053 Gary Colored American: LCCN sn86058052
Gary	The Commonwealth	1924	1934	Weekly	LCCN sn87055673
Gary	The Gary Crusader	1961	current	Weekly	LCCN sn83025624 ISSN 1930-7012 1930-7012	Official site: https://chicagocrusader.com Published by Dorothy Leavell.
Gary	Gary Dispatch, later Lake County Journal	1921	1924	Weekly or irregular
Gary	Gary Info	1963	?	Weekly	LCCN sn87055756, sn94085049	Published by Imogene Harris.
Gary	Lake County Observer	1946	1950	Irregular
Gary	Gary Sun National Defender And Sun	1905	1931 or 1929	Weekly	LCCN sn83025598, sn87056403, sn87056497, sn87056498	Moved to Gary from Milwaukee in 1910s, became a national women's magazine around 1923
Logansport	The Colored Visitor	1879	1879	Twice monthly or irregular	LCCN 2011254353, sn82016213
Marion	Community Express	1980	1981 (uncertain)	Weekly	LCCN sn87055065	Published by James Carter.
South Bend	South Bend Forum	1923	1900s	Weekly	LCCN 2014254043
South Bend	South Bend Herald-Times	1950s	1900s		LCCN sn95063990
South Bend	South Bend Journal	1928	?	Weekly		Edited by William D. LaMarr.
South Bend	The Reformer	1967	1971	Weekly		Free online archive
South Bend	Observer	1913

Central Indiana

Central Indiana takes up the central third of the state, including the state capital Indianapolis as well as numerous small cities including Anderson, Muncie and Terre Haute.

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
Anderson	The Shining Star	1922	1927 (uncertain)	Weekly or irregular	LCCN sn86058388
Indianapolis	The Anthem	1991	?	Weekly
Indianapolis	Argus	1886	1887
Indianapolis	Black Focus Newsweekly	1996	?	Weekly
Indianapolis	Courier	1893	1890s
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Freeman	1884 or 1888	1926	Weekly	LCCN 2011254382, sn82016211	First illustrated Black newspaper in the United States
Indianapolis	Indiana Herald (1957–) Hoosier Herald (1949–1957) Indianapolis Herald-Tribune (1957–1960) Indiana Herald-Times Indianapolis Herald-Times	1949	2010s	Weekly	LCCN sn84025903, sn84025904, sn84025905, sn84025906	Operated from 1958 to 1983 by Opal L. Tandy
Indianapolis	Indy Word	1989	?	14 times a year
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Leader	1879	1890	Weekly	LCCN 2013272083, sn84027490 ISSN 2332-2527 2332-2527	Free online archive Published by J.D. Bagby.
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Ledger	1912 or 1913	1921? or 1925?	Weekly	LCCN 2012254025, sn85047649 ISSN 2574-4534 2574-4534	Described by one historian as "undoubtedly subsidized by the Klan". Edited by William H. Jackson.
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Post Midwestern Post	1943	1947?	Weekly	LCCN sn87056553, sn87056554	May have become the Hoosier Herald. Published by Lowell M. Trice.
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Recorder	1896 or 1897	current	Weekly	LCCN sn82014475, sn84025902, 2014254306	Official site: http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/ Indiana's longest-lived Black newspaper
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Daily Standard	1922
Indianapolis	Urban Times	1996 (uncertain)	?	Weekly		Published by Richard Bottoms. Distinct from Indianapolis monthly of same name established 2005
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Visions	1982 (uncertain)	1986	Weekly, later monthly		Edited by Jane Saxton. Published by Philip Saxton.
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Voice	1957	1958 (uncertain)	Weekly	LCCN sn85047653
Indianapolis	Indianapolis World, originally Indianapolis Colored World	1883 (uncertain)	1932	Weekly ("generally")	LCCN sn82016212, 2012254026
Indianapolis	Indianapolis World Telegram The World Telegram World-Telegram	1929 or 1939	1940	Weekly or irregular	LCCN sn87056532	Published by G.L. Porter.
Muncie	The Muncie Times	1991	2011	Twice monthly or biweekly	LCCN sn95067519	Ceased publication after death of founder and publisher Bea Moten-Foster in 2011.
Richmond	Richmond Blade	1918	1922	Weekly or irregular	LCCN sn86058212	Motto: "Hew to the line; let the quips fall where they may."
Richmond	Interview	1906
Richmond	Indiana Register	1906	1908
Terre Haute	Afro-American Journal	1895	1896	Irregular
Terre Haute	The Eagle	1906		Irregular
Terre Haute	The Right Way	1896	1898	Irregular
Terre Haute	The Times	1909	1912	Irregular
Terre Haute	Vanguard News	August 5, 1994	February 4-18, 1995	Biweekly, then monthly		Edited by Phillip Norton. "It is about black people taking care of business. The business of and for black people. We will also contribute to the development of a viable black community”

Southern Indiana

Southern Indiana makes up the southern third of the state, and is home to the Indiana's third-largest city Evansville, as well as smaller cities along the Ohio River.

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
Evansville	Argus	1938	1943	Weekly	LCCN sn86058884
Evansville	Chronicle	1882		Irregular
Evansville	Clarion	1914	1915	Irregular
Evansville	Consolidated News	1943	1956 (uncertain)	Weekly or irregular	LCCN sn86058885
Evansville	Graphic	1891		Irregular
Evansville	Guide	1908		Irregular
Evansville	Inner City Reporter	1981	1984	Biweekly or monthly	LCCN sn87056168
Evansville	Negro Press	1911		Irregular		Political campaign tract
Evansville	Our Age, later Our Weekly Age	1875? or 1878	?	Weekly		Published by Edwin Horn, who later co-founded the Indianapolis World. Published through at least 1880.
Evansville	Our Times Newspaper	1983	current	Biweekly or semimonthly	LCCN sn95067518	Official site: https://www.ourtimesnewspaper.com/
Evansville	Pilot	1888		Irregular
Evansville	The Right Way	1880		Irregular
Evansville	The Transcript	1905		Irregular
Evansville	The Watch Tower	1880s		Irregular
New Albany	New Albany Weekly Review	1881	1880s	Weekly	LCCN sn86058076, 2013254360

List of African American newspapers in Indiana facts for kids

Contents

Northern Indiana

Central Indiana

Southern Indiana

See also