Timothy Thomas Fortune (October 3, 1856June 2, 1928) was an American orator, civil rights leader, journalist, writer, editor and publisher. He was the highly influential editor of the nation's leading black newspaper ''

The New York Age ''The New York Age'' was an American weekly newspaper established in 1887 in New York City. It was widely considered one of the most prominent African-American newspapers of its time.

'' and was the leading economist in the black community. He was a long-time adviser and friend to Booker T. Washington and was the editor of Washington's first autobiography, '' The Story of My Life and Work''. Fortune's philosophy of militant agitation on behalf of the rights of black people laid one of the foundations of the Civil Rights Movement.

Early life

Timothy Thomas Fortune was born into slavery in Marianna, Jackson County,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, to Emanuel Fortune and Sarah Jane Fortune, and started his education at Marianna's first school for African Americans after the Civil War. His family moved to

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, where he attended Edwin M. Stanton School (predecessor of Stanton College Preparatory School) He worked both as a page in the state senate and as apprentice printer at a Jacksonville newspaper during the time that his father, Emanuel, was a

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

politician in Florida. At one time Fortune also worked at the ''Marianna Courier'' and later the '' Jacksonville Daily-Times Union''. These experiences would be the start of a career in which his work was published in more than twenty books and articles and in more than three hundred editorials. In 1872 he was mail route agent and then he was promoted to customs inspector for the eastern district of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

but only held this position for a few months before resigning in order to attend

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. Although he was mostly self-taught prior to his college enrollment in 1874, Fortune was admitted to study law. He changed his major to journalism after two semesters before leaving school altogether to begin work, in 1876, at the ''People's Advocate'', a newspaper in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

On February 21, 1878, Fortune married Carrie C. Smiley (''née'' Caroline Charlotte Smiley; 1860–1940) in Washington, D.C. Irvine Garland Penn, ''The Afro-American Press and Its Editors'', Willey & Company, 1891, pp. 133–138.

New York journalist

Fortune moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1879 and began a process whereby over the next two decades he would become known as editor and owner of a newspaper named first the ''Globe'', then the ''Freeman'', and finally the ''

New York Age ''The New York Age'' was an American weekly newspaper established in 1887 in New York City. It was widely considered one of the most prominent African-American newspapers of its time.

''. Upon arrival in New York, Fortune began working as a printer, and worked at ''The Weekly Witness''. In 1880 he became journalist and editor of ''The Rumor'', run by George Parker and William Walter Sampson. This journal soon changed its name to ''The New York Globe''. The ''Globe'' closed in November 1884 after a dispute with co-editor William B. Derrick, and one week later, on November 22, Fortune published the first issue of his ''New York Freeman''. In the late 1880s, he was considered the greatest black newspaper writer in America. That same year he published a book entitled '' Black and White: Land, Labor, and Politics in the South'' that, along with his 1886 pamphlet, ''The Negro in Politics'', openly challenged

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

dictum In legal writing, a (Latin 'something that has been said'; plural ) is a statement made by a court. It may or may not be binding as a precedent. United States In United States legal terminology, a ''dictum'' is a statement of opinion consid ...

that "the Republican Party is the ship, all else the open sea". In 1885, ''The Freeman'' took the new name of ''

'' and set out to become "The Afro-American Journal of News and Opinion". In 1890 Fortune was elected chairman of the executive committee of the National Afro-American Press Association at their meeting in Indianapolis. Afro-American Council 1902

In Chicago on January 25, 1890, Fortune co-founded the

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

National Afro-American League to right wrongs against

African Americans 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 ...

authorized by law and sanctioned or tolerated by public opinion. The league fell apart after four years. When it was revived in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, on September 15, 1898, it had the new name of the " National Afro-American Council", with Bishop Alexander Walters as its first President and Fortune as a prominent member. Walters was followed as president by Fortune, who held the position from 1902 to 1904, and was succeeded by William Henry Steward. Booker T. Washington played a dominant role on the council and it included a number of important leaders, including

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...

, who went on to form the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

, and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells. The League and the council had a vital role in setting the stage for the

Niagara Movement The Niagara Movement (NM) was a civil rights organization founded in 1905 by a group of activists—many of whom were among the vanguard of African-American lawyers in the United States—led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter. The Ni ...

, NAACP, and other

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

organizations to follow. Fortune was also the leading advocate of using " Afro-American" to identify his people. Since they are " African in origin and American in birth", it was his argument that it most accurately defined them. With Fortune at the helm as co-owner with Emanuel Fortune Jr. and Jerome B. Peterson, the ''New York Age'' became the most widely read of all Black newspapers. It stood at the forefront as a voice agitating against the evils of

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...

mob violence A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

, and

disenfranchisement Disfranchisement, also disenfranchisement (which has become more common since 1982) or voter disqualification, is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing someo ...

. Its popularity was due in part to Fortune's editorials, which condemned all forms of discrimination and demanded full justice for all African Americans. Ida B. Wells's newspaper '' Memphis Free Speech and Headlight'' had its printing press destroyed and building burned as the result of an article published in it on May 25, 1892. Fortune then gave her a job and a new platform from which to detail and condemn

. His book ''The Kind of Education the Afro-American Most Needs'' was published in 1898, and ''Dreams of Life: Miscellaneous Poems'' in 1905. After a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, Fortune sold the ''New York Age'' to Fred R. Moore in 1907, who continued publishing it until 1960. Fortune published another book, ''The New York Negro in Journalism'', in 1915. In the 1900 presidential election he campaigned for

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

, and he was politically active in the Republican Party. However, he was noted for criticizing corruption in both parties and advocating good principles for all.

''Negro World''

Fortune went to work as an editor at the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League's house organ, the '' Negro World'', in 1923. Its circulation, at its height, was more than 200,000. With distribution throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, the Caribbean and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

Later life

Fortune moved to

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York metro ...

, in 1901, where he built his home, Maple Hall. The house was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on December 8, 1976, and the

New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office wit ...

on August 16, 1979. Fortune died in 1928 at the age of 71 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and is interred at Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Pennsylvania.Renewed Efforts To Save Home Of Journalist T. Thomas Fortune
/ref>

References

Sources

* Curry, Tommy J. "The Fortune of Wells: Ida B. Wells-Barnett’s Use of T. Thomas Fortune’s Philosophy of Social Agitation as a Prolegomenon to Militant Civil Rights Activism," ''Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society: A Quarterly Journal in American Philosophy'' (2012), 48#4, pp. 457–82 i
Project MUSE
* Nelson, Claudia D. "The Men that Influenced Ida B. Wells-Barnett: Jim Wells, T. Thomas Fortune, and Frederick Douglass," ''Making Connections: A Journal for Teachers of Cultural Diversity'' (2006), 10#1, pp. 25–44. * Thornbrough, Emma Lou. '' T. Thomas Fortune: Militant Journalist'' (1972), the standard scholarly biography

Primary sources

* Alexander, Shawn, ed. ''T. Thomas Fortune, the Afro-American Agitator: A Collection of Writings, 1880-1928'' (2010)

External links

Soldiers without Swords BiographiesTuskegee's point-man, Timothy FortuneLetter from T. Thomas Fortune to George Myers
* ttp://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14902.html An Army of Lions: The Civil Rights Struggle Before the NAACP* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Timothy Thomas 1856 births 1928 deaths African-American journalists African-American writers Burials at Eden Cemetery (Collingdale, Pennsylvania) Editors of New York City newspapers Howard University alumni New Jersey Republicans New York (state) Republicans People from Marianna, Florida People from Red Bank, New Jersey Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League members