''The Richmond Planet'' was an African American newspaper founded in 1882 in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. In 1938, it merged with the '' Richmond Afro-American''.

History

The paper was founded in 1882 by thirteen former slaves - James H. Hayes, James H. Johnston, E.R. Carter, Walter Fitzhugh, George W. Lewis, James E. Robinson, Henry Hucles, Albert V. Norrell, Benjamin A. Graves, James E. Merriweather, Edward A. Randolph, William H. Andrews and Reuben T. Hill. Gathering in an upper room of a building located near the corner of 3rd and Broad Streets, they pooled their meager resources and started America’s oldest African-American newspaper, which was destined to play an important part in molding the opinions of African Americans in not only Richmond but Virginia as a whole, as well as in the nation. It was edited first by Edwin Archer Randolph and then by

John Mitchell, Jr. John Mitchell Jr. (July 11, 1863 – December 3, 1929) was an American businessman, newspaper editor, African American civil rights activist, and politician in Richmond, Virginia, particularly in Richmond's Jackson Ward, which became known a ...

from 1884 until his death in 1929. Mitchell was also president of the National Afro-American Press Association and the founder and president of Mechanics Savings Bank. By 1904, ''The Planet'' had reached a weekly circulation of 4,200. The paper continued publication until 1938, when it merged with the ''Richmond Afro-American''. The paper responded to the

Racial Integrity Act of 1924 In 1924, the Virginia General Assembly enacted the Racial Integrity Act. The act reinforced racial segregation by prohibiting interracial marriage and classifying as "white" a person "who has no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasi ...

. The work of photographer James C. Farley was published in the ''Planet''. Farley served on the board of Mitchell Jr.'s Mechanics Savings Bank. John Mitchell Jr. was the paper's junior editor in 1912. The same year the paper covered the opening of Lincoln Memorial Hall on the campus of Temperance, Industrial, and Collegiate Institute in Claremont, Virginia.

References

External links

* - Total pages: 291 * Defunct African-American newspapers Mass media in Richmond, Virginia Defunct newspapers published in Virginia {{Virginia-newspaper-stub