TheGary American was a newspaper that operated from the 1920s to the 1990s inGary, Indiana, serving the African American community of that city. It was known for its strong stance in favor ofcivil rights, and its strong support of theDemocratic Party.
Founded in 1927 as theGary Colored American, for its first three decades theAmerican was owned and operated by the Whitlock family. TheAmerican was a weekly for most of its history, became a biweekly in the 1980s[1] and ceased publication in the late 20th century.
At the outset, theAmerican covered only national and local Gary news.[1] In the 1940s, however, it widened its geographic scope to incorporate a regular column on the African-American community in neighboringEast Chicago.[1]
In 1927,Arthur B. Whitlock, David E. Taylor, and Chauncey Townsend headed the formation of theGary American Publishing Company in Gary, Indiana. A.B. Whitlock, who in 1921 had become the first African-American member of the Gary City Council,[2] published the first issue of theGary Colored American on November 10, with Townsend as editor and Whitlock acting as manager.[3]
In 1928, theGary Colored American changed its name to theGary American, becoming one of Gary's most prominent African American newspapers. While initial circulation numbers are unavailable, theAmerican claimed in 1928 a readership of nearly 2,000 readers. In 1929, its masthead asserted that theAmerican was an "independent paper" devoted to African American interests in Northern Indiana. In the 1920s and 1930s, its reporters highlighted the increase of lynchings across the U.S., the struggle of integrating Marquette Beach, and labor concerns regarding the United Steel Workers at Gary Steel.[3]
From 1934 to 1936, Black attorney Fritz Alexander served as editor until Arthur B. Whitlock regained control, and he left the company once again in 1938. Attorney F. Louis Sperling was elected editor and acting manager. Between November 1938 and February 1939, Wallace L. Johnson served as editor before being charged with embezzling the institution's funds, leading to A. B. Whitlock to regain control over the Gary American Publishing Company.[3]
TheGary American stayed within the Whitlock family for the next seventeen years, with Henry O. Whitlock becoming manager in 1944 and his wife, Edwina, becoming editor in 1947. Henry Oliver Whitlock died of a heart attack on May 5, 1960,[4] and Edwina Whitlock operated the paper for a year thereafter.[1]
In 1961, Edwina Whitlock sold theAmerican to a group of three purchasers, including James T. Harris Jr. and Fred Harris, both of whom would serve in turn as managers of the paper. Under their leadership, theAmerican expanded its circulation to East Chicago, reaching approximately 9,000 readers.[3][5]
From the 1960s until its closure, theGary American was one of three African-American newspapers serving the city of Gary (together with theGary Crusader andGary Info), a uniquely large number among American cities.[5] For some of this period the city was also served by a special Gary edition of theChicago Defender.[6]
By the 1980s, theGary American published only once every two weeks.[1] TheGary Info, a competing paper that James T. Harris Jr. founded in 1963,[5] absorbed theGary American in the late 20th century.
The Urban League had documented evidence of racial injustice in numerous reports; the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance had drawn attention to the injustices; the NAACP had demonstrated against segregated public facilities; and the GaryAmerican had brought these social issues to the attention of the black community.[7]
TheGary Colored American led reporting on the 1927Emerson School Walkout, when white students and parents protested the integration of six African American students into the school. In response,Colored American reporters advocated for the construction ofRoosevelt High School to serve Gary's African American children.[3]
TheAmerican brought attention to many crucial public issues, including the fight againstpolice brutality[8] and the struggle to integrate Gary's only public beach atMarquette Park, which continued until at least 1951.[9] It heralded Gary's adoption of a fair employment practices ordinance in 1950, the first city ordinance of its kind.[5] It also covered the African-American struggle within theUnited Steel Workers union at theGary Works.[10] It also chronicled important gains by the city's African-American community, including the first African-American recipient of a taxi license in 1945, and the first African-American appointee to theGary School Board in 1949.[11] Edwina Whitlock published her own column, "First Person Singular," for many years, addressing a variety of women's issues, such as education, race relations, and domestic life. Throughout Whitlock's leadership, theAmerican heavily focused on the emerging local activism within the community by exposing discriminatory funding within Gary's public education system as well as following the local boycott againstKroger Stores for refusing to hire African American employees.[3]
In addition to these local battles, theAmerican also provided close coverage of the nationalU.S. civil rights movement. After F. Louis Sperling was elected editor and acting manager, his legal influence filtered through as theAmerican released articles on monumental rulings in the U.S. criminal justice system such as theScottsboro Boys trials, theAnti-Lynching Bill of 1937, and the effects ofPresident Roosevelt'sNew Deal on African American jobs, in addition to heralding such developments as theBrown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, and theGreensboro sit-ins of 1960.[3][5]
Although founder A.B. Whitlock had been aRepublican, over time theAmerican became increasingly tied to theDemocratic Party, although it endorsed some Republicans for office even afterWorld War II.[12]
Following the election ofRichard Hatcher as mayor of Gary in 1967, theAmerican focused increasingly on community revitalization efforts.[5]