Oral history interview with David Kellum, 1971.

Biographical Note

David Kellum was born in Greenville, Mississippi, in 1903. In 1923, Kellum graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and joined the staff of the Chicago Defender newspaper. Kellum was one of the founders and early coordinators of the Defender Bud Billiken Club and Parade. He died in 1981.

Scope and Contents

In his 1971 interview with Henry La Brie III, Kellum discusses how he began to work at the Chicago Defender. Later, he describes the origins of the Bud Billiken Club, his collaboration with Lucius Harper, the first Bud Billiken Parade and the involvement of the blackface comics behind Amos 'n' Andy. Kellum also outlines the process of rewriting news stories from a "black angle" and his work after leaving the Defender. Kellum discusses his role in bringing black and white children together for the Bud Billiken Parade during a period of racial segregation, as well as his efforts toward civil rights and humanitarian work as a journalist.

Subjects

• African American journalists.
• African American press.
• African Americans--Civil rights.
• Chicago (Ill.)--Newspapers.
• Chicago defender.
• Interviews.
• Journalism--Political aspects.
• Journalism--Social aspects.
• Journalists--Interviews.
• Kellum, David--Interviews.
• La Brie, Henry G., interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• Oral histories (literary works)
• United States--Race relations.