List of African American newspapers in California facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This is a list of African American newspapers that have been published in the state of California, including both historical and contemporary publications. California's first such newspaper was the Mirror of the Times, which began publishing in the mid-1850s. Although the number of African Americans in California did not exceed 1,100 until the 20th-century, seven African American newspapers were established in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 19th century.

Newspaper examples
Front page of the first issue of The Pacific Appeal, April 5, 1862
An early African American newspaper in Southern California, The California Eagle, from 1916

Northern California

The Northern California region takes up the northern two-thirds of the state, including the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
Albany	Black Times: Voices of the National Community	1971	1976?	Monthly	ISSN 0006-4289 LCCN sn7801557
Fresno	The California Advocate	1967	current	Monthly / irregular or weekly	LCCN sn84025882	Official site: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ca.advocate
Menlo Park	Ravenswood Post	1953	1981	Weekly	LCCN sn97060575	Published by Clarence A. Burley.
Oakland	The Black Panther	1967	1980	Weekly/ Biweekly/ Monthly	ISSN 0523-7238 LCCN sn7805677, sn86016911
Oakland	Illustrated Guide: The recognized organ of the Colored people	1892	?	Weekly		Official newspaper of the Afro-American League of Alameda County.
Oakland	Oakland Post / Oakland Sunday Post	1963	current	Weekly / Triweekly / Daily / Semiweekly	LCCN sn84025881	Official site: https://postnewsgroup.com/
Oakland	Oakland Sunshine	1897	1922	Weekly	LCCN sn84025837	Available online Published by J.M. Bridges.
Oakland	Oakland Times	1869	?	Daily (except Sunday)	LCCN sn85066467
Oakland	San Francisco Post / San Francisco Sunday Post	1963		Twice weekly / Weekly	LCCN sn84025880
Oakland	Berkeley Tri-city Post	1985		Weekly	LCCN sn89080104
Oakland	Western American	1926	1929	Weekly	LCCN sn92069415	Published by S. DeWitt Moss.
Richmond	Richmond Post	1963	current	Twice weekly	LCCN sn84025879	A Post News Group newspaper.
Sacramento	The Forum	1906	?	Twice weekly	LCCN sn92069424	Published by Rev. J. Gordon McPherson. McPherson also published Salt Lake City's Democratic Headlight in 1899.
San Francisco	The Elevator: A Weekly Journal of Progress	1865	1904	Weekly	LCCN sn83027101	Edited by Philip A. Bell
Sacramento	The Sacramento Observer	1964?	current	Weekly	ISSN 0036-2212 LCCN sn7804134	Official site: https://sacobserver.com/
San Francisco	African American Chronicle	1991	1993?	Monthly newspaper
San Francisco	The Free American	1866	?	Weekly	LCCN sn95062384
San Francisco	The Lunar Visitor	1862	?	Monthly		Founded by John Jamison Moore.
San Francisco	Pacific Appeal / The Pacific Appeal	1862	1880	Weekly	LCCN sn83027099	Available online Successor to Mirror of the Times.
San Francisco	San Francisco Reporter	1942	?	Weekly		Edited and published by W.A. Hambrick.
San Francisco	The Sun Reporter	1943		Weekly	ISSN 0890-0930 LCCN sn84025888
San Francisco	California Voice	1919		Weekly	ISSN 0745-7057 LCCN sn8307379
San Francisco	Western Appeal	1919?	?	Twice-monthly	LCCN sn92069416	Edited by G.E. Watkins, formerly a partner in the publication of the Pacific Coast Appeal.
San Francisco	Mirror of the Times	1855, 1856, or 1857	1862 or 1858	Weekly	LCCN sn83027100, 2013254322	Succeeded by the Pacific Appeal.
San Francisco	Peninsula Metro Reporter	1972?	1993?	Weekly	LCCN sn97060576
San Francisco	San Francisco Bay View	1976	current	Biweekly		Official site: https://sfbayview.com/
San Francisco	San Francisco Metro Reporter	1972	?	Weekly	LCCN sn92037409
San Francisco	San Francisco Vindicator	1884	1906	Weekly	LCCN sn84025838
San Francisco	The Western Outlook	1894	1928	Weekly	LCCN sn84025815
San Jose	The Forum	1908	?	Weekly	LCCN sn92069417	Edited by J. Gordon McPherson.
San Jose	The Phoenix	1891	1892	Daily (except Monday)		Successor to the San Jose Daily Times
Stockton	Progressor / San Joaquin Progressor	1969	?	Weekly		Partially in Spanish.

Southern California

The Southern California region takes up the southern third of the state, and includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, San Diego, and the Inland Empire region.

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
Altadena	The Eagle (1973–?) / Pasadena Eagle (1968–1973)	1968	?	Weekly	Pasadena Eagle LCCN sn96064438 The Eagle LCCN sn96064439
Bakersfield	The Bakersfield Advocate	1970s	1979	Weekly	LCCN sn95062214
Bakersfield	1970	1970s	Weekly	*LCCN sn95061892
Bakersfield	The Colored Citizen	1914	?	Weekly	LCCN sn93052976	Billed as “The Only Paper Published in the Interests of Colored People Between San Francisco and Los Angeles.”
Bakersfield	The News	1957	?	Monthly newspaper	LCCN sn95062027	Published by Isaiah E. Owens.
Bakersfield	Bakersfield News Observer	1977		Weekly		Official site: //www.bakersfieldnewsobserver.com Part of the Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California.
Bakersfield	Outlook / The News Publication (1950s–1961) / The Outlook: The News Publication (1961–1964) / The Outlook (1964–1966) / The Outlook News (1966–?)	1950s	?	Twice-monthly, later weekly		The News Publication LCCN sn95062028 The Outlook: The News Publication LCCN sn95062029 The Outlook LCCN sn95062030 The Outlook News LCCN sn95062031
Beverly Hills	The Ethiopian Mirror	1993?	?	Monthly newspaper	ISSN 1553-2682	Partially in Amharic. Targeted to Ethiopian-American community.
Compton	Compton Bulletin	1970?	current	Weekly	LCCN sn89080099	Official site: https://www.thebulletinweekly.com/
Compton	Metropolitan Gazette	1967?	?	Weekly	LCCN sn88083538	Edited by Mildred L. Hamm.
Compton	Compton Star Review	1927?	?	Weekly	LCCN sn99063223	Extant from 1971–1973.
Culver City	Culver City Wave	1925		Weekly	LCCN sn84025878	Official site: http://wavenewspapers.com/category/news/local/culver_city_edition/ Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Hollywood	The National Record	1944	1993?	Monthly newspaper.
Los Angeles	African Connection Newspaper	1988?		Biweekly
Los Angeles	South End Bee	1934	1987?	Weekly
Los Angeles	Bronzeville News	1943	?	Weekly	LCCN sn85040329
Los Angeles	Herald-Dispatch	1952		Weekly	ISSN 8750-2038 LCCN sn84025885
Los Angeles	The California Eagle	1879	1965	Weekly	LCCN sn82016196	Published from 1914 to 1951 by Charlotta Bass.
Los Angeles	Central News Wave	1963?		Weekly	LCCN sn84025862	Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	Firestone Park News & Southeast News-Press	1954?	?	Weekly
Los Angeles	Florence Messenger	1939?	1983?	Weekly	LCCN sn84025876	Became part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	Florence News	1986?	?	Twice monthly
Los Angeles	The Illustrated Journal	1956	?	Weekly
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Black Voice	1968	?	Weekly		see Black Voice News
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Herald	1950?	?	Weekly
Los Angeles (Pacoima)	Pacoima Herald-Dispatch	1952	?	Weekly
Los Angeles	New Age Dispatch or New Age	1907	1949	Weekly	LCCN sn85040332
Inglewood	Los Angeles Bay News Observer	1986?		Weekly		Part of the Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California.
Los Angeles	The Weekly Observer	1888	1888	Weekly	LCCN sn85040327
Los Angeles	Liberator	1901	1913	Weekly	LCCN sn2012271153
Los Angeles	The Pacific Defender	1923		Weekly
Los Angeles	Pacific Enterprise	1927		Weekly		Edited by William A. Venerable.
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Sentinel	1933 or 1934	current	Weekly	ISSN 0890-4340 LCCN sn83045393	Official site: https://lasentinel.net/
Los Angeles	Watts Star Review	1875 or 1929		Weekly	LCCN sn84025886
Los Angeles	Angeles Mesa Wave	1978	?	Weekly	LCCN sn84025870	Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	Hawthorne Wave	1981	1987?	Weekly	LCCN sn84025875	A Los Angeles Wave publication. Successor to the Inglewood Hawthorne Wave.
Los Angeles	Inglewood Wave	1981	1987?	Weekly	LCCN sn84025874
Los Angeles	Southwest Wave	1920	1987?	Weekly	LCCN sn84025864, sn95061657	Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	Topics / Sun Wave	1942?		Weekly	LCCN sn84025865	Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	Westchester Wave	1921?		Weekly		Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	The Western Clarion	1926?	?	Weekly
Los Angeles	The Western Dispatch	1921	?	Weekly	LCCN sn92069422
Los Angeles	The Western News	1889	1889	Weekly	LCCN sn85040324
Los Angeles	Inglewood Hawthorne Wave	1987?		Weekly	LCCN sn840 25873	Later replaced by Inglewood Wave and Hawthorne Wave Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	L.A. Watts Times	1976?		Weekly
Los Angeles / Inglewood	The Los Angeles Community Circle News / Los Angeles Community Circle Clipper	1989		Bimonthly newspaper
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Illustrated Reflector	1934?	?	Weekly
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Tribune	1941	1960	Weekly	LCCN sn83045308
Los Angeles	The Los Angeles Truth	1935?	?	Unknown
Los Angeles	The National Negro Press	1970?	?	Unknown
Los Angeles	The Search Light and Open Sesame	1893	1908	Weekly	LCCN sn85040326
Los Angeles (or Bakersfield)	United Pictorial Review	1965 or 1966	?	Weekly	LCCN sn95061792	Published by George Scott Jr.
Los Angeles	Southeast Star Wave	1938?	1987?	Weekly	LCCN sn84025866	Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	Southern California Guide	1892	1895	Weekly	LCCN sn85040325
Los Angeles	Southside Journal Wave	1937?	1987?	Weekly	LCCN sn84025868	Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	Southwestern Sun Wave	1947?	1987?	Weekly	LCCN sn84025867	Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	Tribune Mesa News Wave	1978		Weekly	LCCN sn84025872	Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Los Angeles	Wave	1958?		Weekly	LCCN sn84025863	Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.
Pasadena	The Western Herald	1925?	?	Weekly
Redlands	The Colored Citizen	1905	1906	Monthly newspaper	LCCN sn96064325	Published by Robert Henry Harbert and H.A. Harroll
Riverside	Black Voice News	1972	current	Weekly		Official site: https://blackvoicenews.com/
San Bernardino	Precinct Reporter	1965		Weekly
San Bernardino	The San Bernardino American	1969		Weekly	LCCN sn89080098
San Diego	San Diego Voice & Viewpoint	1960	Current	Weekly		https://sdvoice.info/
San Diego	San Diego Eagle	1923?	?	Weekly
Santa Ana	The Orange County Star Review	1971	1973?	Weekly

List of African American newspapers in California facts for kids

Northern California

Southern California

See also