ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, Volume 31 (Spring 1974), p. 220   Negro Legislators in Arkansas, 1891: A Document   By WILLARD B. GATEWOOD, JR.* Fayetteville   THE PAUCITY OF EXTANT NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED BY NEGROES IN THE SOUTH between the end of Reconstruction and the outbreak of World War I obviously poses serious problems for researchers in the field of Afro-American history and race relations. Numerous Negro journals came into existence in the region during this era, but scant financial resources and limited circulation forced many to cease publication within a few years (1). Except for the Savannah Tribune, Richmond Planet and a few others, the files of southern black newspapers available to historians are woefully incomplete. Consequently, studies devoted to the history of Negroes and/or race relations in the South between 1877 and 1917 have relied heavily upon the white press. Unfortunately, such studies have rarely taken advantage of a source which would help to give balance to analyses of the attitudes and actions of black southerners. That source is the Negro press in the North and Midwest.   Black journals which flourished in Kansas, Ohio, Indiana and other states outside the South in the age of Booker T. Washington and have been available on microfilm for twenty years contain abundant information on black southerners. These journals not only reprinted generously from southern black newspapers which are no longer extant but also published news items, feature stories and editorials concerning Negro life in the South. __________________ * The author is Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas. 1. For a perceptive discussion of black newspapers see Emma L. Thornbrough, "American Negro Newspapers, 1880-1914," Business History Review, XL (Winter 1966), 467-490.           Contents  Words  Study Questions  Related Sites Next Page