This paper was presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and
Mass Communication in San Antonio, Texas August 2005.
If you have questions about this paper, please contact the author
directly. If you have questions about the archives, email
rakyat [ at ] eparker.org. For an explanation of the subject line,
send email to
[log in to unmask] with just the four words, "get help info aejmc," in the
body (drop the "").
(Feb 2006)
Thank you.
Elliott Parker
====================================================================
When the Great Migration Met the Great Depression
By
Dr. Brian Thornton, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Communication Department, Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, Illinois, 60115. Home: 6 Miller Court, DeKalb, Illinois, 60115.
Home: (815) 748-4327 Work: (815) 753-7012 or (815) 753-1563
Cell: 815-762-0778 [log in to unmask] Fax 815-753-5930
A paper submitted for consideration for presentation to the History
Division, AEJMC
c/o Prof. Dane Claussen, AEJMC History Division Research Chair
Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communication
Point Park University, Wood Street and Boulevard of Allies
Pittsburgh, PA 15222-1984
3
Introduction
The New York Times elicited a volatile response when it published a
series of articles in 2000 describing "How Race is Lived in
America."[1] Supporters said the paper's coverage of day-to-day
exchanges between races was long overdue and invaluable.[2] But
other readers were less enthusiastic. For example, detractors
complained that the paper ignored institutions, laws and systems that
provide the context for race relations and thus let these structures
off the hook.[3] At the start of the series the Times' editors
provided a rationale for using extensive personal narrations: "Race
relations are being defined today less by political action than by
daily experience, in schools, in sports arenas, in pop culture and at
worship, and especially in the workplace."[4]
As the nation's premier newspaper of record, the Times series was
precedent setting because it allowed people to narrate their own
stories about race. Nevertheless, the series needs to be seen in a
larger historical context. There is another largely untapped
historical record that for many years has given people a platform to
tell their personal stories about race: published letters to the
editor in both African-American and white newspapers across the country.
The research in this article examines the largely unexplored record
of personal narratives about race relations in 10 African-American
and 10 white newspapers at a critical time in the nation's
history––the Great Depression. Nearly any time frame in history could
yield interesting discussions from those writing to newspapers about
their lives and expressing their view on race relations. But as
historian Lloyd Chiasson writes, the press plays a particularly
important role in times of crisis: "In times of normalcy the press
seems most adept at accomplishing its tasks of informing, educating
and persuading," Chiasson writes. "But what happens when the
environment in which the press functions becomes volatile? What
happens when the public or the government or the press views a moment
in time as being critical?" The Great Stock Market Crash of 1929
certainly qualifies as a critical time of crisis.[5]
In keeping with Chiasson's observations, this research seeks to
explore race relations from Oct. 29 through Nov. 30, 1929, during a
period when the nation's economic fabric was unraveling.
Specifically, this research examines a total of more than 1,159
letters that appeared in 20 newspapers ––10 African-American
(weekly), and 10 white (daily) newspapers––from across the U.S. For
comparison with the personal narratives, more than 3,124 editorials
published in the same 20 newspapers between Oct. 29 and Nov. 30, 1929
were also studied.
Background - Black Tuesday
Oct. 29, 1929––Black Tuesday––has been proclaimed by many to be the
worst day in the history of the U.S. stock market.[6] The market
crashed after 16.4 million shares of stock were traded in the span of
less than eight hours. The market lost more than 12 percent of its
value in just one day––marking the beginning of the Great Depression.
Scores of articles and books explain how fortunes were lost,
thousands of lives were shattered and trust in financial institutions
was shaken as a result of the great crash.[7] But what happened in
the African-American community? Thousands of African-Americans who
were often relegated to poorly paying work as black domestics,
teachers, nurses and factory workers lost their jobs too, right along
with white, wealthy stockbrokers. In reaction to this massive
national job loss among black people, what was the published response
and editorial discussion in the African-American press? And how did
that discussion and response compare with reaction in the white press?
Reaction: When the Great Migration Collided with the Great Depression
Another even more compelling reason to study and compare
African-American and white newspaper letters to the editor during
1929 is that this is a period when the African-American population
had only recently undergone a tremendous migration.[8] Hundreds and
thousands of blacks left the South, starting as early as 1917.[9] In
the period between 1917 and 1920 it is estimated that anywhere from a
half- to three-quarters of a million African-Americans moved from
southern to northern cities.[10] They moved by train and busloads to
big Northern cities in hopes of finding a better life in the booming
economies there, buoyed by the Industrial Age.[11] As a result of
this migration, the African-American population in major cities of
the North nearly doubled by the late 1920s, including Chicago, New
York, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Washington. D.C., Pittsburgh and
Detroit.[12]
Many African-American newspapers played a significant role in
promoting this "Great Migration" from 1917 through the 1920s.[13] For
example, over a period of years, many of these newspapers launched
continuing editorial crusades and used giant banner headlines to
extol the virtues of life and the great opportunities in the big
Northern cities. Some papers and editors even offered cheap train
fares for groups of 10 or more African-Americans willing to move up
north.[14] Other newspaper techniques for promoting Northern
migration included displaying ads for well-paid jobs in Northern
cities on their front pages while concurrently describing lynchings
in the South. Papers also printed letters, again on the front pages,
from people who had recently and happily moved from the South to the
North.[15]
No matter what persuasive technique they favored, however, many
African-American newspapers promoted major Northern cities as the
"Promised Land" where Blacks could escape racism and live
prosperously and with dignity.[16] But what happened when the reality
of the Great Depression––triggered by the stock market
crash––suddenly turned golden dreams of paradise for thousands of
African-Americans into long unemployment lines, soup kitchens and
bread lines? [17] Did leading African-American newspapers, such as
the Chicago Defender and Baltimore Afro-American, change their
editorial policies that had been calling for years for migration to
the big Northern cities? And did readers complain that the newspapers
and their editors had sold them a bill of goods about the land of
milk and honey to be found in these same big Northern cities?
In an attempt to answer such questions, Felicia G. Jones Ross and
Joseph McKerns recently examined the published editorials of Chicago
Defender founder Robert Abbot from 1929 through 1940. The authors'
research purpose was to see how the Defender changed its editorial
stance about Northern migration during a crucial 11-year time
frame.[18] This current work expands on Ross' and McKerns' study by
sampling a group of 10 African-American newspapers for a one-month
period at the start of the Depression. The sample in this current
study included African-American newspapers in Northern cities as well
as a few Southern African-American newspapers in cities such as New
Orleans. These Southern African-American newspapers were included to
see how their readers and editors responded in comparison to some
Northern African-American papers when the Great Migration collided
with the Great Depression. In addition, the editorials of 10 white
newspapers in large industrialized cities were also analyzed for the
same one-month period to provide a comparison. Were white newspaper
editorials discussing similar issues as African-American editorials
during this time frame?
This study explores published letters to the editor and editorials in
a total of 20 newspapers––10 black and 10 white––in the following
cities: Baltimore;[19] Chicago; [20]Indianapolis;[21] Los Angeles;
[22]New Orleans;[23] New York City;[24] Norfolk, Virginia;[25]
Oklahoma City;[26] Philadelphia;[27] and Washington D.C.[28]
Limitations of Letters to the Editor
It must be acknowledged at the outset, however, that letters to the
editor are flawed as an instrument to accurately gauge public opinion
with certainty. That is because research shows that educated people
are usually the only ones who are comfortable writing letters, and
affluent people write letters more often than those who are poor. In
addition, recent studies indicate those who live in suburbs tend to
write letters more often than city dwellers. Further, men write more
letters than women, and those who write most frequently are: doctors,
lawyers, university faculty, government officials, business owners
and college students.[29] Thus letter writers do not represent a
slice of all walks of life. In addition, all letters are filtered
through editors. This means they are not pure outpourings of public
sentiment, free of potential censorship.
Nevertheless, it can be argued that the study of all historical
artifacts has limitations, including the front page of newspapers,
which, similar to letters to the editor, are filtered through an
editorial gate keeping process. Despite any flaws, however, letters
to the editor are an important historical record: they reveal the
thoughts of at least some readers and viewers. Letters to the editors
have been described by one researcher as "a battlefield for ideas, a
forum for serious discussion of public issues and a safety valve
through which the public's capacity for indignation can find expression."[30]
In many cases published letters are the only historical artifacts
available that recorded sentiments expressed in writing by members of
the public. And in keeping with the agenda-setting theory of
communication, letters to the editor, by virtue of being published
and widely circulated, helped set the agenda for public discussion.[31] [32]
As early as 1891 British statesman James Bryce argued that published
letters from citizens in the newspapers contain multiple forms of
public opinion that communicate important public sentiment.[33]
More than 100 years later the battle continues. Historian David Nord
describes letters to the editor as useful historical texts that
reveal some readers speaking directly to––and often shouting at––editors.[34]
A 2004 article in the Newspaper Research Journal summed up the
historical value of letters to the editor this way: "If people want
to get a sense of the past, they need only load a roll of microfilm
and read the letters sections of eras past. If they want to get a
sense of the zeitgeist, they need only turn to the penultimate
even-numbered page of a newspaper's A section [the letters to the
editor page] to get bits of social awareness in snippets of 250 words
or fewer."[35]
African-American Press – Definitions and Brief History
What is meant by the term "Black newspaper?"[36] Since this concept
is key to this current research it is important for the reader to
have a clear definition––and Kent de Felice provided three simple
criteria in his important 1968 research that remain quite useful
today. He wrote that to be considered a black newspaper a paper must:
1) be owned and managed by blacks, 2) the publication must be
intended for black consumers, and finally, 3) the paper must " serve,
speak and fight for the black minority." In other words the paper
main goal of the paper must be to fight for "equality for the Negro
in the present White society."[37]
The earliest African-American newspapers, such as Samuel Cornish and
John Russwum's "Freedom's Journal" (1827), and Frederick Douglass'
"North Star" (1847), clearly fit this mold. They were started largely
to champion the abolition movement –– and not necessarily as a
vehicle to make money. [38] After the Civil War the focus of
African-American newspapers shifted to equal rights, and the fight
for equal protection for blacks. By 1890 there were some 575
African-American newspapers across the country, nearly all of them
weekly. As these papers evolved they began to look and behave more
like businesses and less like soapboxes. African-American papers
emulated white papers in appearance and news coverage and began to
court a variety of advertisers––white and African-American––to help
them survive, rather than rely on the generosity of churches or
charities or social activists.[39]
As might be expected, as the African-American press evolved, it was
most successful in cities in the North and Midwest that had a high
concentration of recently transplanted Southern African-American
people, such as Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia, and where
there was also a high literacy rate.[40] New York City, for example,
had the largest African-American population in the North after the
Civil War as well as the most educated. Thus several African-American
newspapers sprang up there, including the influential and
long-lasting Amsterdam News.[41]
At the turn of the 20th century, African-American entrepreneur Robert
Abbott saw the potential for a vibrant African-American paper in
another major city with a large literate African-American
population––Chicago. He started the weekly Chicago Defender in 1905.
Within 10 years Abbott's Defender "emerged as the most important
African-American paper in the nation." Its unprecedented success was
such, according to researcher Roi Ottley, that, "with the exception
of the Bible, no publication was more influential upon the Negro masses."[42]
In fact, Abbot's blend of sensational news stories, powerful
editorials, bold illustrations and huge, banner headlines, made his
paper so successful that by 1920 the Defender was one of the first
African-American newspapers to attain a regular weekly circulation of
more than 100,000. Other African-American weekly papers followed with
soaring circulation, including the Baltimore Afro-American, the
Pittsburgh Courier and the Norfolk Journal and Guide. Nearly all
these newly empowered editorial voices for African-American people
editorialized consistently against lynching, especially during the
1920s when lynchings were on the increase and regularly in the news.
African-American editors met with government leaders demanding
government action to reduce lynchings. A dramatic decrease in
lynching by the end of the decade was attributed to the efforts of
these papers and editors. Perhaps not coincidentally with the drive
to end lynchings, there was a concurrent increase in regular paid
subscribers and readers of African-American newspapers. For example,
by the end of the 1920s the Defender's paid circulation was more than
230,000.[43] Other African-American newspapers were also reporting
impressive circulation gains at the same time.
How the Newspapers were Selected
This study was initially guided by geography––that is, newspapers
were chosen from the East, West, and Midwest to capture the
sentiments of letter and editorial writers from across the country in
the days and weeks immediately following Black Tuesday.
African-American newspapers were chosen first from certain important
cities or parts of the country with large African-American
populations. Once those papers were found, corresponding mainstream
white newspapers from the same cities were added.
Another factor that guided the research design was to find newspapers
in cities with a large, literate African-American population, such as
New York City. Thus the Amsterdam News was chosen as a representative
of African-American newspapers from New York City and then the
corresponding white "paper of record," the New York Times, was included.
Still another consideration was the reputation of the
African-American newspapers or the reputation of their editors and or
publishers. Thus Abbott's outspoken Defender was at the top of the
list as an important part of this study––and by default the powerful
and widely read white Chicago Tribune became a corresponding part of
the research.
This study cannot and does not claim, however, to be an exhaustive
examination of all African-American newspapers across the country in
1929. Instead what was gathered and examined here was a sampling of
newspapers from some of the more racially diverse parts of the
country, mostly in the North –– areas with a significant number of
literate African-Americans who were able to support and sustain a
vibrant African-American newspaper in their community.
Table 1 Letters, editorials, 10 Black Newspapers, Oct-Nov. 1929, re:
race, economy
Oct. 29 – Nov. 29, 1929
letters
re: race
economy
Editorials
Re: race
economy
1-Amsterdam News
11
10 (90%)
0
17
9 (52%)
0
2-Baltimore Afro-American
35
16 (45%)
1 (2.8%)
26
19 (73%)
1 (3.8%)
3-Black Dispatch
3
1 (33%)
0
16
9 (56%)
0
4-California Eagle
0
0
0
45
16 (35%)
0
5-Chicago Defender
33
26 (78%)
0
26
14 (53%)
0
6-Indianapolis Recorder
4
3 (75%)
0
13
6 (46%)
0
7-Louisiana Weekly
0
0
0
19
10 (52%)
0
8-Norfolk Journal + Guide
7
2 (28%)
0
23
13 (56%)
0
9-Philadelphia Tribune
20
10 (50%)
0
18
11 (61%)
0
10-Washington Tribune
6
6 (100%)
1 (16%)
9
9 (100%)
1 (11.1%)
Totals
119
74 (62%)
2 (.8%)
212
116 (54%)
2 (1.7%)
Table 2 Letters, editorials, 10 White Newspapers, Oct-Nov. 1929, re:
race, economy
Oct. 29 – Nov. 29, 1929
letters
re: race
economy
Editorials
Re: race
economy
1-Baltimore Sun
172
0
1 (.5%)
307
1
7 (2.2%)
2-Daily Oklahoman
42
0
1 (2%)
224
0
4 (1.7%)
3-Chicago Tribune
208
0
5 (2%)
184
0
2 (1%)
4-Indianapolis Star
76
0
2 (2%)
511
0
13 (2.5%)
5-Los Angeles Times
73
0
1 (1%)
534
0
4 (.7%)
6-New York Times
213
0
7 (3%)
100
0
4 (4%)
7-Philadelphia Inquirer
76
0
2 (2%)
253
0
10 (3.9%)
8-Times Picayune
30
0
0
271
0
11 (4%)
9-Virginian-Pilot
18
1
1 (5%)
263
1
34 (12%)
10-Washington Post?
132
0
0
265
0
2 (.7%)
Totals
1,040
1
20 (1%)
2,912
2 (.1%)
91 (3%)
(Note – Many more editorials and letters were published in the white
newspapers because they were published daily. The African-American
newspapers were weekly and thus printed less letters and editorials.)
Findings – Racism, not Economy, Most Important in African-American
Newspapers, Economy Generally Ignored by Both Black and White papers
Even though the U.S. stock market was rapidly collapsing during
October and November 1929, discussion of the country's economic woes
was largely missing, either in the editorials or letters to the
editor, in African-American or white newspapers. (See Tables 1-2.) In
sharp contrast, however, one subject was a frequent and urgent topic,
but only in the African-American newspapers: racism. Some 54 percent
of the editorials in African-American newspapers––116 out of
212––discussed racism.
Here is a sample from a Chicago Defender editorial that suggested
that a reward being offered and paid for police bravery was actually
a bounty to encourage police to kill black men:
REWARDS FOR MURDER. Committees called upon to investigate police
brutality in large cities might scrutinize so-called 'bravery' awards
made by certain newspapers. In Chicago, where a prize of $100 is
given monthly by a large daily newspaper to the policeman who
displays the 'greatest courage,' 70 per cent of the awards have gone
to policemen who have killed the persons they sought to arrest. And
more than half of these awards were taken by killers of black men . .
. Offering rewards for killings tends to make a policeman more eager
to take a life, with the added incentive of a prize of $100 and his
picture in a newspaper. Certainly this prospect adds to the zest of a
manhunt, and the killing naturally follows the desire to make the
victim, usually black, incapable of refusing whatever charges were
placed against him. . . . Paying for a killing is bound to make
killing popular.[44]
Such strongly worded editorials about race and unjust treatment of
African-American people were frequent on many of the editorial pages
of the African-American press studied here. For example, the
Philadelphia Tribune marked its 40th anniversary by writing in an
editorial that the main purpose of the paper is to fight for black
"Americans whose necks constantly feel the spiked heels of
oppression." The police and government often are the heels of this
oppression, the paper said and the goal of the Tribune is to "inspire
to great deeds colored Americans to engage in useful enterprise and
demand what is right for our people, not a weak or pliant demand; but
a two-fisted mighty demand for justice and a square deal."[45]
And on those same editorial pages, letter writers in the
African-American newspapers were almost equally as vociferous and
consistent as the editorial writers with comments on race, with 62
percent––or 74 letters out of 119––writing about racial injustice.
Thus, a letter in the Chicago Defender, signed by Dennis A. Bethea,
complained that white men regularly assault "colored people" on the
streets of Chicago. Bethea's letter added that it was time for black
people to realize that Nat Turner had the right idea with violent
insurrection "arming himself with a meat cleaver" and fighting
against white people who oppressed him. "Mr. Turner showed a good
sense of values and aimed for the thing worth while," the letter
said. It concluded by saying that today's followers of Turner are
right in that they "stand up for their rights. For if a white man
smites them on one cheek, they do not turn the other. They hit him back."[46]
Nannie D. Bell of Mt. Vernon, New York, wrote that it was not enough
for black people to fight whites who oppress them: black people also
have to stop oppressing themselves and begin to appreciate their own
beauty. She wrote in a letter in the Amsterdam News that an example
of this self-acceptance and love is that black men need to stop
dating white women and start dating black women as a matter of pride,
for, "When you are against the women of a race, you are very much
against the race. . . . Colored men who have no confidence in any of
the colored women have none in themselves. They simply reflect badly
on themselves."[47]
Another letter in the Amsterdam News, this one unsigned, agreed that
African-American men need to stop chasing white women. "Step into any
night club here and see colored men with white women. Why? So they
can show them off and spend their money on them,"[48] the letter complained.
In a similar letter that sounded as if it could have been written
during the Black Power movement of the 1960s, another Amsterdam News
letter writer continued a discussion of racial pride when she wrote,
"I am black, proud, and make no apology for my color. I ask every
Negro man, before he libels Negro women, to read the newspapers and
the tabloids and see the shame of white women blazoned in headlines
every day."[49]
But it was the shame of white men that bothered Anna G. Edwards of
New York City. She wrote in the Amsterdam News that she wasn't
worried about black men who willingly chose to socialize with white
women. Instead, she wrote she was quite concerned about white men
publicly forcing their unwanted attentions on black women and the
lack of any police intervention or protection of black women. She
wrote that she worked in Harlem and the area had become "a veritable
playground for white men" who cruise the streets and "without
molestation, flirt with, and insult Negro women. No Negro woman can
go into the downtown section, even in the best residential sections,
without being insulted and jeered at in some way by white men and
even striplings."[50]
A medical doctor in Philadelphia complained about a similar
situation in a Nov. 7 letter to the Philadelphia Tribune. But he said
the problem in his city was black men, not black women, who couldn't
walk the streets of Philadelphia without being jeered and hearing
catcalls and rude comments made about them. He said many black men
are then assaulted after being taunted. The letter writer who
identified himself as R.R. Wright, M.D, wrote that the problem will
emerge for:
any lone colored man walking in any of a dozen of the different
neighborhoods in Philadelphia anywhere after 11 o'clock at night. For
no week passes but that numerous colored men are attacked by white
hoods. I have made at least fifty reports to the policemen and the
department of this situation. I was merely a lone colored man
recently walking to my home from my church about 11:00 o'clock
Saturday night after I attended choir practice. About 20 half drunken
white boys and men were "skylarking" in the street, singing and
dancing as half drunks will . . . . when I passed. Without a word of
warning one of them shouted, "There's a nigger," and I was knocked
unconscious. This was the work of a gang spirit of toughs who felt
secure from the police in attacking a Negro. I reported the matter to
the police department but nothing has come of it. Up to last night,
the crowd had not even been dispersed. This is a serious cause for
community action for the protection of the lives of colored people,
and for the protection of our city from undue racial difficulty.[51]
Another letter, this one in the Washington Tribune, signed only "One
Who Loves His Race," warned that the radio waves of the great
Northern cities are being used "to spread insults discriminations,
and propagation of ill-will against the colored race." The radio, if
left to these "Negro haters" can do more harm in one evening than
years of effort on the part of race relations committees and others
organizations can ever undo, the letter said. It concluded: "Don't
let the whites who hate have the radio, this powerful world
broadcaster, to besmirch our good name."[52]
Response to Race In White Papers
It may be clichéd to say that African-American and white people have
long lived in two separate worlds. But in this research the cliché
holds true: only one letter to the editor, out of 1,040 that were
printed, and only two editorials, out of 2,912 published editorials,
discussed race in any of the 10 white newspapers from across the
country. For most white readers and editorial writers it seems racism
was not an important subject for much discussion, even though
lynchings of African-American men were still common and reported
regularly in the news,[53] the Ku Klux Klan was on the rebound,[54]
the country was solidly segregated and African-American unemployment
was more than double the rate of whites–– even before the stock
market crash.[55] Despite these many serious issues connected to race
that could have been debated in editorials, the two exceptions to the
norm in the total lack of editorial coverage of African-American
issues in white newspapers were generally light and breezy and
indicated race relations were improving.
The Baltimore Sun published an editorial on Oct. 31, for instance,
that proudly proclaimed that the first Negro symphony orchestra had
been established in Baltimore. This was hailed as a good sign of
assimilation and it was argued the symphony would provide whites some
valuable exposure to "Negro" culture and music. Meanwhile, the
Virginian-Pilot wrote that last minute "racial smear scare tactics"
before the upcoming elections that were trying to frighten voters
into voting against one candidate because he might be "pro-Negro"
"are dishonest efforts to obscure the real issues and are to be
rejected as so much trash."[56]
The single letter to the editor about race that was published in one
of the 10 white newspapers studied was also relatively upbeat: in the
letter a justice of the peace in Virginia insisted he wanted to set
the record straight and offer proof that police officers in his town
were not racists when they recently made some arrests at a local
illegal "juke" joint. Justice J. H. Thompson wrote that the paper
had implied that race provoked the arrests. But Thompson said law
abiding "colored people" had made a noise complaint, police
investigated, found drinking, gambling and loud music, and then made
arrests of "colored people." But Thompson said similar arrests would
have been made if whites had been engaged in similar behavior. He
concluded by saying race was not a factor in any of the arrests that night.[57]
In 1929 many African-Americans were locked in a struggle to live
unmolested and to somehow secure decent health care, schooling,
sanitation, and housing. But for whites it seemed as though, with
rare exceptions, the separation and mistreatment of African-Americans
was a subject best kept both out of sight and out of mind on the
editorial pages.
Details of Few Comments on Failing Economy – both Black and White Papers
The deteriorating American economy was another subject largely
ignored on the editorial pages, but this time by both white and black
newspaper. African-American newspapers, however, took the lead here,
having the smallest number and percentage of comments on the economy.
Out of 119 published letters in 10 African-American newspapers, only
two discussed the stock market crash or subsequent slumping economy.
One letter, in the Baltimore Afro-American, simply said times are
tough and everyone must work hard to get through the difficulties.
And the other letter mentioning the economy, printed in the
Washington Tribune, said "Negroes" need to support the NAACP
especially during current economic tough times "when meager
government funds" are being distributed to only to the most vocal and
well-organized groups that demand just treatment.[58] And only one
editorial, out of 121 printed in the 10 African-American newspapers,
discussed the country's economic problems. That lone economics
editorial, again in the Baltimore Afro-American, made only a passing
reference to the country's financial woes when it urged its readers,
in currently "troubled economic times," to give generously to the
Community Fund, a charitable organization. The editorial concluded
that especially in present times of financial crisis it was the "duty
of every thinking Negro in Baltimore" to help the poor.[59]
The Afro-American didn't feel it was the paper's duty, however, to
apologize for urging its readers to move to the big cities where they
were now being clobbered by an economy that was falling down around
their shoulders. The Afro-American was not alone. During this time
none of the 10 African-American newspapers studied here reversed
their editorial policies that had been calling for years for massive
African-American migration to the big Northern cities. It is true
that during this one-month period, right after the stock market
crash, Abbott's Defender no longer continued to publish any banner
headlines such as, "Good-Bye Dixie Land," "Northbound Their
Cry"––headlines that had promoted earlier Northern migration.[60] But
during October and November there was also no official reversal of
Abbott's stance about the "Promised Land" available for blacks in big
Northern cities. None of the other nine African-American newspapers
studied here reversed themselves either.
Since white newspapers of this time had not offered a "Promised
Land" to their readers, they had no editorial campaign to adjust in
light of the stock market crash. But one would expect that white
editorial writers in November of 1929, at the very least, would
address the economy in some manner on their editorial pages. However,
the editorial pages of the 10 white newspapers studied here were
quite similar to the African-American newspapers in that economics
was rarely discussed––in either letters or editorials. A total of
1,040 letters to the editor were printed in these 10 white newspapers
during a one-month period. But only 20 letters, or 1.9 percent,
discussed ongoing economic problems emanating from Wall Street. And
the sparse commentary on the economy sent in from readers was
generally in the form of only veiled references to current economic
hard times.
For example, a writer identified as Mary Janet Miller of
Spencerville, Maryland, wrote a letter to the editor of the Baltimore
Sun in November commending a socialist candidate in New York City for
promising to build more municipal housing. Miller said this should
provide "much needed relief to many slum dwellers and thousands of
currently unemployed construction workers."[61]
Another letter writer, this one in the Chicago Tribune, was a little
more direct, at least, in describing the failing economy when he
blamed losses on Wall Street on the press:
Please muzzle your financial writers and give your unfortunate
readers a chance to use the ordinary common sense that God gave them.
A careful analysis of their writings will show that those financial
touts are about as reliable as their racetrack brothers. If such a
course is taken by the press of the country the investing public will
soon get back to normal. Peter J. Pesi, New York City. [62]
A Norfolk Virginia letter writer was one of the few people who wrote
bluntly and directly about the stock crash – and even had someone
specifically to blame. H.O. Stuckney, of Norfolk, wrote that local
banks are largely responsible for the current "orgy of stock
speculation." Small town banks, he explained, "have disregarded local
needs to earn higher rates of interest by loaning money to stock
speculators in New York."[63]
In comparison, the few editorials on economic themes were generally
much more circumspect than Stuckney's letter, or the letters from any
other readers. An example is a Nov. 14 Chicago Tribune editorial that
said that one way to help the country recover from financial doldrums
is to "make bootleggers pay an income tax on the sales he has
succeeded in making and also make him divide virtually fifty-fifty on
his excess profits."[64]
Only 91 editorials, or 3 percent, out of a combined total of 2,912
editorials published between Oct. 29 and Nov. 29, 1929, in the 10
white newspapers, even hinted that the economy was in free fall. (See
Table 2.) Of all the white newspapers, the Virginian-Pilot was the
most frequent editorial commentator on the economy, even though it
published only 34 editorials on the subject between Oct. 29 and Nov.
29, or about 12 percent of the 263 editorials it printed during this
one-month period. Many of the Pilot's editorials about the economy
were puzzling, however, since they consisted primarily of one-liners,
or jokes. For example, the paper published only one sentence about
Wall Street on its editorial page Oct. 30, 1929 – "Wall Street may be
described as the place where trained operators take the jack out of
jackasses."[65]
At the other extreme, in comparison, the Washington Post and Chicago
Tribune printed only two economics editorials out of a total of 265
and 184 published editorials, respectively. And the Baltimore Sun was
somewhere in the middle in ranking, in that it published seven
editorials about the economy – out of 307 editorials.[66]
The New York Times took a different tact in one of its only four
editorials (out of 100 published editorials) about the economy.
Instead of ignoring the stock market crash on the editorial page, as
many rival papers seemed to do, the Times chose this moment to
explain its journalistic ethics. In a Nov. 15 editorial the paper
explained why it was regularly displaying stories about the stock
market on its front page:
James M. Cox, publisher of a group of newspapers and once Democratic
Presidential nominee, has ordered the news of the stock market off
the front page of his publications. His argument is that stock
selling and purchasing is 'an incidental thing in the life of the
country,' and that the recent plunges in quotations have, by being
displayed on the front pages, given the public a false idea of
general business conditions. His purpose is excellent, but what about
the method?
Stock market transactions have been commanding more general interest
than anything else in America. Moreover, the events themselves have
been dramatic. The newspapers, following the safe and honest rule
that news must find its place in relation to its public importance,
have printed the record in its natural context. What every one is
talking about and thinking about, and goes to the root of values
also, is first-page news. When the market finds normality again it
will automatically surrender its first-page position.
The reason for the small amount and percentage of editorial comment
on such an important topic as a failing U.S. economy is puzzling. One
thing is certain, however ––this lack of editorial comment can't be
attributed to a lack of news coverage about the economy and its woes.
The front page of all 20 papers, African-American and white, featured
regular giant headlines about the crashing economy. Here are just a
few examples: "Hysterical Wave of Stock Market Selling,"[67]
"Billions in Values Wiped Out by New Crash in Stocks," [68] and
"Bankers Halt Frantic Market Stampede."[69] As a result, few, if
any regular readers or editorial writers could be ignorant of the
country's money problems, even if they only glanced at the front
pages of the 20 newspapers. And, of course, on a personal level, most
people, even those who never read newspapers, were experiencing the
effects of the stock market crash for themselves, either by directly
losing their own money or feeling the aftershocks when jobs across
the country were lost, property values plummeted, loans were called
in, mortgages were foreclosed and people desperately sought ways to
make ends meet. The point is this: the economy's crash could not be a
secret to either editorial writers or letter-to-the-editor
writers. But still, they didn't write about this problem much, or
else newspapers declined to publish any such comments.
The question of why so few published letters and editorials commented
about the country's financial situation is vexing. However, one
possible answer to consider is that perhaps readers and editorial
writers did not yet understand the full impact of Black Tuesday.
Maybe some people thought that the country would quickly bounce back
from the crisis and thus did not comment. Or perhaps like those who
survive a train wreck and feel fine for a while, the full impact of
the stock market crash may have taken some time to be absorbed and
then discussed in editorials and letters.
Summary––Analysis
What happened when the Great Migration of Blacks to Northern cities
collided with the Great Depression? In a time of great crisis did
newspapers offer a great calming editorial voice of reassurance? And
did letter writers add strong opinions about finances, helping a
country sort out its future? This research was launched in an effort
to answers these questions and several others by examining the
editorial pages of 10 African-American newspapers between October and
November, 1929, and then comparing them with 10 white newspapers'
editorial pages. The result was not what was anticipated: on their
editorial pages, the 20 newspapers, both African-American and white,
either ignored or made little of the great national crisis that was
the stock market crash. Meanwhile, the front pages of all the papers
were full of stories about economic hard times. The challenge for
historians is to ponder why economic commentary was in short supply
and to make some sense of this. Perhaps the stock market crash was
like the elephant in the room that no one wanted to discuss. The
situation may have presented such a huge and immediate problem with
no apparent solution that editorial writers and letter-to-the-editor
writers alike decided to whistle past the graveyard and hope for the
best. Avoidance and denial continue to be popular human coping
mechanisms. On the other hand, a one-month period may not have been
enough time for readers and editorial writers to make sense of the
economic phenomenon.
Nevertheless, this research produced unexpected findings: the vivid
and passionate description in letters to the editor and editorials in
African-American newspapers of a sharply racially divided society in
the North in 1929. African-American letter writers, male and female,
said they were afraid to walk the streets of Northern cities such as
Chicago and Philadelphia without being verbally accosted and even
beaten, while police turned a blind eye. African-American editorial
writers warned that police were "gunning" for black men, looking for
an excuse to kill them. Reading such commentary one would think the
writers were describing the racial intolerance of the Deep South and
not the "Canaan of the North," as Abbott had described Northern big
cities such as Chicago six years earlier.[70]
Abbott had promised his readers in editorials that Chicago offered
integrated modern high schools and blacks could find justice in that
city, compared to the South. In 1923 he even used editorial cartoons
to show the North lit up with heavenly lights.[71] But
African-American letter writers in 1929 provided their own harsher
snapshots of life in Northern cities that was far from the "Promised
Land." In addition, African-American letter writers used editorial
pages as a place to think aloud about such issues as racial
self-reliance and self-respect. And seemingly years before their
time, some readers were proclaiming "I'm Black and I'm proud." In
stark contrast, racial issues were not being discussed, debated, or
even apparently thought about much, on the editorial pages of the
prominent white newspapers of the North, such as the Chicago Tribune
and New York Times.
Conclusion
This current research fills a gap in knowledge about the history of
the content of letters to the editor and editorial pages in
African-American newspapers, particularly during a serious time of
national crisis. Jones Ross and McKerns recently called for more
research on African-American newspaper development . This research
attempts to answer that call. This comparison of African-American and
white editorial pages proved to be a useful and stark measure of
differing realities. In the white editorial world, life seemed
relatively calm, despite the stock market crash. Meanwhile on the
African-American editorial pages, a shortage of many letters and
editorials indicate that the stock market was also not an issue
people wanted to discuss. But in place of economic discussion, there
was the stark and disturbing discussion of African-American men and
women describing how they were unable to walk the streets of Northern
cities unmolested.
This research offers a modest step toward understanding the
differences and similarities in the editorial pages of white and
African-American newspapers. What is unique about this work is that
the largely unfiltered voices of African-Americans from the 1920s are
heard as they came to grips in print with life in the big Northern
cities, spoke for themselves, worked out their identities, and
expressed their worries about daily life. Harkening back to the New
York Times 2000 series, African-American letter writers and editorial
writers in 1929 described "race as lived in America" as more
precarious and dangerous in major Northern cities than might have
been previously believed. But the Times, for whatever reasons, didn't
discuss such dangers for African-Americans on its editorial pages in
October and November 1929.
[1] "How Race is Lived in America," New York Times, 4-7 June, 2-13
July, 19 July 2000, 1. The series was reprinted as a book, How Race
is Lived in America: Pulling Together, Pulling Apart (New York: Henry
Holt and Co., Times Books), 2001.
[2] David Johnson, book review, Curled Up With A Good Book,
http://www.curledup.com/howrace.htm
[3] Makani N. Themba, "How Race Is Lived in the Media: The New York
Times Misses the Mark." Race_media_nyt.pdf.
[4] Editor's Note, "How Race is Lived in America," New York Times, 4 June, 1.
[5] There are many articles and books about the crisis caused by the
crash and also about the subsequent Depression, including the work
of: Broadus Mitchell, Depression Decade: From New Era through New
Deal, 1929-1941 (New York: Rinehart, 1947); Catherine McNicol Stock,
Main Street in Crisis: The Great Depression and the Old Middle Class
on the Northern Plains (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press. 1992); Charles W. Calomiris, "Financial Factors in the Great
Depression," Journal of Economic Perspectives Vol. 7, (2) 1993, 61;
Robert S. McElvaine, The Great Depression: America 1929-1941 (New
York: Times Books, 1981); and Harold Bierman Jr., The Great Myths of
1929 and the Lessons to Be Learned (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991).
[6] For still more details see: Milton Meltzer, Brother Can You
Spare A Dime: The Great Depression 1929-1933 (New York: Random House, 1973), 6.
[7] See for example, T. H. Watkins, The Hungry Years: A Narrative
History of the Great Depression in America (New York: Henry Holt &
Company, 1991); and Studs Terkel, Hard Times: An Oral History of the
Great Depression (New York: Pantheon Books, 1970).
[8] Carole Marks, Farewell –We're Good and Gone: The Great Black
Migration, (Bloomington, Ind., Indiana University Press, 1989, 2-3.
[9] Joe W. Trotter Jr. "Migration/Population," in Jack Salzman,
David Lionel Smith, Cornel West, eds. Encyclopedia of
African-American Culture and History (New York: Simon and Schuster
Macmillan, 1996), 1779-1785.
[10] Herbert W. Horwill, "A Negro Exodus," Contemporary Review 114,
(September, 1918), 299.
[11] Alan D. DeSantis, "Selling the American Dream Myth to Black
Southerners, The Chicago Defender and the Great Migration of
1915-1919," Western Journal of Communication, 62, (4) (Fall 1988).
[12] Neil Fligstein, Going North: Migration of Blacks and Whites
from the South, 1900-1950 (New York: Academic Press), 2.
[13] Along with the Chicago Defender, other Black newspapers that
promoted Northern migration included: The Washington Bee; California
Eagle; Amsterdam News; Chicago Search Light; Chicago Broad-Ax;
Chicago Bee; Chicago Whip; New York Age: Philadelphia Tribune;
Baltimore Afro-American; and Pittsburgh Courier. See The Black Press
in the Middle West, 1865-1985, ed. Henry Lewis Suggs (Westport, Conn:
Greenwood Press, 1996), 26-28, 40. Also see James Grossman, Land of
Hope: Chicago Black Southerners and the Great Migration (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1989.) Also Adam McKible, "Our (?)
Country: Mapping 'These Colored United States' in The Messenger," in
The Black Press: New Literary and Historical Essays (New Brunswick,
New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2001).
[14] Carolyn A. Stroman, "The Chicago Defender and Mass Migration of
Blacks, 1916-1918,"Journal of Popular Culture, 15 (Fall, 1981).
[15] Felicia G. Jones Ross, Joseph P. McKerns, "Depression in 'The
Promised Land': The Chicago Defender Discourages Migration,
1929-1940,"American Journalism, 21 (1), 55-73.
[16] Juliet K. Walker, "The Promised Land: The Chicago Defender and
the Black Press in Illinois," in The Black Press in the Middle West.
[17] Rayford Logan, The Betrayal of the Negro, 4th ed. (Toronto:
Macmillan Co., 1969), 6.
[18] Ross, McKerns, "Depression," 60.
[19] The two papers studied from Baltimore in 1929 were: the
Baltimore Afro-American, editor Carl J. Murphy, estimated circulation
(weekly) 49,384, as reported by N.W. Ayers and Sons Directory of
Newspapers, 1930; and the Baltimore Sun, editor William Moore and J.
Ed. Murphy. The Sun's daily circulation in 1929 was reported as
149,998, according to the Editor & Publisher International Yearbook,
1930, Vol. 62, No. 36, 54. Many African-American newspapers from this
time frame were not listed in the E & P Yearbook and thus their
circulation numbers are hard to verify independently.
[20] The Chicago Defender was the African-American newspaper studied
here, editor Robert S. Abbot, estimated circulation 208,000,
according to Ayers and Sons, 1930. The white newspaper examined here
was the Chicago Tribune, editor Col. Robert McCormick. The Tribune
reported daily circulation was 857,595 in 1929 of 857,595, according
to the E & P International Yearbook, 1930, Vol. 62, No. 36, 38.
[21] The African-American newspaper studied in Indianapolis was the
Indianapolis Recorder, the editor in 1929 was Fannie Caldwell Stewart
and the paper's circulation 27,100, according to Ayers and Sons,
1930. The corresponding white paper was the Indianapolis Star,
editors John C. Shaffer and James A. Stuart. The Star had a daily
circulation of 111,989 reported for 1929, according to the E & P
International Yearbook 1930, Vol. 62, No. 36, 44.
[22] The two papers studied in Los Angeles were: the
African-American weekly, the California Eagle, editor in 1929, Joseph
Blackburn Bass, reported weekly circulation, 4,750, according to
Ayers and Sons, 1930: and the Los Angeles Times, editor Ralph
Trueblood, with a daily circulation of 162,034, according to the E &
P International Yearbook 1930, Vol. 62, No. 36, 22.
[23] The African-American newspaper studied in New Orleans was the
Louisiana Weekly. The editor in 1929 was CC DeJoie. The circulation
is not officially recorded in any of the three standard circulation
references, the Audit Bureau of Circulation, N. W. Ayers and Sons, or
Editor and Publisher International Yearbook. But an unconfirmed Nov.
2, 1929 front-page one-line blurb in the Weekly said the circulation
was 1,500. The corresponding white paper was the Times-Picayune,
editors Leonard Nicholson and Martin Durkin. The Times-Picayune had a
daily circulation of 139,608 reported for 1929, according to the E &
P International Yearbook, 1930, Vol. 62, No. 36, 54.
[24] The two newspapers examined in New York City in 1929 were: the
African-American paper, the Amsterdam News, editor Sadie Warren in
1929, estimated weekly circulation, 26,458, according to Ayers and
Sons, 1930; and the New York Times, editor Rollo Ogden, with a
reported daily circulation of 428,007 in 1929, according to the E & P
International Yearbook, 1930, Vol. 62, No. 36, 54
[25] The African-American newspaper studied in Norfolk was the
Norfolk Journal and Guide. The editor in 1929 was Thomas Young and
the paper's estimated weekly circulation was 15,000, as reported by
Ayers and Sons, 1930. The corresponding white paper selected was the
Virginian-Pilot, editors Louis Jaffe and Winder Harris. The Pilot had
a daily circulation of 46,457 reported for 1929, according to the E &
P International Yearbook, 1930, Vol. 62, No. 36, 110.
[26] The African-American newspaper studied in Oklahoma City was the
Black Dispatch. The editor in 1929 was Roscoe Dungee. Again,
circulation of this African-American paper could not be found in any
standard circulation reference publications. The corresponding white
paper selected was the Daily Oklahoman, editors E.K. Gaylord and W.M.
Harrison. The Oklahoman had a daily circulation of 99,741 reported
for 1929, according to the E & P International Yearbook, 1930, Vol.
62, No. 36, 90.
[27] The African-American newspaper studied in Philadelphia was the
Philadelphia Tribune. The editor in 1929 was Eugene Washington Rhodes
and reported weekly circulation was 16,539, according to Ayers and
Sons, 1930. The corresponding white paper selected was the
Philadelphia Inquirer, editors Charles H. Heustis and John T. Custis.
The Inquirer had a daily circulation of 288,494 reported for 1929,
according to the E & P International Yearbook, 1930, Vol. 62, No. 36, 96.
[28] The African-American newspaper studied in Washington D.C. was
the Washington Tribune with an estimated circulation of 8,500,
according to Ayers and Sons, 1930. The corresponding white paper
selected was the Washington Post, editors Edward M. McClean and
Norman W. Baxter. The Post had a daily circulation of 77,921 reported
for 1929, according to the E & P International Yearbook, 1930, Vol.
62, No. 36, 30.
[29] For a recent study of the demographics of letter-to-the-editor
writers, see: Bill Reader, Guido H. Stempel III and Douglass K.
Daniel, "Age, Wealth, Education Predict Letters to the Editor,"
Newspaper Research Journal, 25, (4), Fall 2004, 55; demographics of
letter writers are also mentioned by Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, "Letters
to the Editor as a Forum for Public Deliberation: Modes of Publicity
and Democratic Debate," Critical Studies in Mass Communication 18,
no. 3, September 2001, 303-320; and Emmett Buell, Jr., "Eccentrics or
Gladiators? People Who Write About Politics in Letters to the
Editor,"Social Science Quarterly 56 (December 1975), 440-49.
[30] Kalman Seigel, ed., Talking Back to the New York Times:
Letters to the Editor, 1851-1971 (New York: Quadrangle Books, 1972), 3.
[31] Many studies have looked at agenda-setting, starting with
Maxwell E. McCombs and Donald L. Shaw "The Agenda-Setting Function of
Mass Media," Public Opinion Quarterly, 1972, 176-187. McCombs and
Shaw have updated their work, along with co-author David Weaver, in
Communication and Democracy: Exploring the Intellectual Frontiers in
Agenda-Setting Theory (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erblaum, 1997). Another
important discussion of agenda-setting was written by Michael Bruce
MacKuen, "Social Communication and the Mass Policy Agenda," in
Michael Bruce MacKuen and Steven Lane Coombs, More Than News: Media
Power in Public Affairs (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1981), 17- 44.
[32] Seigel, Talking Back, 9.
[33] James Bryce, The American Commonwealth (London: Macmillan and
Co., 1891), 265.
[34] David Nord, "Reading the Newspaper, Strategies and Politics of
Reader Response, Chicago 1912-1917," Journal of Communication, 45
(3), 1995, 67.
[35] Reader, Stempel, Daniel, "Age," Newspaper Research Journal, 55.
[36] In 1929 the term African-American was not in general use,
although there was a newspaper in Baltimore that called itself the
Afro-American. Instead "black," "Negro," and "colored people," were
the more common terms. For purposes of this research,
African-American will be the preferred use, however, except when it
is historically inaccurate to do so, for example when quoting from
primary documents.
[37] Roland E. Wolsely, The Black Press, U.S.A. (Ames, Iowa: Iowa
State University Press, 1971), 3-4.
[38] Armistead S. Pride and Clint C. Wilson, A History of the Black
Press (Washington D.C: Howard University Press, 1997), 13, 27.
[39] Lawrence Hogan, A Black National News Service: The Associated
Negro Press and Claude Barnett, 1919-1945 (Cranbury, N.J: Associate
University Presses, 1984), 120. Also William G. Jordan, Black
Newspapers and America's War for Democracy, 1914-1920 (Chapel Hill,
North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2001), 6.
[40] St. Clair Drake and Horace Clayton, Black Metropolis: A Study
of Negro Life in a Northern City (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1945), 3.
[41] David Levering Lewis, When Harlem was in Vogue (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1981), 109.
[42] Roi Ottley, Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S.
Abbott (Chicago: Henry Regency Company, 1955), 8; Also Walker, Black Press, 25.
[43] Ottley, Lonely Warrior, 138-139.
[44] "Rewards for Murder," Chicago Defender, 2 November 1929, 16.
[45] "For 2340 Weeks," Philadelphia Tribune, 28 November 1929, 16.
[46] Dennis A. Bethea, "Nat Turner," Chicago Defender, 23 November 1929, 14.
[47] Nannie D. Bell, "More Race Mixing," Amsterdam News, 30 October 1929, 20.
[48] "Do Colored Men Go Out with White Women Merely to Show Them
Off," Amsterdam News, 30 October 1929, 20.
[49] Frances Flatts, "Anent Race Mixing," Amsterdam News, 6 November 1929, 20.
[50] Anna O Edwards, "Devil's Playground," Amsterdam News, 6
November 1929, 20.
[51] R.R. Wright, "The Attack on Dr. Wright," Philadelphia Tribune,
7 November 1929, 16.
[52] Signed "One Who Loves His Race," Washington Tribune, 29
November 1929, 16.
[53] Stewart E. Tolnay and E. M. Beck, A Festival of Violence: An
Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930 (Urbana: University of
Illinois Press, 1995), 202.
[54] Shawn Lay, ed. The Invisible Empire in the West: Toward a New
Historical Appraisal of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s (Chicago:
University of Illinois Press, 2004).
[55] Pride and Wilson, History of Black Press, 141.
[56] "Last Minute Antics," Virginian-Pilot, 1 November 1929, 6.
[57] L. H. Thompson, "A Magistrate Chides Us," Virginian-Pilot, 1
November 1929, 6.
[58] George S. Schulyer, "Negro Lobbyists Urged, Needed to Watch
Interests of the Race," Washington Tribune, 29 November 1929, 14.
[59] "Who are the Leaders," Baltimore Afro-American, 11 November 1929, 6.
[60] Ottley, Lonely Warrior, 162.
[61] "Socialism in New York and Baltimore," Baltimore Sun, 12
November 1929, 14.
[62] Peter J. Pesi, "Blames Losses on Writers," Chicago Tribune, 9
November 1929, 14.
[63] H. O. Stuckney, "Money that Helps Speculation Instead of Real
Estate Development," Virginian-Pilot, 21 November 1929, 6.
[64] "A Penalty Tax on Profits," Chicago Tribune, 14 November 1929, 14.
[65] "America's Wailing Wall is a Street," Virginian-Pilot, 30
October 1929, 6.
[66] Following is a summary of the economics editorials of each of
the 10 white newspapers: the Baltimore Sun wrote seven editorials
about Wall Street. In them the paper accused others of
sensationalizing accounts of the "stock market break" simply to panic
readers; the Daily Oklahoman wrote four editorials that said the U.S.
economy was essentially stable and speculators were the only ones
facing serious loss; the Chicago Tribune wrote two editorials, all
with the same basic message—"stay calm, we have full confidence in
the economy"; the Indianapolis Star wrote 13 editorials that stressed
that "business is going on as usual"; the Los Angeles Times wrote
four editorials that repeated the notion that the chief danger of the
stock crash was largely psychological, in that people may lose faith
in business; the New York Times wrote four editorials in which they
warned that amateurs who don't understand the stock market should not
invest, especially if seeking short term gain; the Philadelphia
Inquirer wrote 10 editorials that among others things urged calm
among investors and warned that "a boom psychology has given place
to a psychology of fear"; the Times Picayune wrote 11 editorials in
total, many of them stressing the notion that while "inflated stock
values must come down, bedrock real estate values must go up"; among
the Virginian-Pilot 's 34 economic editorials, it wrote its strange
series of one-liner joke editorials and a few longer pieces that said
that "emotion has usurped the place of reason" on Wall Street; and
finally the Washington Post wrote two editorials, one that bemoaned
investor panic and another that warned no politician should try to
blame the financial crisis on one political party or another.
[67] Virginian-Pilot, 30 October 1929, 1.
[68] Philadelphia Inquirer, 29 October 1929, 1.
[69] Indianapolis Star, 30 October 1929, 1.
[70] Grossman, Land of Hope, 83; and Ottley, Lonely Warrior, 159-167.
[71] "Truth is Stranger Than Fiction," Chicago Defender, 20 January
1923, 14; "To A Better Land I Know," Chicago Defender, 26 May 1923,
16; "Three Wise Men," Chicago Defender, 22 December 1923, 14.
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