Oral history interview with Eric Roberts, 1971.

Biographical Note

Eric Roberts (1905-1985) was a sportswriter for the Atlanta Daily World and a founder of the Atlanta-based 100 Percent Wrong Club, which recognized collegiate athletes in the 1930s and 1940s. Roberts studied at Clark College and worked in Howard University's Sports Information Office for ten years. In addition to writing for the Atlanta Daily World, Roberts worked over forty years in the newspaper industry for such publications that included the Norfolk Journal and Guide, the Pittsburgh Courier, and the Afro-American.

Scope and Contents

In this 1971 interview with Henry La Brie III, Eric Roberts discusses his work in the black press, education, and interest in sports, as well as his predictions on the future of the black press. Roberts recounts the origins of the National Organization of Negro Press (NONP), the forerunner of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), its leadership under Frederick Douglass and later under Booker T. Washington. Roberts discusses the importance of the 1890s as a formative period for American blacks and the impact of World War I on changing the envisioned trajectory and contributions that blacks would make to the country. He discusses the role of the black press in early stages of the Great Migration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Additionally, Roberts notes the influence of the Harlem Renaissance and the black press' focus on events and issues relevant to the black community.

Subjects

• African American journalists.
• African American press.
• African Americans--Civil rights.
• Atlanta (Ga.)--Newspapers.
• Editors--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Journalism--Political aspects.
• Journalism--Social aspects.
• Journalists--Interviews.
• La Brie, Henry G., interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• National Newspaper Publishers Association (U.S.)
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Roberts, Eric--Interviews.
• United States--Race relations.