Freedom's Journal, the First U.S. African-American Owned Newspaper
Freedom's Journal was the first African-American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States. Founded by Rev. Peter Williams, Jr. and other free black men in New York City, it was published weekly as a four-page, four-column newspaper, starting with the March 16, 1827 issue. Freedom's Journal circulated in 11 states, the District of Columbia, Haiti, Europe, and Canada.
Subjects contained in the journal:
- current events of the day, with regional, national and international information
- editorials declaiming slavery, lynching and other injustices
- biographies of prominent African-Americans
- vital record listings of births, deaths and marriages in the African-American New York community
Freedom's Journal Online Archive
All 103 issues of the Freedom's Journal have been digitized and posted on our website. You'll find these documents in PDF format.
Please note that our digital copies are almost illegible in many places. If we can conveniently replace our defective scans with higher quality scans in the future, we may consider posting new versions.
A much better digital version is available in Newsbank's African American Newspapers, a commercial online newspaper product available from many university libraries across the country. If you do not have access to the commercial online newspaper product, you may access our version of Freedom's Journal PDFs at these links:
Volume 1 - Freedom's Journal
Volume 2 - Freedom's Journal
More About Freedom's Journal
OCLC#: 1570144
LC card #: sn83-30455
We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.
Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm, co-editors of Freedom's Journal
Freedom's Journal, the first African-American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States, was published weekly in New York City from 1827 to 1829.
Samuel Cornish served as co-editor with John B. Russwurm between March 16, 1827 and September 14, 1827. Russwurm became sole editor of the Journal following the resignation of Cornish in September 1827.
Freedom's Journal was superseded by The Rights of All, published between 1829 and 1830 by S. E. Cornish. Learn more about history of the Journal and its editors on the PBS website.
Freedom's Journal provided international, national, and regional information on current events and contained editorials declaiming slavery, lynching, and other injustices. The Journal also published biographies of prominent African-Americans and listings of births, deaths, and marriages in the African-American New York community. Freedom's Journal circulated in 11 states, the District of Columbia, Haiti, Europe, and Canada.
The newspaper employed subscription agents. One of these, David Walker, in 1829 published the first of four articles that called for rebellion. Walker's Appeal stated that "It is no more harm for you to kill the man who is trying to kill you than it is for you to take a drink of water." This bold attack was widely read, and Walker distributed copies of his pamphlet into the South, where it was widely banned.
Learn More
Explore these organizations and resources for more information on African-American periodicals.
The Amistad Research Center, Tulane University
William Monroe Trotter Institute of the University of Massachusetts Boston
John Henrik Clarke Africana Library
National Endowment for the Humanities
Resources in Black Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara Library
The African Diaspora: University of Texas at Austin
Lists of African and Diaspora University Study Programs
Africans in America: America's Journey through Slavery from WGBH
Have Questions?
Contact our Library and Archives staff by phone at 608-264-6535 or by email.