''Louisville Defender'' is a weekly newspaper in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
.
History
''Louisville Defender'' was founded in 1933 by Alvin H. Bowman of Louisville and
John Sengstacke of Chicago, as an affiliate of the ''
Chicago Defender
''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...
''. It joined ''
The Louisville Leader'' and ''
Louisville News'' as
African-American newspapers
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
in the city.
Frank L. Stanley Sr. bought Sengstacke's share in 1936, and published the paper for the next 37 years.
By 1942, the newspaper had reached its target circulation of 15,000.
The paper became profitable after purchasing its own printing press in 1956.
Circulation dipped in 1953 when it became a tabloid, and dropped to 10,000 in the 1960s when other major newspapers started hiring African Americans to cover civil right issues in their papers.
Stanley's column, "Being Frank", became nationally syndicated in the 1940s.
During the 1950s the paper covered issues related to integrated public accommodation, and in the 1950s and 1960s it covered open housing, equal job opportunities, and desegregated schools.
After Stanley's death in 1974, his wife and sons became co-publishers. Circulation dropped to 2,600 weekly by 1985, and the family sold its ownership to Consumer Communications Industries Corporation headed by Clarence Leslie.
, weekly circulation was listed as 1,115.
Photography
Bud Dorsey was a full-time photographer for the ''Defender'' for more than 20 years when he retired in 2002''.''
References
External links
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African-American newspapers
Newspapers published in Louisville, Kentucky
Newspapers established in 1933
1933 establishments in Kentucky