Type | Weekly newspaper (Thursday) |
---|---|
Owner(s) | Tracey Williams-Dillard |
Founder(s) | Cecil Newman |
Editor | Mel Reeves |
Founded | August 10, 1934 |
Language | American English |
Headquarters | 3744 Fourth Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55409 |
City | Minneapolis |
Country | United States |
Circulation | 9,800 (as of 2024) [1] |
Readership | Twin Cities |
OCLC number | 43310423 |
Website |
spokesman-recorder |
The Minnesota Spokesman–Recorder is an African-American, English-language newspaper headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and serves readers in the Twin Cities. Founded in 1934 by Cecil Earle Newman (who remained editor until his death in 1976), [2] it is the oldest continuously operated black newspaper and longest-lived black-owned business in Minnesota. [3] [4] [5] The current CEO of the paper is Newman's granddaughter, Tracey Williams-Dillard. [3] [6] The current editor is Mel Reeves. [7] [8]
The newspaper's first issue appeared on August 10, 1934, as the St. Paul Reporter. [9] Until 2000, it released weekly alongside The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, also published and edited by Newman (until his death in 1976). [2] [10] [11] The newspaper office moved from St. Paul to 3744 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, in 1958. [12] Under Newman's leadership, the newspaper played a key role in the civil rights movement in Minnesota.
After Newman's death in 1976, his wife Launa took over operation of the papers. In 2000, she merged them into a single title, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. In 2007, Newman's granddaughter Tracey Williams-Dillard became CEO of the paper. [3]
The late photographer, filmmaker, writer, and composer Gordon Parks was a photo-journalist for the newspaper. [13]
The newspaper building on Fourth Avenue was declared a historic landmark in 2015 for its association with the civil rights movement in Minnesota. [13]
The Minnesota Spokesman–Recorder is a member of the National Newspaper Association, Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., Metropolitan Economic Development Association, Minnesota Minority Media Coalition, and Minnesota Newspaper Association. [14] [15]
In 2021, the newspaper's archives from 1934 to 1964 were publicly digitized in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Minnesota Historical Society. [5] [16]