The ''Texas Freeman'' was a newspaper for African Americans established in 1893 in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. It was established by Charles N. Love along with his wife Lilla as well as Jack Tibbitto, and Emmett J. Scott who became its editor. It was the city's first African American newspaper. On January 3, 1931, the paper merged with the ''Houston Informer'' to become the ''Houston Informer and Texas Freeman''. The paper criticized

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were U.S. state, state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, "Jim Crow (character), Ji ...

, sought equal pay for African American teachers, advocated for Houston's Carnegie Library for African Americans, pushed for the hiring of African American postal workers, and opposed segregation. C.N. Love was a leading civil rights activist and advocate for the African American community. He was active in the Republican Party. During his career he was a member of the Republican Party's

Black-and-tan faction The black-and-tan faction was an American biracial faction in the Republican Party in the Southern United States from the 1870s to the 1960s. It replaced the Negro Republican Party faction's name after the 1890s. Southern Republicans were divi ...

, then the

lily white faction The Lily-White Movement was an anti-black political movement within the Republican Party in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a response to the political and socioeconomic gains made by African-Americans follo ...

, and sued to end the prohibition on African Americans voting in Democratic Party primaries as he sought for political representation and opportunities for African Americans. In 1921, Love filed suit against Texas laws barring African Americans from voting. By the time it reached the Supreme Court it was determined to be moot and a political rather than a legal issue (Love v. Griffith).

References

{{Reflist Newspapers published in Houston African-American newspapers African-American history of Texas