Skip to main content

Primary sourceNewspaper article30 March 1827

Freedom's Journal

Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm (editors) · 30 March 1827

The first African American-owned newspaper in the United States, for which James Forten served as a Philadelphia agent.

Forten served as a Philadelphia distribution agent for this pioneering Black newspaper, supporting the Black press before The Liberator.

Ask James Forten about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Front page scan of Freedom's Journal, Vol. 1 No. 3, dated New-York, Friday, March 30, 1827. Masthead reads 'Freedom's Journal' with the motto 'Righteousness Exalteth a Nation.' Dense multi-column newsprint text with article headings, including one on Capt. Paul Cuffee.
Freedom's Journal, Vol. 1 No. 3, 30 March 1827. New York.

About this source

What it is

Freedom's Journal was the first newspaper owned and run by African Americans in the United States, founded in New York City in 1827 by Rev. John Wilk and other free Black men, with Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm as editors.

Why it matters

James Forten acted as a Philadelphia agent for the paper, helping distribute it and connecting it to his city's Black community. The paper argued against racist stereotypes in the white press and aimed to let African Americans speak for themselves, showing the kind of independent Black press network Forten supported before The Liberator existed.

Look closer

  • Why did the founders feel it was important to start their own newspaper rather than rely on existing papers?
  • What does the paper's reporting on white-committed crimes suggest about the stereotypes it was trying to counter?
  • What would being a 'Philadelphia agent' for this paper have involved Forten doing?

This newspaper article is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of James Forten on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More James Forten sources

Meet the AI James Forten →
Profile portrait in watercolor of a man with short dark hair and dark side-whiskers, facing left, wearing a dark coat and white neckcloth against a grey, mottled background.Painting

Primary source

Watercolor portrait of James Forten

Robert Douglass Jr. (probable) · 18th or 19th century, before 1842

Profile portrait of a man with short dark hair and sideburns, facing left, wearing a dark high-collared coat and white cravat against a pale grey background. Painted in warm brown tones.Painting

Primary source

James Forten

Robert Douglass Jr. (probable) · probably during Forten's lifetime (1766-1842)

Front page of The Liberator, Boston, Friday, January 3, 1862, Vol. XXXII, No. 1, Whole No. 1619. A woodcut vignette of figures, including a standing woman, sits above the masthead. Dense columns of small printed text fill the page.Newspaper article

Primary source

The Liberator

William Lloyd Garrison · 1831-1865

Scan of the front page of The Liberator, Vol. I, No. 1, Boston, January 1, 1831, with the masthead 'THE LIBERATOR' in large letters over dense newsprint columns. Brownish water stains and a handwritten name appear at the top. Printed by William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp.Newspaper article

Primary source

The Liberator, Issue No. 1

William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp · 1 January 1831

Hand-colored 1829 print titled Life in Philadelphia, Plate XI. A Black woman in a green patterned dress and large plumed hat stands at a shop counter asking a white clerk for flesh-colored silk stockings. The clerk holds a black stocking. Another woman in yellow appears at right. Published by W. Simpson, Chestnut St., Philadelphia, May 1829.Artifact

Primary source

Life in Philadelphia, Plate XI

Edward Williams Clay · May 1829

Ready when you are

Start chatting with James Forten now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions