Wilmington Journal (Wilmington, N.C.)
R. S. Jervay established the paper in 1927 and it continued under his son Thomas C. Jervay Sr. The Wilmington Journal is one of North Carolina’s oldest African American newspaper and has published stories on local, state, and national events for nearly a century. It succeeded the Daily Record that was destroyed in the Wilmington Coup of 1898. Fundraising efforts in 2021 helped save the newspaper's building at 412 South 7th Street. Mary Alice Thatch served as editor and covered the Wilmington 10 trial.
R.S. Jervay, Thatch’s grandfather, started The Wilmington Journal, originally calling it The Cape Fear Journal. Nearly three decades before, the Daily Record, another Black newspaper in Wilmington, had been targeted during the Wilmington Massacre of 1898. Thomas C. Jervay Sr., Thatch’s father, led the paper through the civil rights movement, including a 1973 firebombing of the newspaper’s offices. That period included the wrongful convictions of the Wilmington 10, nine Black men and one white woman, in connection with the 1971 firebombing of a Wilmington grocery store.
Thanks to our partners at the New Hanover County Public Library, DigitalNC is pleased to announce that fourteen brand new issues of the Wilmington Journal (Wilmington, N.C.) are now available online! Founded in 1927, the Wilmington Journal is one of North Carolina’s oldest African American newspaper and has published stories on local, state, and national events for nearly a century.
These new issues contain almost two hundred new pages full of journalism, spanning from 1953 to 1977. They join sixteen issues already hosted online at DigitalNC, doubling the site’s holdings of the journal.
The standout issue of this collection is by far the 50th anniversary paper, published on March 12th, 1977. This stunning issue contains a whopping FIFTY-NINE pages full of current events, community stories about the paper, and letters from local businesses and readers congratulating the paper on its golden jubilee.
This issue far and away outpaces previous issues of the journal, which average around 12 pages an issue. It’s a breathtaking record of the commitment and dedication the Wilmington Journal’s journalists and editors have to the paper, and the issues’ letters and advertisements are a testament to the special place the paper holds in its readers hearts.
Link to view the digital collection of The Wilmington Journal Newspapers, 1945-1994: https://www.digitalnc.org/newspapers/wilmington-journal-1945-1994-wilmington-n-c/