# List of African American newspapers in Alabama

This is a list of African American newspapers that have been published in Alabama. It includes both current and historical newspapers.
The first such newspaper in Alabama was The Nationalist, published in Mobile from 1865 to 1869. Many more followed it, with some 100 newspapers established in the 1890s alone as the reading population grew and became more urbanized.
Alabama's first state organization of African American newspapers was the Alabama Colored Press Association, which was founded by the editors of nine papers in 1887. However, the association ceased to function after two years, due to many of its key members having been driven out of the state by racist violence. As the growth of the African American press continued unabated, the Afro-American Press Association of Alabama was established in 1894.

## Newspapers

| City | Title | Beginning | End | Frequency | Call numbers | Remarks |
| Aldrich | The Alabama Time-Piece The Alabama Timepiece | 1895 | 1902? | Weekly | LCCN sn85044527 OCLC 11359168 | Published by Aldrich Publishing Company. Edited by B.L. Lester. |
| Anniston / Birmingham (1909–1911) | The Baptist Leader | 1880s | 1900s | Weekly | LCCN sn85044572 OCLC 12056704 | Edited by Jesse C. Duke. |
| Anniston | The Union Leader | 1901 | 1903? | Weekly | LCCN sn85044820 OCLC 12368721 | |
| Bay Minette | American Banner | 1895? | ? | Weekly, bimonthly in 1899 | LCCN sn85044611 OCLC 12085208 | Published by Boykin, S.J. Attested through at least 1902. |
| Belmont | News | 1902 | 1903 | Weekly | | |
| Bethel | The Southern Star | 1890s | 1900s | Weekly | LCCN sn87050284 OCLC 16505917 | |
| Birmingham / Montgomery (1877–1882) | Advance | 1876 | 1882 | Weekly | | First Democratic African American newspaper in Alabama. Edited by James A. Scott. |
| Birmingham | The Afro-American Labor Sentinel | 1896 | ? | Twice monthly | | Published by The Afro-American Labor and Protective Association. |
| Birmingham | The Birmingham American | 1910s | 1900s | Weekly | LCCN sn87050405 OCLC 17279686 | |
| Birmingham | Birmingham Blade The Birmingham Blade | 1907 | 1909 | Weekly | LCCN sn86050141 OCLC 13355701 | Published and edited by L.H. Harrison. |
| Birmingham | Broad Axe | 1891 | 1895 | | | Edited by T.H. Jordan. |
| Birmingham | By Any Means Necessary: (BAMN) | 1985? | ? | Irregular | OCLC 27921519 | Published by New Afrikan People’s Organization. Edited by Thandisizwe Chimurenga. Attested through at least 1993. |
| Birmingham | Christian Era Birmingham Era | 1886 | 1887 | | | Edited by T.W. Coffee. |
| Birmingham / Demopolis | The Christian Hope | 1894? | ? | Weekly | | Edited by L.S. Steinbeck. Attested through at least 1902. |
| Birmingham | Birmingham Free Speech | 1901 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn86050142 OCLC 13355683 | Published by Francis P. McAlpin. |
| Birmingham | Hot Shots | 1896 | 1900s | Irregular | LCCN sn86050334 OCLC 13944291 | |
| Birmingham | Birmingham Mirror The Birmingham Mirror | 1939? | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn89050010 OCLC 19255850 | Published by J. Howard Williamson. Attested through at least 1974. |
| Birmingham | Negro American The Negro American American Citizen (1888–) | 1886 | 1891? | Weekly | LCCN sn87050415 OCLC 17293242 | Edited by R.C.O. Benjamin from 1886 to 1887, when threats of white violence forced him to leave. Subsequent editors included J.W. White, Albert Boyd, and A.N. Jackson. "The most outspoken black paper in Birmingham". |
| Birmingham | The New Era Banner | 1918 or 1919 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn87050161 OCLC 15725330 | |
| Birmingham | The Pleiades | 1888 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn87050416 OCLC 17293270 | |
| Birmingham | The Birmingham Reporter | 1900? | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn88050035 OCLC 17545418 | Published by the Colored Masonic Temple. Attested through at least 1928. Edited by Oscar W. Adams Sr. from 1907 to 1928. |
| Birmingham | The Birmingham Reporter Birmingham Eagle Reporter | 1915? | 1930s | Weekly | LCCN sn87050145 OCLC 12061365 | "Official organ of the Masons, Eastern Stars, and Knights of Pythias of Alabama and Knights and Ladies of Honor of the World." |
| Birmingham | The Times Plain Dealer | 1910s | 1900s | Weekly | LCCN sn87050142 OCLC 15615311 | Attested through at least 1921. |
| Birmingham | The Birmingham Times | 1964 | current | Weekly | LCCN sn85044582 OCLC 11125591 ISSN 1534-2794 | Official site |
| Birmingham | The Birmingham Truth | 1902 | 1900s | Weekly | LCCN sn85044585 OCLC 9514196 | Attested through at least 1927. Founded and until 1910 edited by Carrie A. Tuggle. |
| Birmingham | The Truth | 1903 | 1900s | Weekly | LCCN sn87050092 OCLC 15376366 | Attested through at least 1905. Published by Tuggle Printing Company. |
| Birmingham | The Voice of the People Weekly Voice (1916–1917) | 1913? | 1920s | Weekly | LCCN sn88050055 OCLC 17672113 | Published by E.W. Howell. |
| Birmingham | The Alabama Voice | 1946 | ? | Bimonthly newspaper | | Published by H.D. Coke. |
| Birmingham | Weekly Pilot | 1883 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn88050012 OCLC 17407826 | Edited by J.H. Thomason. Published by Pilot Publishing Company. |
| Birmingham | The Weekly Review | 1934? | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn85044586f OCLC 9509110 | Published and edited by Robert Durr. |
| Birmingham | Wide Awake Bulletin (1880s–1890s) Wide-Awake (1890s–) Birmingham Wide-Awake (1906–) | 1887 or 1889? | 1890s | Weekly | Wide-Awake Bulletin: LCCN sn88050018 OCLC 17408400 Wide-Awake: LCCN sn83025484, 2013254374 OCLC 850967976, 2775228, 9526349 Birmingham Wide-Awake: LCCN sn87050155 OCLC 15720225 | |
| Birmingham | The Workmen's Chronicle The Workmens Chronicle | 1917 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn88050014 OCLC 17407907 | "Issued under the auspices of the Afro-American Sociological Congress." |
| Birmingham | Birmingham World | 1930 | 1996 | Weekly, twice weekly from 1940 to 1969 | LCCN sn83045136 OCLC 18729791, 2258369, 3449376 | Founded by W.A. Scott. Published by Joe N. Dickson & Associates. |
| Decatur | The Guardian | 1910 | 1900s | Monthly newspaper | LCCN sn88050094 OCLC 17857604 | Attested through at least 1914. |
| Decatur | Speakin' Out Weekly News Speakin’ Out News | 1980 | current | Weekly | LCCN sn88050097, sn90099002 OCLC 21026715, 17857788 | Official site Published by William Smothers. |
| Dothan | Southern Star | 1916 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn86050439 OCLC 14866951 | Published by M.S. Brown. Edited by M.J. Adams from 1918 to 1919. |
| Dothan | The Voice Of The Negro Voice of the Negro | 1912? | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn86050440 OCLC 14867035 | Attested through at least 1915. |
| Epes | The Sumter Enterprise | 1907 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn8850071 OCLC 17698936 | Published and edited by A.G. Idrell. |
| Eufaula | Vindicator | 1889 | ? | | | Edited by T.W. Coffee. |
| Eutaw | Greene County Democrat | ? | current | Weekly | LCCN sn85044807 OCLC 9238773 ISSN 0889-518X | Official site |
| Eutaw | Western Guide | 1905 | 1909 | Weekly | | |
| Fayette | Watchman | 1902 | 1903 | Weekly | | |
| Florence | The Shoals News Leader | 1979? | ? | Weekly | | Published by Reginald Liner. |
| Florence | The Watcher | 1888 | 1800s | Weekly | LCCN sn87050259 OCLC 9191005 | Suspended publication in 1889. |
| Georgiana | The Temple Star | 1916? | ? | Twice monthly | | |
| Girard | Eastern Sunlight | 1901 | 1914 | Weekly | | |
| Grove Hill | Grove Hill Herald | 1800s | 1850s | Weekly | LCCN sn85044896 OCLC 12442012 ISSN 2574-7428 | |
| Hayneville / Montgomery | The Republican Sentinel and Hayneville Times | 1878 | 1878 | Weekly | LCCN sn85044770 OCLC 12170385 | Published by James T. Rapier. Edited by Nathan M. Alexander. |
| Huntsville | Huntsville Gazette | 1879 | 1894 | Weekly | LCCN 760643891, sn84020151, sn90023104 OCLC 18762026, 2710177 ISSN 2575-1271 | Edited by Charles Hendley, Jr. "[T]he most financially successful and enduring black newspaper in Alabama before 1900." |
| Huntsville | The Herald | 1878 | 1884 | Weekly | LCCN sn85044762 OCLC 12170269 | Edited by W.H. Councill. |
| Huntsville | The Huntsville Journal | 1895 | 1897 | Weekly | LCCN sn86050127 OCLC 13364689 | |
| Huntsville | The Journal | 1897 | 1912 | Weekly | LCCN sn86050128 OCLC 13364698 | Edited by H.C. Binford from 1897 to 1911, and then by J.A. Binford. |
| Huntsville | The Huntsville Mirror | 1935? | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn87050016 OCLC 15116289 | Edited by L.C. Jamar. |
| Huntsville | The Huntsville Star | 1900 | ? | Weekly | LCCN 2012254019, sn83025483 OCLC 2747386, 773146372, 9525997 | Edited by Richard C. Hancock. |
| Huntsville | The Weekly News | 1968 | 1980s | Weekly or bimonthly | LCCN sn87050012 OCLC 15115941 | |
| Huntsville | The Weekly News | 1900s | 1900s | Weekly | LCCN sn88050153 OCLC 18395742 | Attested from at least 1931. |
| Kempsville | The Eagle The Cagie | 1800s | 1910s | Twice monthly | LCCN sn87050157, sn87050156 OCLC 15724910, 15724980 | |
| Lovan | The Eagle | 1880s | 1900s | Twice monthly | LCCN sn87050186 OCLC 15986125 | |
| Marion | The Journal Reporter | 1870s | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn88050195 OCLC 18545605 | Attested through at least 1881. |
| Mobile | Ace | 1975 | ? | Weekly | OCLC 17270714 | Edited by William Shirley and Arthur Johnson Jr. Attested through at least 1979. |
| Mobile | Mobile Beacon The Mobile Beacon & Alabama Citizen The Mobile Beacon and Alabama Citizen | 1943 | current | Weekly | LCCN 760643870, 84020221, 88050211, sn84020221, sn88050212 OCLC 18659049, 2264283, 2666053 | Published by Lancie M. Thomas. Conflicting reports of closure in 2019. |
| Mobile | Gazette | 1883 | 1884 | Twice weekly, then weekly (1882–1884) | | Final journalistic venture of Philip Joseph. |
| Mobile | Herald | 1871 | 1872 | | | "[E]stablished in August 1871 to defend the Turner-Spencer faction of the party from attacks by the Mobile Republican." |
| Mobile | Methodist Vindicator | 1888 | 1889 | | | Edited by T.W. Coffee. |
| Mobile | The Nationalist | 1865 | 1869 | Triweekly | LCCN sn84023844 OCLC 11037661 | First African American newspaper in Alabama. Owned and managed by African Americans. Edited in 1865 by John Silsby, and from 1866 to 1869 by Albert Griffin, "two white carpetbaggers". |
| Mobile | The New Times | 1981 | current | Weekly | LCCN sn85044906 OCLC 10487314 ISSN 0885-1662 | |
| Mobile | The Press Forum Sun | 1900s | 1900s | Weekly | LCCN sn88050206 OCLC 18657644 | |
| Mobile | The Press-Forum Weekly | 1929 | 1941 | Weekly | LCCN sn88050205 OCLC 18657633 | |
| Mobile | The Mobile Republican | 1870 | 1872? | Weekly; daily in 1870 | LCCN 760643865, sn87062006 OCLC 2674435 | Initially a daily, purchased and turned into a weekly by Philip Joseph later in 1870. James Shaw became editor and publisher in 1871. "[P]ossibly the first in the state to be edited by an Afro-American." |
| Mobile | The Southern Watchman | 1899 | 1904 | Weekly | LCCN sn88050167 OCLC 18517103 | Edited by Anderson N. McEwen. |
| Mobile | The Mobile Watchman Watchman | 1873 | 1874 | Weekly | LCCN sn88050159, sn88050160 OCLC 9200254, 9200310 | Edited by Philip Joseph and K. H. Saltiel. |
| Mobile | The Mobile Weekly Advocate | 1911 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn88050162 OCLC 18516318 | Attested through at least 1958. |
| Mobile | The Mobile Weekly Press | 1896? | 1929 | Weekly | LCCN sn88050185 OCLC 18530886 | Edited by Andrew N. Johnson from 1894 to 1907. |
| Montgomery | The Advance | 1877? | 1880s | Weekly | LCCN sn87050046 OCLC 15220741 | Published by James A. Scott. |
| Montgomery | The Alabama Enterprise | 1885? | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn85045115 OCLC 12905754 | Attested from 1886. Edited by Sam B. Davis. |
| Montgomery | The Alabama Guide | 1884 | ? | Monthly newspaper | | Published and edited by M.G. Thomas. |
| Montgomery | Alabama Republican | 1880 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn86050109 OCLC 13346900 | Published and edited by Charles O. Harris. |
| Montgomery | Alabama Tribune | 1951 | 1964? | Weekly | LCCN sn86050396 OCLC 14581814 | Published by E.G. Jackson. |
| Montgomery | The Montgomery Argus | 1890 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn86050407 OCLC 14766859, 1476859 | |
| Montgomery | The Colored Alabamian | 1907 | 1916 | Weekly | LCCN sn83045035 OCLC 9308701 | |
| Montgomery | The Colored Citizen | 1884 | 1884 | Weekly | LCCN sn85045116 OCLC 12919260 | Published by Brown Brothers. |
| Montgomery | The Emancipator | 1917 | 1920s | Weekly | LCCN sn86050425 OCLC 11961865 | Edited by J. Edward McCall. |
| Montgomery | The Montgomery Enterprise | 1898 | 1900 | Weekly | LCCN 2013254326, sn83025485 OCLC 2753672, 844394869, 9526435 | |
| Montgomery | The Evening Appeal | 1886? | ? | Unknown | | |
| Montgomery | The Evening Appeal | 1880s | ? | Daily | LCCN sn85045113 OCLC 12905423 | Published by Allred Bros. |
| Montgomery | The Helping Hand | 1907? | 1910s | Weekly | LCCN sn86050428 OCLC 14817352 | Published by Jackson A. Stokes. Attested through at least 1912. |
| Montgomery | The Herald | 1886 | 1887 | Weekly | LCCN sn85045117 OCLC 12919382 | Published by Jesse C. Duke, who was driven from the state by a lynch mob after writing an anti-lynching editorial in The Herald in 1887. |
| Montgomery | The Montgomery Mirror | 1935? | ? | Weekly | | |
| Montgomery | Montgomery-Tuskegee Times: The Alternative The Montgomery-Tuskegee Times | 1979 | 2000s | Weekly | LCCN sn85044592 OCLC 11817447 | |
| Montgomery | The Odd Fellows Journal | 1885 | ? | Monthly newspaper | LCCN sn93065629 OCLC 28004324 | Attested through at least October 1886. |
| Montgomery | The Republican Sentinel | 1872? | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn8650433 OCLC 14866378 | Owned and edited by James T. Rapier. |
| Montgomery | The Southern Courier | 1965 | 1968 | Weekly | LCCN sn84025852 OCLC 10462102, 7852098 | Moved from Atlanta to Montgomery in September 1965. |
| Montgomery | The Montgomery Times | 1977 | 1979 | Weekly | LCCN sn86050432 OCLC 13460131 | |
| Montgomery | Voice of Action | 1970 | ? | Weekly | | |
| Montgomery | Watchman Negro Watchman (1874) | 1873 | 1874 | | | Edited by Philip Joseph, with William H. Councill and A.E. Williams as associate editors. |
| Montgomery | The Weekly Citizen | 1884 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn86050448 OCLC 14875394 | Numerous editors and publishers. |
| Montgomery | The Weekly News | 1884 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn86050419 OCLC 14769112 | Published by C.M. Brown, noted for his advocacy of black self-defense. |
| Montgomery | Montgomery Weekly Review | 1936? | ? | Weekly | | Edited by William P. Smith. |
| Opelika | The People's Choice | 1894 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn85045044 OCLC 12739206 | Edited by John P. Lawrence. Circulation of 300. |
| Patton Junction | The Patton Pointer | 1897 or 1898 | 1904 | Weekly | LCCN sn87050225 OCLC 16096129 | Edited by J.T. Nall. |
| Selma | The Baptist Pioneer | 1878 or 1879? | 1886 | Weekly or monthly | LCCN sn85044666 OCLC 12152825 | Published by the Alabama Baptist Normal and Theological School. Edited by W.H. McAlpine. |
| Selma | The Selma Cyclone | 1886 | 1890s | Weekly | LCCN sn85044523 OCLC 11198071 | Edited by William J. Stevens from 1886 to 1887 and by John Mitchell Gee from 1887 to 1890. Known for its conciliatory political stance. |
| Selma | Dallas Post | 1884 | 1884 | | | Edited by W.H. Mixon. "[T]he first secular Negro news journal ever published in Dallas County." |
| Selma | The Independent Southern Independent | 1800s | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn85044581 OCLC 11200309 | Edited by Mansfield Bryant from 1886 to 1889. Absorbed Selma Social Circle and Gospel Messenger in 1888. |
| Selma | Selma Record | 1900 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn86050246 OCLC 13743949 | Attested through at least 1902. |
| Selma | Selma Sentinel | 1965 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn85044634, sn85044636 OCLC 12119757, 12123801 | |
| Selma | Southern Christian Age | 1898 | ? | Weekly | | Edited by W.H. Mixon. Attested through at least 1901. |
| Selma | Southern Christian Recorder | 1888 | 1891 | | | Newspaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Edited by Mansfield Bryant. Moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1891 after Bryant was arrested for his outspoken writing and his life was threatened by a lynch mob. |
| Slocomb | Ardis Times | 1909 | 1911 | Weekly | | |
| Talladega | Reporter and Watchtower | 1873 | 1886? | Weekly | LCCN sn84023594 OCLC 10896961 | Published by T.J. Cross and M.H. Cruikshank. |
| Talladega | The Southern Sentinel | 1877 | 1881? or 1886 | Monthly during school year | LCCN sn88050143 OCLC 18370187 | Edited by Edward P. Lord from 1877 to 1879, and George N. Ellis from 1879 to 1881. |
| Tunnell Springs | Eagle | 1888 | 1913 | | | |
| Tuscaloosa | Alabama Citizen The Alabama Citizen and the Tuscaloosa Weekly Review | 1944? or 1947 | 1947 or 1963 | Weekly | LCCN sn88050211 OCLC 18658854, 18658986 | Published by James R. Greene. Published in Mobile from October 1961 to September 1963. |
| Tuscaloosa | Tuscaloosa Courier | 1979? | ? | Monthly newspaper | OCLC 26923020 | Published by Charles Steele Jr. |
| Tuscaloosa | Tuskaloosa Chronicle | 1896 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn88050106 OCLC 17869150 | |
| Tuscumbia | The American Star | 1901 | 1929? | Monthly | LCCN sn85045004 OCLC 12689668 | "[T]he leading black paper in northwest Alabama." Edited by G.W. Trenholm. |
| Tuskegee | The Alabama Headlight | 1900 | 1902? | Semimonthly | | Published by Alabama Headlight. |
| Tuskegee | The Tuskegee Herald | 1950 | 1958 | Monthly newspaper | LCCN sn86050103 OCLC 13291570 | Published by Hal Fisher. Edited by Mrs. E.M. Washington. |
| Tuskegee | The Messenger | 1905 | 1900s | Weekly | LCCN sn92063894 OCLC 26654014 | |
| Tuskegee | The Negro Farmer | 1940 | ? | Monthly newspaper | LCCN 2004225260 OCLC 55899359 | |
| Tuskegee | The Tuskegee Progressive | 1970? | 1971 | Weekly | LCCN sn86050100 OCLC 13290841 | Published by Joseph Ervin Morse. |
| Tuskegee | The Tuskegee Times | 1974 | 1976 | Weekly | LCCN sn86050101 OCLC 13290880 | |
| Tuskegee | The Tuskegee Voice | 1976 | 1977 | Weekly | LCCN sn86050099 OCLC 13290757 | Published by J. Lowell Ware and edited by Rick Dunn. |
| Tuskegee | The Zion Church Worker: The Home Newspaper | 1900 | ? | Monthly newspaper | | |
| Union Springs | The Union Springs Enterprise | 1895 | ? | Weekly | LCCN sn85044566 OCLC 12049726 | Edited by B.F. Rollins, then by R.T. Timothy in September–October 1896. |
| Uniontown | The Negro Leader The Uniontown News | 1900 | 1917 | Weekly | LCCN 87050364, sn87050363, sn87050364 OCLC 17003390, 17003504 | Official organ of the Black Belt Farmers Conference. |
| Wetumpka | Observer | 1910 | 1912 | Weekly | | |
| Yantley | Racial Endeavors | 1906 | 1907 | Weekly | | |