Vincent Lushington "Roi" Ottley (August 2, 1906 – October 2, 1960) was an American journalist and writer. Although largely forgotten today, he was among the most famous African American correspondents in the United States during the mid-20th century.

Early life

Ottley was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

on August 2, 1906, to Jerome Peter and Beatrice Ottley, the second of their three children. His parents were immigrants from the Caribbean island country of Grenada. He attended public schools in the city, where he excelled in basketball, baseball, and track, and in 1926 he won a track scholarship to

St. Bonaventure College St. Bonaventure University is a private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,381 undergraduate and graduate students. The Franciscan Brothers established the university in 1858. In athletics, the St. Bonaventure Bonni ...

in Allegany, New York. At St. Bonaventure, he was a writer and cartoonist for the campus newspaper. In 1928, he transferred to the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

to concentrate on journalism. He later studied part-time at

St. John's Law School St. John's University School of Law is a Roman Catholic law school in Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States, affiliated with St. John's University. The School of Law was founded in 1925, and confers Juris Doctor degrees and degrees for Mas ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, both in New York City.

Career

Ottley worked as a journalist for the ''

Amsterdam News The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by ...

'' from 1931 to 1937. In 1937, Ottley joined the New York City Writers' Project as an editor. In 1943 he published ''New World A-Coming: Inside Black America'', which described life for African Americans in

Harlem, New York City Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harle ...

, in the 1920s and 1930s. The book incorporated Ottley's reports from the New York City Writer's Project. It won the Life in America prize, an

Anisfield-Wolf Book Award The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...

and a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

, and was adapted for a series of radio broadcasts. Also the book became the basis for the anthology radio program broadcast on

WMAC WMAC (940 kHz, "News Talk 940") is a commercial Class B AM radio station in Macon, Georgia. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a news/talk format. The studios and offices are on Mulberry Street in Macon. It is one of the oldest radio stat ...

in New York. Ottley became the publicity director of national CIO War Relief Committee in 1943. He was commissioned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

in 1944. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Ottley reported from Europe for ''Liberty Magazine'', ''PM'', and the ''

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the mo ...

,'' becoming the first African American war correspondent to cover the war for major newspapers. Ottley covered events such as the

Normandy Invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, the hanging of

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until Fall of the Fascist re ...

, and the Arab–French conflict in Syria. He also interviewed important personalities like Governor Talmadge of Georgia, and Samuel Green, Grand Dragon of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Ca ...

. Ottley also became the first African American to interview a pope when he met with Pope Pius XII in 1945. He later worked for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' and broadcast reports for CBS and

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

radio. Ottley's other published works include ''Black Odyssey: The Story of the Negro in America'', 1948; ''No Green Pastures'', 1951; and ''Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S. Abbot'', 1955. Two were published posthumously: ''White Marble Lady'' in 1965, and ''The Negro in New York: An Informal Social History, 1626–1940'' in 1967.

Death

Ottley died on October 2, 1960 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

References

Primary sources

* Ottley, Roi and Huddle, Mark A. ''Roi Ottley's World War II: The Lost Diary of an African American Journalist'' (University Press of Kansas, 2011). , ** *
Book Discussion on ''Roi Ottley's World War II'' with Mark Huddle, June 23, 2012
–

C-Span Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United Stat ...

External links

1944–1945 Radio Series based on Roi Ottley's ''New World A'Coming'' on archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottley, Roi 1906 births 1960 deaths United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II Chicago Tribune people African-American journalists American war correspondents of World War II Writers from New York (state) Journalists from New York City 20th-century American non-fiction writers University of Michigan alumni 20th-century African-American writers