Oral history interview with D. Parke Gibson, 1972.

Biographical Note

D. Parke Gibson (1930-1979) was an author, public relations professional, and Air Force veteran. Raised in Seattle, Washington, Gibson began working with the Northwest Herald as a teenager. From 1948 to 1952, Gibson served in the United States Air Force in Texas and Japan. Gibson worked in the Wing Public Information Office in New Hampshire. After leaving the Air Force, Gibson co-founded the PR and marketing firm Laws-Gibson Associates in Philadelphia. In 1954, Gibson moved to New York, where he worked with Amalgamated Publishers, Ebony, and Jet magazine. In 1957, Gibson became a promotion manager of the Johnson Publishing Company and Defender Publications in Chicago. Afterwards, Gibson developed his consulting firm, D. Parke Gibson Associates, and authored two publications, The Gibson Report on marketing and Race Relations and Industry about fair employment practices. In 1967, his book The $30 (Billion) Dollar Negro was published.

Scope and Contents

In his 1972 interview with Henry La Brie III, Gibson recalls his experiences in the Air Force, the Johnson Publishing Company, and at his consulting firms. Gibson briefly discusses his youth in Seattle before outlining his work in the Public Information Office of the Air Force from 1948 to 1952 in the United States and Japan. Next, Gibson describes his role in founding a minority press relations firm with fellow veteran Bradford Laws. Gibson then describes his tenure at Amalgamated Publishers and Johnson Publishing Company promoting black publications and advertising relations. Next, Gibson discusses his work for Defender Publications and founding of D. Parke Gibson Associates. The conversation turns to The Gibson Report, Race Relations and Industry, and his book The $30 (Billion) Dollar Negro. The latter half of Gibson's interview deals with the changes in black business in the 1960s and 1970s as well as the development of multinational publications and corporations. Gibson also compares government and private communications efforts and discusses his studies on advertising targeting Black populations as supplementary. The interview concludes with Gibson describing the racism he experienced working with advertisers, the importance of vital statistics in black newspapers, and the limited impact of the Kerner Commission.

Subjects

• Advertising--Newspapers.
• African American journalists.
• African American press.
• African Americans--Civil rights.
• Chicago defender.
• D. Parke Gibson Associates.
• D. Parke Gibson International.
• Gibson, D. Parke--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Johnson Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
• Journalists--Interviews.
• La Brie, Henry G., interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• Newspaper publishing--Economic aspects--United States.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• United States--Race relations.