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| Samuel E. Cornish (1795-1858) |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Tuesday, 28 October 2008 00:02 |
 Samuel E. Cornish (1795-1858)On March 16, 1827, Samuel E. Cornish was one of two editors to publish Freedom's Journal; the first Black-owned and operated newspaper in the United States. Published in New York City in the same year that slavery was abolished in New York state, the first issue of the Journal stated: We wish to plead our own cause. Too long others have spoken for us. Too long has the public been deceived by misrepresentations in things that concern us dearly With a potential audience of approximately 500,000 free persons of colour, and about 100,000 newly freed Blacks, Cornish and co-editor John B. Russwurm decided it was time to give this large body of our citizens a public channel. The paper featured stories about notable African Americans in addition to providing international, national and local news. Freedom's Journal was a newspaper of record and, as such, was the first paper to list births, deaths and marriages of African Americans in the New York community. It was circulated in 11 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Europe and Haiti. Cornish, a free Black man who was born in Delaware in 1795, was pastor of New York City's first African-American Presbyterian Church prior to editing Freedom's Journal. He resigned from the newspaper in September 1827 after Russwurm began using the paper to promote the issue of African-American colonization of Africa. The paper began losing support thereafter and ceased publication in March 1829. Cornish then went on to become a founding member of New York's famed Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. He died in New York City in 1858. |
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