Cecil Newman
Cecil Newman was born on this date in 1903. He was a Black newspaper publisher and businessman.
He was born in Kansas City, MO., the grandson of former slaves from Tennessee and Missouri. His father (Horatio Oscar Newman) was an attendant at a private white-owned and operated club. As a young boy, Newman sold papers to earn extra money and worked in the office of the local Black newspaper, the Kansas City Call. Just before graduation from high school, Newman married Willa Coleman. After their first child (Oscar Horatio) was born, his family moved to Minneapolis. There, he worked as a Pullman Porter, and around 1927, he founded and wrote for the Twin Cities Herald.
In 1932, he published the Timely Digest, a weekly magazine. In 1934, Newman became editor and publisher of the Minneapolis Spokesman and the St. Paul Recorder. He remained the owner and publisher until he died.
In 1948, while in the newspaper business, he became the first Black president of the Minneapolis Urban League. For over 50 years, his influence shaped opportunities for Black people and provided them with a source of news and information not found in local white newspapers throughout the state.
In 1965, he received an honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree from Allen University in South Carolina. Cecil Newman died on February 8, 1976, and was one of the most significant Minnesotans of his time.
