Chicago Defender

The Chicago Defender is an American newspaper, founded in 1905 and published weekly in Chicago, which caters primarily to an African American readership. According to The New York Times, in 2015, it had about 5,000 subscribers, and 16,000 copies are sold on newsstands each week. At its height, in the 1910s and the 1920s, the newspaper sold 250,000 copies each week. During that period, it was the most widely read African American newspaper in the country. It was distributed to cities and small towns across the country and was particularly eagerly read in the South, where newspapers by and for African Americans were often prohibited or severely restricted.

This entry provides an overview of the Chicago Defender, then examines its history, its role in the Great ...