Oklahoma Eagle

The Oklahoma Eagle is a Tulsa-based and Black-owned newspaper published by James O. Goodwin.[1] It is a successor to the Tulsa Star newspaper, which was burned down in the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. The Oklahoma Eagle is known for publishing news about the Black community and its reporting on the 1921 Tulsa race massacre at a time when many white-owned newspapers in Tulsa refused to acknowledge it.[1] The Oklahoma Eagle is also Oklahoma's longest-running Black-owned newspaper.[2]

The Oklahoma Eagle
TypeWeekly
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)James O. Goodwin
Founder(s)Theodore Baughman
PublisherJames O. Goodwin
EditorJeanne M. Goodwin
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersTulsa, Oklahoma
OCLC number9114180
Websitehttp://theoklahomaeagle.net/

History

The Oklahoma Eagle started in 1922[3] after the 1921 Tulsa race massacre when a black businessperson named Theodore Baughman salvaged a printing press from the burned-out building of the Tulsa Star.[4] The Tulsa Star was Tulsa's first black-owned newspaper, and was known as the "voice of black Tulsa" with its coverage of the everyday lives of black Tulsans as they celebrated weddings, mourned at funerals, and marked graduations and anniversaries.[1]

In 1936, Edward L. Goodwin, also known as E. L. Goodwin, purchased The Oklahoma Eagle[5] and added the slogan, "We make America better when we aid our people" to the paper's masthead.[6][7] Edward L. Goodwin was a businessperson who owned rental properties in the Greenwood District of Tulsa and a shoeshine parlor.[1] Edward L. Goodwin lived through the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and knew many who had died or lost loved ones and property; he purchased the newspaper in part to ensure that Tulsa would not forget its history.[1]

Ownership

In the 1970s, Edward L. Goodwin retired from The Oklahoma Eagle after running it for almost 40 years, and turned over operations to his youngest son, Robert K. Goodwin, who oversaw the paper for 10 years.[8] Robert K. Goodwin was also named by President George H. W. Bush as the executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He was also the CEO of the Points of Light, a non-profit organization that encouraged volunteer service.[8][9]

In the 1990s, Robert K. Goodwin handed the paper to his brothers, Edward L. Goodwin, Jr. and James O. Goodwin. Edward L. Goodwin, Jr. studied journalism at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, and died in 2014.[10] He was known for his meticulous grammar and his dedication to the preservation of the Greenwood District (also known as Black Wall Street) in Tulsa.[10] His daughter is Regina Goodwin who is a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives representing the 73rd district, which includes Tulsa.[11][12]

James O. Goodwin continues as publisher.[1] James O. Goodwin is a prominent attorney in Tulsa. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Tulsa College of Law. As a lawyer, he successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for the constitutionality of local statutes regarding freedom of speech, and he was co-counsel in the matter of reparation for victims of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.[13] In addition to practicing law, James O. Goodwin served on the Tulsa City-County Board of Health for over fifty years,[14] and the Tulsa Health District's East Regional Health Center was named for him in 2018.[15]

Prominent staff

Thelma Thurston Gorham was editor from 1954 to 1955, during which time her front page editorials on racial integration won an award from the National Council of Christians and Jews and national recognition for the paper.[4] In 1963, Gorham began teaching at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida, and founded its Department of Journalism.[16]

Carmen Fields began working at the paper as a high school student in the 1960s.[4] Fields later became a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, a Boston Globe editor, and a reporter for Boston's WHDH and WGBH.[17] During her time at the Boston Globe, she was part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for coverage of school desegregation issues in Boston.[18]

Benjamin Harrison Hill was an editorial page editor from 1951-1971.[4] He was also pastor of the historic Vernon AME Church in the Greenwood District for two decades.[19][2] Hill served two terms in the Oklahoma state legislature, and he also was active with the Tulsa Urban League and was president of the Tulsa chapter of the NAACP. A park and recreation center in Tulsa is named after him.[19]

Eagle editor Edgar T. Rouzeau worked at the New York Herald Tribune and was the first African American to be accredited to cover World War II.[20]

Luix Virgil Overbea, who served stints both as city editor and sports editor, became one of the first blacks to integrate a Southern newspaper, the Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel in North Carolina.[21][22] He later worked for the Associated Negro Press, St. Louis Sentinel, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the Christian Science Monitor.[23][24]

Editor and columnist Don Ross later worked as a columnist and assistant managing editor at the Post-Tribune in Gary, Indiana.[25] He was a celebrated writer who formed an alliance with syndicated columnists Art Buchwald, Russell Baker, Erma Bombeck and Andy Rooney to create an unofficial club, the “Academy of Humor Columnists.” As an Oklahoma legislator, Ross sponsored the bill that created the Tulsa Riot Commission that conducted the first serious investigation into the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.[26]

Legacy

In the 1990s and 2000s, The Oklahoma Eagle, like many other Black newspapers in the U.S., suffered from a decline in revenue and filed for bankruptcy. However, James O. Goodwin and several members of the Goodwin family helped keep it afloat through their investments of time and money,[4] and the paper continues to operate as the "conscience of Tulsa."[1] The publisher has been quoted as saying that he is relieved that The Oklahoma Eagle is still around to mark the approaching centennial of the Tulsa race massacre in 2021 and a changing Tulsa.[1]

Honors

E. L. Goodwin was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 1980. Edward L. Goodwin, Jr. and James O. Goodwin were inducted in 2015.[27] Robert K. Goodwin received the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.[8][28]

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References
  1. Lee, Kurtis (2020-05-22). "This newspaper has never forgotten the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — and its fight continues". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  2. Luckerson, Victor. "Michael Bloomberg's Black Agenda Gets Reviewed on Black Wall Street". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  3. Humanities, National Endowment for the. "The Oklahoma eagle. [volume]". ISSN 0745-385X. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  4. Brown, Karen F. (August 1986). "The Oklahoma Eagle: A Study of Black Press Survival" (PDF). Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication – via ERIC.
  5. Chang, Ailsa (June 19, 2020). "The History And Legacy Of Tulsa Race Massacre". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  6. Krehbiel, Randy (2019). Tulsa, 1921: Reporting a Massacre. University of Oklahoma. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-8061-6331-4.
  7. Stanley, Tim. "Black History Month: Oklahoma Eagle becomes one of nation's most influential black-owned newspapers". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  8. Reports, From Staff. "Former Oklahoma Eagle publisher to be honored by Journalism Hall of Fame". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  9. "Robert (Bob) K. Goodwin – The Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame". okjournalismhalloffame.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  10. Writer, TIM STANLEY World Staff. "Rites set for former Oklahoma Eagle Publisher Ed Goodwin Jr". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  11. "Representative Regina Goodwin - Oklahoma House of Representatives". www.okhouse.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  12. Martin, Michel (June 20, 2020). "Oklahoma State Rep. Regina Goodwin On Trump's Visit To Tulsa". VPM.org. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  13. "Collins College of Busines celebrates 19th annual Business Hall of Fame". Collins College of Business. 2018-10-12. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  14. "Black History Month: Honoring James O. Goodwin". KJRH. 2020-02-08. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  15. "James O. Goodwin 50 Years Of Service | Tulsa Health Department". www.tulsa-health.org. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  16. "Gazette". The Journalism Educator. 47 (1): 100–101. March 1992. doi:10.1177/107769589204700113. ISSN 0022-5517 – via SAGE Journals.
  17. Jones, Fred. "Tulsa Juneteenth Event Features Native Carmen Fields Her Love Of Journalism Began At The Oklahoma Eagle | The Oklahoma Eagle". Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  18. World, Michael Smith Tulsa. "Award-winning journalist returns to hometown of Tulsa for event to benefit all-black town fund". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  19. "Benjamin Harrison Hill". Tulsa Historical Society & Museum. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  20. "Yesterday in Negro History". Jet Magazine: 11. August 13, 1964 – via Google Books.
  21. Hinton, John. "Overbea, trailblazing black journalist, dies". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  22. Marquard, Bryan (2010-07-15). "Luix Overbea, groundbreaking reporter inspired young journalists". Boston.com. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  23. "Longtime Monitor writer Luix V. Overbea: an appreciation". Christian Science Monitor. 2010-07-14. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  24. "NABJ Mourns the Loss of Founder Luix Overbea - National Association of Black Journalists". www.nabj.org. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  25. "Ross, Don 1941– | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  26. Banzet-Ellis, Gail. "Q&A with Don Ross". TulsaPeople Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  27. "The Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame – Honoring Excellence in Journalism". okjournalismhalloffame.com. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  28. Eagle, Enid News &. "Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame to induct 22". Enidnews.com. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
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