Oral history interview with Frank L. Stanley, 1971.

Biographical Note

Frank L. Stanley (1906-1974) was a civil rights activist and owner and publisher of the weekly Louisville Defender. Stanley was a one-time president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. His political activism included drafting state legislation to integrate Kentucky's public museums and a bill creating the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, of which he became a member.

Scope and Contents

Henry La Brie begins his 1971 interview with Frank L. Stanley by asking about what types of news content attracts readers. Stanley then discusses his relationship with Harry Truman, other American presidents, and other high-ranking government officials. He discusses his contribution to the desegregation of the military. Next, he outlines the black press' contribution to the civil rights movement and his relationship to Martin Luther King, Jr. He describes his engagement in Kentucky politics, including his contribution to civil rights legislation there. La Brie and Stanley discuss black businesses advertising in the black press, the measures of the success of a newspaper, the need for a national black news service, regional differences in the black press, and coverage of African American issues in the mainstream media. Next, they discuss the sensationalist reputation of the black press, newspaper distribution, and the relationship between the Defender and white newspapers. The interview concludes with Stanley's predictions for the future of the black press.

Subjects

• Advertising--Newspapers.
• African American journalists.
• African American press.
• African Americans--Civil rights.
• Interviews.
• Journalism--Political aspects.
• Journalism--Social aspects.
• Journalists--Interviews.
• King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968.
• La Brie, Henry G., interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• Louisville (Ky.)--Newspapers.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Stanley, Frank L., -1974--Interviews.
• Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.
• United States--Race relations.