On this day in 1864, the New Orleans Tribune published its first newspaper. It was the first daily Black newspaper and was unique as it printed articles in both English and French.
The paper was the brainchild of Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez, a physician who attempted a similar effort just two years prior. The paper’s aim was to publish opinions that would influence policy makers in Louisiana and the United States Congress, thus the bilingual approach. The paper employed two full-time editors, Paul Trevigne and Jean Charles Houzeau.
The editors tailored the paper to liberal causes and catered its content to free Blacks in the South and across the United States. Both men also supported the idea of universal Black male suffrage, which made them stand apart from their moderate Republican Party audience.
As the Civil War ended and Reconstruction took hold, the paper focused intently on New Orleans’ free Black community. Trevigne and Houzeau were in support of plantations being given to former slaves and promoted the fight for equal wages and educations for the newly freed.
The Tribune had a national impact as it was given to major Northern papers and to the entire Congress. The paper was a powerful mouthpiece for the burgeoning Black portion of the Republican Party. However when a radical sweep of Republicans were voted into office, Dr. Roudanez sided with that side of the party while Houzeau sided with moderate Black Republicans.
As a result of Roudanez’s allegiance to radical Republicans, he lost major financial support. The paper would eventually fold in 1868, despite attempts to revive it a short while after.
The Tribune was reestablished in 1985 by Dr. Dwight McKenna and publisher Beverly Stanton McKenna.
Like BlackAmericaWeb.com on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
