Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Type	Weekly newspaper (Thursday)
Owner(s)	Tracey Williams-Dillard
Founder(s)	Cecil Newman
Publisher	Tracey Williams-Dillard
Founded	August 10, 1934; 90 years ago
Language	American English
Headquarters	3744 Fourth Avenue South; Minneapolis, Minnesota 55409
City	Minneapolis
Country	United States
Circulation	9,800 (as of 2024)
Readership	Twin Cities
OCLC number	43310423
Website	spokesman-recorder.com
	Media of the United States; List of newspapers;

The Minnesota Spokesman–Recorder is an African-American, English-language newspaper headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and serves readers in the Twin Cities. Founded in 1934 by Cecil Earle Newman (who remained editor until his death in 1976),^[2] it is the oldest continuously operated black newspaper and longest-lived black-owned business in Minnesota.^[3]^[4]^[5] The current Publisher & CEO of the paper is Newman's granddaughter, Tracey Williams-Dillard.^[3]^[6]

History

The newspaper's first issue appeared on August 10, 1934, as the St. Paul Reporter.^[7] Until 2000, it released weekly alongside The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, also published and edited by Newman (until his death in 1976).^[2]^[8]^[9] The newspaper office moved from St. Paul to 3744 Fourth Avenue South, Minneapolis, in 1958.^[10] Under Newman's leadership, the newspaper played a key role in the civil rights movement in Minnesota.

After Newman's death in 1976, his wife Launa took over operation of the papers. In 2000, she merged them into a single title, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. In 2007, Newman's granddaughter Tracey Williams-Dillard became CEO of the paper.^[3]

The late photographer, filmmaker, writer, and composer Gordon Parks was a photo-journalist for the newspaper.^[11]

The newspaper building on Fourth Avenue was declared a historic landmark in 2015 for its association with the civil rights movement in Minnesota.^[11]

The Minnesota Spokesman–Recorder is a member of the National Newspaper Association, Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., Metropolitan Economic Development Association, Minnesota Minority Media Coalition, and Minnesota Newspaper Association.^[12]^[13]

In 2021, the newspaper's archives from 1934 to 1964 were publicly digitized in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Minnesota Historical Society.^[5]^[14]