Portland New Age
{{Short description|First Black-owned newspaper in Oregon}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
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| name = Portland New Age
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| type = African American newspaper
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| publisher = Adolphus D. Griffin
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| foundation = {{start date and age|1896}}
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| publishing_city = Oregon
| publishing_country = United States
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The New Age, later known as the Portland New Age, was the first African American newspaper published in Oregon.
History
Adolphus D. Griffin, or A.D. Griffin, launched the weekly newspaper in 1896. Griffin, served various occupational roles throughout his life, which included editor, publisher, politician, entrepreneur, and even custodian.[Shreds and Patches. (1898, August 13). Colored American, 6 (20), p. [4]. He was known as a "political leader of the colored people of the Willamette Valley,"{{cite news|last=Hopkins Koglin|first=Oz|date=February 16, 1993|title=New Age Weekly Gave Blacks in Portland a Perspective|work=The Oregonian|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&t=&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=&docref=news/0EB087B1C7B01F4A}}
Shortly after the New Age's initial launch, Griffin offered to circulate it to Portland's black residents for free.Advertisement. (1900, August 11). Portland New Age, p. 4. The city's black population, which numbered fewer than 800 on the paper's launch date,{{Cite web|url=http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/history/newage/|title=Portland New Age « Historic Oregon Newspapers|last=|first=|date=October 6, 2015|website=Historic Oregon Newspaper|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006041653/http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/history/newage/|archive-date=October 6, 2015|access-date=April 17, 2019}} were highly literate in comparison to southern blacks of the time, and to Oregon's white laboring class. At the time, black people were legally prohibited from living in the state by a provision in the Oregon Constitution.{{Cite web|url=https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/historic-oregon-newspapers-preserving-history-while-shaping-the-future/|title=Historic Oregon Newspapers: Preserving History While Shaping the Future|date=October 7, 2015|website=The Public Domain Review|language=en|access-date=April 17, 2019}} The New Age, which included national news items in addition to local coverage, was intended for a black readership.[A. D. Griffin; Portland]. (1900, August 18). Portland New Age, p. 4. However, the publication likely attracted some white audiences, as well.
Griffin was a member of the Oregon Press Association.{{Cite web|url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1906-01-13/ed-1/seq-10/|title = Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, January 13, 1906, Page 10, Image 10 « Historic Oregon Newspapers}}
Prior to launching the New Age, Griffin had been editor of the Northwest Echo in Spokane, Washington. He left Portland for unknown reasons in 1907, and the newspaper did not survive his departure. He died nine years later; at the time he was editor of the Kansas Elevator.{{Cite web|url=https://blackpast.org/aaw/portland-new-age-1896-1907|title=The New Age, Portland, OR (1896–1907)|publisher=The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed|website=blackpast.org|language=en|access-date=October 24, 2018|first=Kimberley|last=Mangun|date=January 22, 2007}}
The Oregon Historical Society holds about 400 issues of the New Age, and the University of Oregon and Harvard University have issues on microfilm.{{Cite web|last=Library|first=University of Oregon, Knight|title=Portland new age.|url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025137/}}
See also
References
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Further reading
- {{cite thesis|title=Life in Oregon, 1899–1907: A Study of the Portland New Age|first=Oznathylee A.|last=Hopkins|publisher=Reed College |year=1974}}
- The Skanner, 2015
External links
- [https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025107/issues/first_pages/ Online archive of The New Age]
{{African American press}}
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Category:Newspapers published in Portland, Oregon
Category:Defunct African-American newspapers
Category:1896 establishments in Oregon
Category:1907 disestablishments in Oregon
Category:African-American history in Portland, Oregon