''The Christian Recorder'' is the official newspaper of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

and is the oldest continuously published

African-American newspaper African-American newspapers (also known as the Black press or Black newspapers) are news publications in the United States serving African-American communities. Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-American periodi ...

in the United States. It has been called "arguably the most powerful black periodical of the nineteenth century," a time when there were few sources for news and information about Black communities. Cover of The Christian Recorder

''The Recorder'' covered secular as well as religious news, and reported news of the black regiments serving in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

. It advocated support for Union troops. It was also known for having an Information Wanted section, where Black families who had been forcibly separated in the slave trade could seek news about their missing loved ones. The paper's coverage included birth, marriage, and death notices. It also featured music, poetry, and reader stories, and was "a major source of literature by and for African-Americans" during this time period. The paper published

Julia C. Collins Julia C. Collins (c. 1842 – November 25, 1865), was an African-American schoolteacher in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who in 1864 and 1865 contributed essays and other writings to ''The Christian Recorder'', a publication of the African Methodis ...

' novel as 31 serialized chapters in 1865, as well as many of her essays. It also printed works by

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (September 24, 1825 – February 22, 1911) was an American abolitionist, suffragist, poet, temperance activist, teacher, public speaker, and writer. Beginning in 1845, she was one of the first African-American women to ...

and

James W. C. Pennington James William Charles Pennington ( – October 22, 1870) was an American abolitionist, orator, minister and writer active in Brooklyn, New York. He escaped at the age of 19 from slavery in western Maryland and reached New York. After working in ...

History

''The Christian Recorder'' was originally a weekly paper called the ''

Mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

'', later ''The Christian Herald'', started by Rev. Augustus R. Green in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

. The name was changed to ''The Christian Recorder'' in 1852 under the editorship of Rev. M. M. Clark, with approval of the AME Church General Conference. It published ads to reunite black families following

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchi ...

. It was published by the AME Church Book Concern in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, a city that became a publishing center. The paper covered all geographic areas of the AME Church, but regional versions also developed, including the ''Southern Christian Recorder and'' the ''Western Christian Recorder''. These two were later merged to create the ''Southwestern Christian Recorder.'' In 1952 after the AME Church Book Concern was dissolved, the paper's headquarters moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

. In 1960 the ''Southwestern Christian Recorder'' and ''The Christian Recorder'' combined to form ''The AME Christian Recorder''. In 1984, the paper reverted to using the original name ''The Christian Recorder''. Today, the paper is a member of the Associated Church Press, the Religion Communicators Council, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Recorder, The African-American newspapers African Methodist Episcopal Church Christian newspapers Monthly newspapers Newspapers published in Tennessee Publications established in 1852

History

See also

References

External links