Oral history interview with Percy Greene 1971

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Name: Greene, Percy, 1897-1977 (Interviewee); La Brie, Henry G (Interviewer)
Title: Oral history interview with Percy Greene 1971
Other Titles: Reminiscences of Percy Greene : oral history, 1971; Oral history of Percy Greene, 1971
Abstract: Greene begins his 1971 interview with Henry La Brie by describing his youth, education, and work for the Illinois Central Railroad Corporation. He recounts his service during World War I. The conversation turns to Greene's return to the United States, where he learned the law as an apprentice and became involved with the Mississippi Negro Democrats and the National Association of Negro War Veterans . Greene details the racist threats he received after the debut of The Jackson Advocate and his role in the unseating of former Mississippi governor and senator Theodore Bilbo. Next, Greene goes on to criticise the civil rights movement and compares black newspapers in the North and South. Greene then discusses equality versus integration, what he sees as the natural law, and the future of the black newspaper. The interview concludes with Greene's discussions of the Compromise of 1877, meeting with Supreme Court Justice Hugo Lafayette Black, the evolution of newspapers during his lifetime, and the educational importance of daily news.
Collection Name: Black Journalists oral history collection
Subjects: Journalists; Editors; African American press; African American journalists; African Americans--Civil rights; Journalism--Political aspects; United States Race relations; Jackson (Miss.); Greene, Percy, 1897-1977; Jackson advocate
Format: oral histories
Genre: Interviews
Origin Information: 1971
Date: 1971
Physical Description: sound files : digital preservation master, WAV files (96kHz, 24 bit); 59 pages
Note (Biographical): Percy Greene (1897-1977) was the editor and publisher of the Jackson Advocate, Mississippi's oldest black newspaper. Having attended Jackson College, Greene served in the United States Army during World War I as a corporal and company clerk. He was pa rt of the 301st Stevedore Regiment, the first black regiment to arrive in France in the fall of 1917. After apprenticing to a lawyer for five years, Greene sold insurance, developed black veteran camps across the South, and ran a paper called The Colored Veteran of the National Association of Negro War Veterans. Greene led the Mississippi Negro Democrats Association and the National Association of Negro War Veterans and was a lifelong advocate of African-American voting rights.
Note: Interviewed by Henry G. La Brie III on July 22, 1971.
Note (Provenance): Henry G. La Brie III Gift, 1975
Language: English
Library Location: Columbia Center for Oral History, Columbia University
Browse Location’s Digital Content
Catalog Record: 11563727
Also In: Time-Based Media
Persistent URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8-0y23-s854
Related URLs: Available digital content for this interview.