It has been said that journalism is the first rough draft of history. If that is true, Florida African American newspapers have been writing early drafts of Florida history since Josiah T. Wells published the state’s first African American-owned newspaper in 1873.

For almost 150 years, Florida African American newspapers have played a crucial role in reporting, and ultimately preserving, the story of communities across the state. Sadly, many of these old papers have not been saved and archived. However, the USF Libraries Special Collections in Tampa and St. Petersburg are honored to help preserve and share the history of two of the state’s most important African American newspapers, the Florida Sentinel Bulletin and The Weekly Challenger.

The African American Experience in Florida (AAE) journalism collection not only includes microfilm and digital versions of these newspapers, but also the papers of Norman E. Jones, Sr., a conservative African American newspaper columnist and publicist from the 1950s through the early 1970s who opposed integration and preached economic self-sufficiency and self-determination during the Civil Rights era. Each of these individual collections is a valuable journalism-related primary source for researchers hoping to learn about Florida and Tampa Bay African American history.