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Newspaper The Northwestern Recorder (Milwaukee, Wis.) 1892-1893

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About The Northwestern Recorder (Milwaukee, Wis.) 1892-1893

The Wisconsin Afro-American was a weekly African American newspaper published in Milwaukee, WI from April 1892 to November 1892. In late 1892, the newspaper decided to cover a wider region of news for readers in the Northwestern region of the U.S., thus becoming the Northwestern Recorder. This title change was announced on the front page of the November 19, 1892 issue of the Afro-American in the article “Why We Change Our Name” that claimed the increased circulation spurred the title change. Reverend George A. Brown and Thomas H. Jones edited and published both titles, until Jones left the Recorderin January 1893. Soon after the title change and Jones’s departure, the newspaper transitioned to a monthly in January 1893. In the January 14, 1893 issue of the Recorder, Brown announced in a “Special Notice” that his ministerial work prevented him from publishing weekly issues. The following issues were published monthly as eight-page editions that primarily contained editorials and news articles on local and national events.

The Northwestern Recorder provided information about various topics, including racial issues, interesting events and places, and updates about the newspaper and its editors. In the December 3, 1892 issue, the newspaper published “What Should We Do” which discussed the current state of African Americans in the U.S, stating: “things may look dark now, but keep moving. Don’t drop out of the line of march. The future of the negro depends more upon his brain, energy and business qualities, than on any political scheme or party of schemers.” The Northwestern Recorder also included many anecdotal stories throughout each issue, such as “FOUND A QUICKSILVER MINE” and “Ancient Water Colors” that were included in the December 3, 1892 issue.

The religious community of Milwaukee and surrounding areas played a significant role in the Northwestern Recorder. The newspaper included an extensive list of congregation leaders and upcoming conferences in several issues, and ministers frequently submitted articles to the newspaper and later became involved in the publication. The February and March 1893 issues name Rev. R. H. Williamson, Rev. D.P. Brown, and Rev. Wm. A. Bruce as corresponding editors. Additionally, readers could find news about Milwaukee locals in the “Cream City Items” column that was later expanded to include news about residents in Milwaukee, Racine, Chicago, and Evanston, under the column name “Personal Mention.”

The Northwestern Recorder ceased publication in March 1893. According to historian Joe William Trotter in Black Milwaukee: The Making of an Industrial Proletariat, 1915-45, the newspaper folded due to severe financial struggles. Trotter notes that the Black Press of late 19th century Wisconsin heavily relied on white support in the form of donations, initial capital, and advertisements. The Northwest Recorder was heavily supported by advertisement revenue, as seen in the several pages of ads promoting various products, companies, and services, however, this advertisement support seemingly decreased in 1893, as the number of advertisements featured in each issue noticeably diminished. In The Black Press of the Middle West, 1865-1985, Henry Lewis Suggs claims that the short-lived publication of Wisconsin’s first Black newspaper was primarily due to a slow-growing Black community in the state. Suggs notes that the Northwestern Recorder‘s frequent notices promoting the need for Black domestic workers in Wisconsin helped to grow the community, leading to the success of later Wisconsin newspapers.

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 Northwestern Recorder (Milwaukee, Wis.) 1892-1893

Dates of Publication

  • 1892-1893

Created / Published

  • Milwaukee, Wis. : Jones & Brown, 1892-1893.

Headings

  • -  African American newspapers--Wisconsin
  • -  African Americans--Wisconsin--Newspapers
  • -  Milwaukee (Wis.)--Newspapers
  • -  Milwaukee County (Wis.)--Newspapers
  • -  African American newspapers
  • -  African Americans
  • -  Wisconsin
  • -  Wisconsin--Milwaukee
  • -  Wisconsin--Milwaukee County
  • -  United States--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--Milwaukee

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Monthly, Feb. 1893-Mar. 1893
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 36 (Dec. 3, 1892)-v. 2, no. 2 (Mar. 1893).
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service.

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper
  • AN

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84025845

OCLC Number

  • 10435741

ISSN Number

  • 2643-3788

Preceding Titles

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.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://www.loc.gov/ndnp/listawardees.html.

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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 Northwestern Recorder Milwaukee, Wis. -1893. (Milwaukee, WI), Jan. 1 1892. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025845/.

APA citation style:

(1892, January 1) The Northwestern Recorder Milwaukee, Wis. -1893. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025845/.

MLA citation style:

The Northwestern Recorder Milwaukee, Wis. -1893. (Milwaukee, WI) 1 Jan. 1892. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84025845/.