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Oral history interview with U. J. Andrews, 1971.

Creator: Andrews, U. J.
Project: Black Journalists Oral History Collection.
(see all project interviews)
Phys. Desc. :Transcript 40 pages Sound recording 1 audiocassette
Location: Columbia Center for Oral History
Full CLIO record >>

Biographical Note

U.J. Andrews (1905-1989) was the editor of the San Antonio Register, where he began working in 1935. Andrews grew up in Chicago, Illinois and Colorado Springs, Colorado. He attended the University of Denver School of Pharmacy and resided in Denver from 1922-1935. Before beginning at the San Antonio Register, Andrews wrote for the Chicago Defender, Amsterdam News, Denver Post, and Western Ideal. Throughout high school and college, Andrews worked as a correspondent for the Chicago Defender and Amsterdam News in New York, covering Colorado topics. He also freelanced for Claude Burnett’s Associated Negro Press for 15 years. In 1935, Andrews was hired by founder Valmo Bellinger to replace Jasper Duncan as editor of the San Antonio Register. Andrews married in San Antonio and resided there until his death in 1989.

Scope and Contents

Andrews begins the interview by describing his childhood in Chicago from 1905-1918 and Colorado Springs from 1918-1922. He details his early experiences in journalism, maintaining the San Antonio Register, and the importance of the black press. Andrews also describes: his work with Claude Burnett’s Associated Negro Press (ANP) and the Western Ideal in Pueblo, Colorado; his irregular and covert writing for the Denver Post, which refused to publicly hire an African-American; his decision to travel South and to stay in San Antonio; the black community’s interest in black achievement; the limitations faced by black newspapers; and the misrepresentation of black people by the white media. Andrews chronicles the circulation and staff numbers of the San Antonio Register over the years, as well as the broader goals of the paper to facilitate social change and provide resources to the black community. Finally, he discusses a need for the ANP and more politically-trained black journalists.

Subjects

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