Oral history interview with Vincent Tubbs, 1971.

Biographical Note

Vincent Tubbs (born Verley Trenton Tubbs, Jr.) was born in Dallas, Texas on September 25, 1915. He attended Morehouse College at Atlanta University and graduated in 1938. From 1938 to 1940 he worked as editor for the Macon Broadcast and went to Richmond to run the Richmond edition of the Norfolk Journal and Guide from 1940 to 1941. He left to work for the Baltimore Afro-American in 1941 and held several positions including copy editor, lynch reporter, roving correspondent, war correspondent (1943-1947), and city editor (1947-1953). Tubbs married Mamie Louise Hansberry in 1954, moved to Chicago, and was the associate editor at the Johnson Publishing Company until 1960. He and his wife relocated that year to Los Angeles where he was a publicist for Warner Brothers Studios. He passed away on January 15, 1989.

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Vincent Tubbs recounts his life history and traces the entirety of his career in the black press. He details his experiences as a black war correspondent in the South Pacific, Europe, and East Asia, specifically his experiences traveling and reporting while black and abroad. Tubbs discusses his idea of the future of the black press and how advertising is valuable in its future. Additionally, he describes the differences of the white and black presses in terms of editorial and campaign differences.

Subjects

• Advertising--Newspapers.
• African American journalists.
• African American press.
• African Americans--Civil rights.
• Afro-American (Baltimore, Md. : National ed.)
• Editors--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Johnson Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
• Journalists--Interviews.
• La Brie, Henry G., interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• New Orleans (La.)--Newspapers.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Tubbs, Vincent, 1915-1989--Interviews.
• United States--Race relations.
• World War, 1939-1945--Journalists.