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Business and Economic News
Brandt Williams

Oldest Black-owned newspaper in Minnesota turning 90 years old

An image of three front page newspapers
An image collage of the front page of the Minneapolis Spokesman published on Aug. 10, 1934, May 21, 1954 and Aug. 14, 1959.
Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

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The oldest Black-owned newspaper in Minnesota is celebrating 90 years of publication. On Aug. 10, 1934, the Minneapolis Spokesman and the St. Paul Recorder began printing news for what was then a small, but growing, Black community. The papers would later be combined into the Minnesota Spokesman.

Founder Cecil Newman, who came to Minnesota in the 1920s, included a front-page editorial in the inaugural issue titled, “We have faith and confidence in Minneapolis and St. Paul.” In it, Newman wrote the paper’s mission was to “speak out fearlessly and unceasingly against injustice, discrimination and all imposed inequalities.”

Newman died in 1976. His widow, Launa Q. Newman, took over as publisher until she died in 2009. Tracey Williams-Dillard, Cecil Newman’s granddaughter, is the current CEO and publisher.

The paper will hold a series of events to commemorate the paper’s milestone including a gala on Aug. 17.

The Minnesota Historical Society’s digital archive includes past issues.