Columbia Center for Oral History Portal > Oral history interview with James Morris, Sr., 1971.Biographical NoteJames Morris, Sr., (1890-1977) graduated from the Hampton Institute in 1912 and from Howard University's law school in 1915. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1917 and was sent to France the following year. Morris bought the Iowa Bystander in 1922 and continued to work as editor and and publisher until his retirement in 1971. In 1925, he helped organize the National Bar Association in Des Moines, Iowa, when the American Bar Association excluded black people from membership. He co-founded the Iowa State Conference of the NAACP in 1939.
Scope and ContentsIn his 1971 interview conducted by Henry La Brie III, James Morris, Sr., discusses the history of the Iowa Bystander in terms of important historical events and the people involved in the paper's history. He recounts his position at the Bystander and his accomplishments, as well as the other prominent members of the black press and how the black press had dealt with injustices and problems that affected black people. Morris explains the availability and scarcity of resources, advertising power, competition between the black press and the white establishment press, and the position of black newspapers in their respective communities and readerships.
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