Revankar and Senthil 1
Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources:
A headline from the Chicago Defender at its height of operations. The Chicago Defender.
https://www.libertarianism.org/articles/chicago-defender-how-black-owned-newspaper-fo
ught-racial-equality
This primary source is a picture of a headline from the Chicago Defender editorial during
the heights of its operation. While we talked about how the federal government didn’t
favor the publishing of the paper due to its radical views and support for popular
demands for safety, equal rights, and the recognition of black soldiers who fought in
Europe, this image shows the other face of the federal government that responded to the
demands of African Americans and addressed the injustice.
Chicago Defender Charities archives. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2021, from
https://chicagodefender.com/tag/chicago-defender-charities/
This page from the Chicago Defender (Chicago Defender Charities) gave us many
images to put on our website. These images mostly helped us explain the long and short
term impacts of the Chicago Defender.
Davey, Monica, and John Eligon. “The Chicago Defender, Legendary Black Newspaper, Prints
Last Copy.” The New York Times, 9 July 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/chicago-defender-newspaper.html.
This New York Times issue talks about the legacy the Chicago Defender has left behind
after publishing over a century. It talks about how the current challenges the paper is
facing due to a shift to technology for news instead of papers and gives an in-depth
history of how it all started. From this source, we were able to use many images and Revankar and Senthil 2
quotes (primary sources) for our website to portray the impact the paper had on society in
multiple ways.
“Front Page of the Chicago Defender.” Chicago Defender, 4 Apr. 1925.
This front page of the Chicago Defender features the main headline for the day“Klan
burns k…” This image depicts the gruesome acts of the Ku Klux Klan towards Black
Americans and Abbotts honest coverage of these crimes. It shows that the Defender
wasn’t afraid to write about controversial events happening in the South and was
campaigning for a change of the Black Americans.
“Front Page of the Chicago Defender.” Chicago Defender, 21 July 1951.
This front page of the Chicago Defender features the main headline for the day “Cicero
Riots Over Vets,” and we believed this would be a perfect image to use for our
background collage for our website, because it justifies a claim we made regarding the
paper--that it sought to call out the constant violence and rioting associated with race.
Because this was an everyday topic for the paper, we felt it was important to include this
example.
“Front Page of the Chicago Defender.” Chicago Defender, 6 May 1926.
This front page of the Chicago Defender features the main headline for the day “Bessie
Coleman, Aviatrix, Killed,” and we knew that this picture of the paper would also be
perfect for the putting together the background for our website because it provided a
visual depiction of the way the Defender followed the stories of great Black American
figures, such as Bessie Coleman. In this case, the headline announces Coleman’s death, Revankar and Senthil 3
so this image also testifies to the way the Defender wouldn't shy away from sharing
strong emotions, such as grief, with its audience.
“Front Page of the Chicago Defender.” Chicago Defender, 29 Oct. 1955.
This front page of the Chicago Defender features the main headline for the day “Hooded
Men Shoot 12 In Dixie.” We used this image of the paper for the background because it
provided an example of the blunt, honest language that the Defender wrote with. The
headline in this case serves to not only provoke caution, but also call attention to the
prevalence of hate crimes all across the country.
“Front Page of the Chicago Defender.” Chicago Defender, 10 Sept. 1955.
This front page of the Chicago Defender displays various headlines surrounding the
lynching of a 14-year old boy, Emmett Till. We believed this would be a perfect fit for
our background because it serves as justification for our discussion of how the Defender
really brought the most painful, often controversial topics into national spotlight. In other
words, this front page justifies our characterization of the paper.
Front page of the Chicago Defender on August 2, 1919. (2020, June 2). Retrieved April 12,
2021, from https://www.chicagohistory.org/chi1919/ (Originally photographed 1919,
August 2).
This image served as the background image for our website. Though not all the text is
visible, the big, bold words “RIOT SWEEPS” in a way represent the truth of black lives
during the early 20th century that Abbott made his goal to share with everyone.
Jackson, Jay. “‘As Others See Us: Untouchable.’” Chicago Defender, 1934 July 1934. Revankar and Senthil 4
This primary source is a cartoon from a 1934 edition of the Chicago Defender. The
cartoon’s portrayal of a complex situation, the divisiveness amongst black Americans,
especially with regards to differences between skin tones, implies that the Chicago
Defender had a fairly comprehensive understanding of the social situation afflicting black
Americans. Many other cartoons by Jay Jackson portray similar social tensions, and these
helped to shed light on the nuances of societal oppression.
Jackson, Jay. “Bungleton Green.” The Chicago Defender, 28 Nov. 1942.
This cartoon titled “Bungletoon Green,” is part of a larger series of cartoons published in
various issues of the Chicago Defender. This particular cartoon depicts a young black
superhero--a rare fictional character to come across in the early 20th century. The public
wasn’t used to black characters being propped up as a character or personality of heroes,
and so this cartoon depicted a unique circumstance, substantiating our argument that the
Chicago Defender uplifted the black community.
Jackson, Jay. “‘That's Not the Way to Spell Ignorant Savages.’” Chicago Defender, 8 July 1939.
This cartoon by notable cartoonist for the Chicago Defender Jay Jackson is satirical in
that it mocks the way imperialism and the white man has installed a superiority complex
over black people. The Chicago Defender’s cartoons were known for their personality,
and successfully called attention to underlying social tension between racial groups and
inherent biases against black Americans.
Jacob Lawrence. "One-Way Ticket." Museum of Modern Art courtesy The Phillips Collection,
Washington D.C. via AP(The Associated Press) Revankar and Senthil 5
This image is a very popular painting depicting the mass migration of blacks from the
south to the north during the early twentieth century–the Great Migration. We used this
image on our tab about the influence of the Chicago Defender on the Great Migration.
Since this painting is a popular representation of the Great Migration, we thought it
would fit with the content on the page.
Jan Voogd. “Race Riots and Resistance: The Red Summer of 1919,” (New York: Peter Lang,
2008), 165. Accessed 2 Mar. 2021.
This website provided us with a quote describing the challenges the Chicago Defender
faced through its journey of propagating the black story to the racially diverse (and
divided) America.
Katz, Brigit. “The 'Chicago Defender,' an Iconic Black Newspaper, to Release Its Last Print
Issue.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 9 July 2019,
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/chicago-defender-iconic-black-newspaper-releasi
ng-its-last-print-issue-180972586/.
This article gave a brief history of the paper and Abbot, the man behind the paper. It
complemented the information we found in other sources. We used an image (“Exterior
view of the "Chicago Defender" building in the 1950s”) and a quote from this article on
our website.
“‘Letters of Negro Migrants of 1916-1918’ Published in The Journal of Negro History (July and
October, 1919).” Great Migration Letters, 1918-1918, history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/260GMigration.html.
This primary source provided first-hand accounts of black migrants from the time period
1916-1918, or during the time of the Great Migration. This group of letters helped to Revankar and Senthil 6
provide insight into the perspectives of black migrants, and facilitated our understanding
of the Chicago Defender’s relationship to the Great Migration.
“One Must Be Extinguished.” Chicago Defender, 31 Mar. 1923.
This primary source depicts the struggle between liberty and the Ku Klux Klan, in
regards to the Chicago Defender, because as emphasized by Abbott in the editorial
provided in this March issue, the Ku Klux Klan was a major opponent of the paper, and it
sought to restrict the paper’s influence on the advocacy for civil rights. Abbott’s frank
tone in this editorial certainly demonstrates the Defender’s characteristically
straightforward, outspoken stance on these issues.
“‘Sir I Will Thank You with All My Heart’: Seven Letters from the Great Migration.” HISTORY
MATTERS - The U.S. Survey Course on the Web, historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5332/.
This online primary source was retrieved from the “History Matters” website, and
featured a compilation of seven letters, originally handwritten, regarding the Great
Migration. These letters aided in developing our understanding around the financial
struggles of black families at the time, as they conveyed true feelings regarding the
oppressive economic circumstances of the South. The specific quote from Natchez
displays desperation and fear regarding his family’s economic struggles, and implies that
a move to the North might mean recovery.
Shelton, Paul. Contributing Writer July 23. “Black Live Matters Files Lawsuit against the
Federal Government, CPD and the Fraternal Order of Police.” Chicago Defender, 24 July
2020, Revankar and Senthil 7
chicagodefender.com/black-live-matters-files-lawsuit-against-the-federal-government-cp
d-and-the-fraternal-order-of-police/.
This primary source was retrieved from the official website of the Chicago Defender.
Specifically taken from an article detailing a lawsuit against the law enforcement and
other authority for police brutality, it successfully conveys the heated sentiment
surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. The picture helps us to portray a
long-term cause that the paper supported up until today.
Staples, Brent. “'The Defender,' by Ethan Michaeli.” The New York Times, The New York
Times, 4 Jan. 2016,
www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/books/review/the-defender-by-ethan-michaeli.html.
This book by Ethan Michaeli (we were able to access an excerpt from “The New York
Times”) provides a detailed history of the Chicago Defender and the efforts of the
successor to ensure the integrity of the paper was upheld. Composed of multiple
interviews of politicians to get their perspective of how the Chicago Defender shaped
American journalism, this source provided us with quotes from major political figures
(such as Obama) and also images to incorporate into our website.
Stovall, Mary E. “The ‘Chicago Defender’ in the Progressive Era.” Illinois Historical Journal,
vol. 83, no. 3, 1990, pp. 159–172. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40192302. Accessed 28
Feb. 2021.
This journal article provided information on how the Chicago Defender related to the
Progressive Era during the early twentieth century. It discussed the perspective held by
the paper when addressing government, business, social, and political reform and how it
impacted the actions taken by the black audience and society. This source also provided Revankar and Senthil 8
us with some quotes/excerpts and cartoons/images published in the paper which we could
analyze and use for our website.
Tolly, Victor. “Front Page of the Chicago Defender on November 15th, 1940.” , 6 Feb. 2020,
www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/chicago-defender-1905/.
This front page of the Chicago Defender includes the main headline for that day,
“Hansberry Decision Opens 500 New Homes to Race.” We decided to use this picture of
the paper for the background of our website because we thought it would fit the theme of
outspoken headlines we had, and it would also spotlight a small success in the the
struggle for black Americans’ financial security, as new homes to races implies that more
of the population is to be housed.
“VIDEO: Activists Demand D.C. 'Defund' Police amid Peaceful Protests after City Renames
Street 'Black Lives Matter Plaza'.” Edited by David Martosko, Chicago Defender, 8 June
2020,
chicagodefender.com/video-activists-demand-d-c-defund-police-amid-peaceful-protests-a
fter-city-renames-street-black-lives-matter-plaza/.
This primary source from the official website of the Chicago Defender is a picture
depicting adamant Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020. The picture helped us to
convey the paper’s advocacy of civil rights until today, which is a significant continuity.
The Chicago Defender’s site to this day follows up on issues regarding the black
community, never failing to do justice to its founding principles in 1905.
Secondary Sources: Revankar and Senthil 9
Bitner, Katherine A. “The Role of The Chicago Defender in The Great Migration of 1916–1918.”
Negro History Bulletin, vol. 48, no. 2, 1985, pp. 20–26. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/44176620. Accessed 2 Mar. 2021.
As the title suggests this journal article described the role Abbott's paper played in the
first wave of the Great Migration during the years 1916-1918. It helped us understand the
philosophy of black equality The Defender conveyed to its readers during this time
period.
Brack, Naomii. “The Chicago American Giants (1911-1956) •.” Blackpast, 28 Jan. 2021,
www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-chicago-american-giants-1911-1956/.
From this source, I used the image (Chicago American Giants, 1919, With Rube Foster in
the Dark Suit (Public Domain Image)). Abbot posted many pictures in his paper to show
stories of black achievement, especially in the North, such as the baseball team depicted
in the picture.
"Chicago Defender." Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 19 Aug. 2020.
academic-eb-com.eres.qnl.qa/levels/collegiate/article/Chicago-Defender/2511. Accessed
27 Feb. 2021.
This reference source was one of the first sources we looked into, and it really helped us
to determine whether we wanted to further delve into the topic while choosing the focus
of our project. It provided us with basic, foundational information that we then used to
branch out and research different aspects of the Chicago Defender. The general overview
that this source provided of the noteworthy newspaper took into account all of the
significant outcomes of the success of the Chicago Defender. Revankar and Senthil 10
Datcher, Mary L. “The Legacy of John H.H. Sengstacke: How He Influenced Black America.”
Chicago Defender, Real Times Media, 3 Aug. 2017,
chicagodefender.com/the-legacy-of-john-h-h-sengstacke-how-he-influenced-black-ameri
ca/.
This source, obtained from the official website of the Chicago Defender, shed light on the
major influences of John H.H. Sengstacke, nephew of Robert Abbott (the founder of the
paper), and major contributor to the paper as well. He was, like most of the Chicago
Defender writers, enthusiastic about the future of the black American community, and
sought to build passion within their sphere of influence. This particular source continues
to list the effects on black America that John H.H. Sengstacke had with his work with the
Chicago Defender.
Davis, Pablo J. "Robert Sengstacke Abbott (1868-1940)." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 01
November 2019. Web. 01 March 2021.
This source detailed the life and significance of Robert Abbott, the founder of the
Chicago Defender. Though less-known, Abbott was an influential historical figure, and
made many contributions to black America. This source details his goals with his work
with the Chicago Defender, and goes into further detail describing the obstacles he faced
while running the paper, which included constant condemnation from the unimpressed
white population of the South, who largely despised his newspaper for its exposure of
their racism.
DeSantis, Alan D. "A Forgotten Leader: Robert S. Abbott and the Chicago Defender from
1910–1920." Journalism History 23.2 (1997): 63-71. Revankar and Senthil 11
This article really helped us understand how the Chicago Defender was different from
other black presses during its time and why the content was considered a radical approach
to reformation of black lives in America . It briefly covered the major topics we wanted
to talk about in our project (the Progreessive Era, WW1, and effect on Journal) so we
were able to use this source to help analyze the effects of the paper on the readers.
Detweiler, Frederick German, 1881-1960. “The Negro Press In the United States.” Chicago, Ill.:
The University of Chicago press, 1922.
This book gave a brief overview of all the different Black presses in the United States. It
helped us understand the difference between the publications of different newspapers and
explained Abbott's subject approach to the news.
“Early Chicago: The Great Migration.” WTTW Chicago, 11 Sept. 2018,
interactive.wttw.com/dusable-to-obama/the-great-migration.
This secondary source provided us with an image originally retrieved from the Chicago
Defender Archives. This visual gave us a deeper understanding of the circumstances that
resulted in the Great Migration. In the image, a large black family is seen, and because of
restrictions on economic opportunities in the South, it is understandable that a black
family such as the one pictured would need to flee to the North. The website also
contained other pictures that enriched our understanding of black American’s stakes in
the Great Migration.
Gaillot, Ann-Derrick. “Chicago Defender Newspaper 'Re-Educated' Journalist about Black
America.” Street Roots, Street Roots, 28 Feb. 2016,
www.streetroots.org/news/2016/02/25/chicago-defender-newspaper-re-educated-journalis
t-about-black-america. Revankar and Senthil 12
This secondary source is from the Street Roots Organization, and featured an interview
with Ethan Michaeli, a journalist and author of a book titled, “The Defender.” In the
interview, Michaeli spoke highly of the Chicago Defender, and it’s significant influence
over his perspective of black America. A quote from his interview placed a spotlight on
how the Defender placed emphasis on how prevalent and obvious black Americans’
struggles against legal inequality and social inequality, among other disparities, were.
Grossman, James R. “Blowing the Trumpet: The ‘Chicago Defender’ and Black Migration
during World War I.” Illinois Historical Journal, vol. 78, no. 2, 1985, pp. 82–96. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/40191833. Accessed 4 Mar. 2021.
This journal article informed us on the different way the Chicago Defender played a role
in the first major “Great Migration” during the 1910s. The paper propagated the better
lifestyle blacks could live in the North (economically, socially, etc.) compared to the
South.
Jones, Felecia G. "The Role of the Black Press during the" Great Migration."." (1986).
This article helped us analyze how the content (multimedia, editorials, etc.) published by
the Chicago Defender influenced the Exodus of southern blacks to the North. It provided
many references to the cartoons included in the paper which could be used on our
website.
Lee, Ronda. “Bud Billiken Parade: Black Legacy And Heritage.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec.
2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/bud-billiken-parade-black_b_11426150. Accessed 2 Mar.
2021.
This article was a personal narrative/reflection of Ronda Lee and her experience with the
Bud Billiken Parade hosted by the Chicago Defender. It shows one of the various Revankar and Senthil 13
initiatives started by Abbott to take action on his mission to make a better life for black
Americans.
Leslie. “Social Protest and Unrest ‘The Language of the Unheard.’” The Crusader Newspaper
Group, Chicago Gary Online, 10 June 2020,
chicagocrusader.com/social-protest-and-unrest-the-language-of-the-unheard/.
This source brilliantly detailed the social developments of black America and the fight
for civil rights and financial independence, with a specific focus on the Chicago
Defender’s relationship with these topics. This source helped us to outline many of the
effects of the Chicago Defender that we included in our argument, or was within the
scope of our close research.
Lewis, Femi. "The Power of the Press: Black American News Publications in the Jim Crow Era."
ThoughtCo, Nov. 18, 2020, thoughtco.com/african-american-news-publications-45389.
This website helped us compare the Chicago Defender to other black press in the same
time period. The Chicago Defender was considered the most radical because of its bold
and gruesome content that illustrated the truth of black lives in America and the hardships
and tragedies they faced. The Chicago Defender was best known for utilizing yellow
journalism to call for change in the black society in America.
Madeo. “May 5, 1905: First Issue of the 'Chicago Defender' Is Published.” Home, 5 May 2020,
calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/may/05.
This website gave us information about the response to the Chicago Defender during the
WWI period. It talks about how “radical” that paper was viewed as and therefore was
accused of sedition. This fit our “Journalism” tab since we wanted to explain how
controversial the paper was. Revankar and Senthil 14
“May 5, 1905: Chicago Defender Founded.” Zinn Education Project, 2021,
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/chicago-defender-founded/.
This source was fascinating to us because we know Howard Zinn, the founder of this
website, for exposing the side of the oppressed in many specific contexts, but always in
general U.S. history. He calls out the predominant biases and motives of oppressors, and
exposes the suffering of the oppressed. His source provided us with multiple primary
source photographs of the background of the Chicago Defender, and really took into
account the huge impact that the paper had on the way that Americans viewed black
Americans. Though stirring up controversy, as mentioned by this source, black
Americans were enlightened by this paper, and this source did an admirable job of
describing this.
Michaeli, Ethan. Preface: Delphi on the Prairie. “The Defender: How the Legendary Black
Newspaper Changed America.” United States, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.
This book helped us understand how the Chicago Defender has shaped politics and
government and still plays a role in the career of many important political figures today
(like Barack Obama).
Milkis, Sidney M.. "Progressivism". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Oct. 2019,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/progressivism. Accessed 1 March 2021.
This website provided a basic explanation of the Progressive Era. From this source, we
were able to understand what reforms the Chicago Defender focused on and how the
paper was able to tell the story of black Americans through the reform movements. Revankar and Senthil 15
Mooney, Amy M., “Seeing ‘As Others See Us’: The Chicago Defender Cartoonist Jay Jackson
as Cultural Critic,” MELUS, Volume 39, Issue 2, Summer 2014, Pages 115–120,
https://doi.org/10.1093/melus/mlu009
This book clearly states Abbott's mission for writing the Chicago Defender. This helped
us form a cohesive thesis that included Abbott's mission along with how his writing
impacted communication of the black story.
Moser, Whet. “Four Ways the Chicago Defender Changed America.” Chicago Magazine, 12 Jan.
2016,
www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-2016/Ethan-Michaeli-Chicago-Defen
der/.
This secondary source described the political influence exercised by the Chicago
Defender, as well as its coverage of famous figures such as Barack Obama and Michael
Jackson and its major involvement in the Great Migration. We found the image of then
presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and John Sengstacke (a publisher of the paper) to
be indicative of just how powerful the Chicago Defender had become by the later 20th
century.
Nelson, Stanley. “Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords.” YouTube, featuring Joe Morton and
Ron Carter, California Newsreel, 1998,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruQarGb3368.
This video clip was from the film “Black Press: Soldiers Without Sword.” This was the
first film to present the history of the Black press and convey its crucial role in the
construction of modern African American identity. It recounts the largely forgotten
stories of generations of Black journalists, such as Robert Abbott (the creator for the Revankar and Senthil 16
Chicago Defender), who risked their life and livelihood so African Americans could
represent themselves in their own words. This clip really helped further our argument that
Abbott paper was one of the more dominant and radical ones to be published and
successfully conveyed the story of black Americans.
Person. “When Black Kids - Shut out of the World of Children's Literature - Took Matters into
Their Own Hands.” Salon, Salon.com, 19 Feb. 2021,
www.salon.com/2021/02/20/when-black-kids--shut-out-world-of-childrens-literature--too
k-matters-into-their-own-hands_partner/.
This secondary source provides an interesting perspective that gave us insight into a
black child’s perspective of American children’s literature, which often excluded the
black community’s experience from its narratives. The picture depicts three boys holding
issues of the Chicago Defender, and this conveys the dependence on the paper from all
members of the black American community, and its influence and presence as an
uplifting aspect of written work produced in America.
Rahman, Rasul. “Black History Month Robert Abbott.” BEACON, 29 Jan. 2019,
wybeaconnews.org/10098/black-history-month-people-of-distinction/black-history-mont
h-robert-abbott/.
This website gave us a better understanding of Robert Abbotts background and what
motivated him to start publishing The Defender. Though we weren’t able to incorporate
much of the information into our website, it provided us with an image (of Robert Abbott
him) for us to use on our website. This source, with the purpose of honoring Black
History Month, recognized Robert Abbott, though a less-known historical figure, as an
influential man in the fight for the black community’s rights. Detailing his peaceful ways Revankar and Senthil 17
of advocacy, with the Chicago Defender, he is depicted as someone with significant
priorities, which support the greater good of the black American community.
Reedus, Glenn. “Quotation of the Day: The Chicago Defender, Influential Black Newspaper,
Prints Final Copy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 July 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/todayspaper/quotation-of-the-day-the-chicago-defender-in
fluential-black-newspaper-prints-final-copy.html.
This secondary source was from the New York Times and it provided us with a quotation
from Glenn Reedus, a former editor of the Chicago Defender, during the time of the
paper transition from paper form to online. To us, the quote highlighted the openness and
expansiveness of the paper’s content, which enabled it to become so revolutionary among
other papers in American journalism in the 20th century.
“Remembering the Chicago Defender, Print Edition (1905 - 2019).” National Museum of
African American History and Culture, Smithsonian, 15 Aug. 2019,
nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/remembering-chicago-defender-print-edition-1905-2019.
This source detailed the legacy of the Chicago Defender and after providing insightful
background information regarding the paper, it went into detail about the various
movements and developments it contributed to, such as the black rights movement and
the Great Migration, which contributed to the eventual financial independence of the
black American population This source aided us with our research in that it supplemented
the knowledge of the Chicago Defender’s contributions to positively impacting the black
community. Revankar and Senthil 18
Staff, Tadias. “Tadias Magazine.” Spotlight: The Chicago Defender, One of America's Oldest
Black Newspapers at Tadias Magazine, 2020,
www.tadias.com/06/10/2020/spotlight-the-chicago-defender-one-of-americas-oldest-blac
k-newspapers/.
This secondary source provides us with a picture that we thought displayed the longevity
of the Chicago Defender’s advocacy for communicating “the black story.” Obama is seen
in the picture before his time in Congress, and this implies that perhaps his work in civil
rights with the paper might have impacted his success as a politician later on. The site’s
page covers the names of famous black figures affiliated with the paper, such as Langston
Hughes and Jesse Jackson, and this shows the paper’s far reach.
“The Chicago Defender.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service,
www.pbs.org/blackpress/news_bios/defender.html.
This website provided us with a brief background of the paper. Then it went on to discuss
how it differed from the other paper in the Black press of the time (it was much more
radical and straightforward than other papers). We were also able to use many images
from this source on our website.
“The Great Migration – America in Class – Resources for History & Literature Teachers
from the National Humanities Center.” America in Class, National Humanities Center, 10
Apr. 2012, americainclass.org/seminars/flvs/the-great-migration/.
This website provided us with a cartoon (“THe Awakening”) published in one of the
editorials of the Chicago Defender. The cartoon illustrates the pull factors attracting
southern Blacks to the industrial north during the Great Migration. Revankar and Senthil 19
Theodore Kornweibel Jr. (1994) ‘The most dangerous of all Negro journals’, American
Journalism, 11:2, 154-168, DOI: 10.1080/08821127.1994.10731612
This article explains how threatening the content published in Abbots paper was to the
racially segregated American society. His “radical” means to expose the harsh truth of
black life in America didn’t please federal political identities and they made various
attempts to shut down the black “yellow journalism.” This source helped us introduce the
idea of “yellow journalism” into our research and understand how progressive Abbott's
approach was to writing The Defender.