crown CU Home > Libraries Home
Columbia Center for Oral History Portal >

Oral history interview with John H. Murphy III, 1971.

Creator: Murphy, John H., 1916-
Project: Black Journalists Oral History Collection.
(see all project interviews)
Phys. Desc. :sound files : digital preservation master, WAV files (96kHz, 24 bit) Transcript 31 pages
Location: Columbia Center for Oral History
Full CLIO record >>

Biographical Note

John H. Murphy III (1916-2010) was the son of Daniel H. Murphy and Sarah Clements Murphy, and the grandson of John H. Murphy, Sr., who founded the Afro American, in 1892. After the death of his father he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his mother who remarried there. Murphy began working for the family business at the Philadelphia Afro-American, a paper founded by his great uncle, John H. Murphy. Murphy graduated from Temple University in 1937 with a degree in business administration and began working as the Office Manager at the Washington Afro-American, rising through the ranks to serve as Director, Assistant Business Manager, President, Board Chairman and Publisher. He also served on several Boards in the Washington and Baltimore area, including Council on Equal Business Opportunities, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Baltimore School of the Arts; and was a member of the Mayor's Commission to Study Municipal Finance, the Baltimore City Literacy Commission, and the Governor's Commission on Crime Prevention. In addition, he served on the advisory Board for Morgan State University. He was the recipient of several awards, among them Citizen of the Year from the City of Baltimore, Father of the Year, a Distinguished Citizens Public Service Award, and Publisher of the Year award. Murphy married Ann Quivers in December 1940; together they had two children Sharon and Daniel. After Anne's death, Murphy married Camay Calloway in 1980. Murphy passed away in 2010.

Scope and Contents

In this interview with Henry G. La Brie III, John H. Murphy III discusses his education, interest in journalism and the history of the Afro-American. Murphy's interest in the newspaper business lay in the business aspects of running a newspaper - circulation and advertising; he reports that he learned journalism skills on the job. Murphy shares information on the founding, expansion of the Afro-American; and the decision to end printing of the Afro-American in Philadelphia in the 1960s. He explores the role of the black press, its influence on black and white audiences; in addition to its role as a supplement to the white press for the black community, and role as a window into the happenings of local black communities for the white press and community. Murphy discusses the importance of black newspapers being black owned, and the need for these institutions to be studied for their contribution to journalism and American history. Murphy discusses the production and profitability of daily publication and distribution, in addition to his beliefs on the need for a national black newspaper. Also discussed is the history of the black press and changes in the black press since the founding of the Afro-American.

Subjects

Using this collection

Columbia Center for Oral History

Address:
Columbia University
535 West 114th Street
801 Butler Library, Box 20
MC1129
New York, NY 10027
Telephone:
(212) 854-7083

Email:
oralhist
@libraries.cul.columbia.edu

Website:
Columbia Center for Oral History