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Louisville Defender photographs

 Collection
Identifier: 1985_026-PA

Approximately 16,000 photographs from the files of the Louisville Defender, an African American newspaper published in Louisville beginning in 1933. Subjects include local activities, persons, places, politicians, the newspaper’s annual Black Expo and national figures such as Martin Luther King.

These photographs were received from Defender publisher Frank L. Stanley's widow, Vivian Stanley, and son, Kenneth Stanley, after his death. They were received as part of Frank Stanley's collection (most of which is housed in University Archives & Records Center), but have historically been housed and described separately. This finding aid preserves that practice.

Dates

  • 1950-1982

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to researchers.

Extent

27.875 linear feet (Processed materials: 34 manuscript boxes, 1 flat. Unprocessed materials: 8 records center boxes)

Biographical / Historical

The Louisville Defender was founded in 1933 by Alvin Bowman, with the encouragement and financial backing of John Sengstacke and the Chicago Defender. Public service projects quickly made the paper an important part of Louisville's black community. From 1936 to 1974 Frank L. Stanley, Sr., through the paper and through his many activities, came to personify the Defender in the local and national communities. College-trained as an English teacher, he was a founder and five-time president of the National Newspaper Publishers' Association; twice national president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity; vice-chairman of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights; commissioned in 1946 and 1948 by the United States Secretaries of War and Defense to inspect troop conditions in occupied Europe; a leader in advocating open access to public accommodations in the 1960s; and in 1962 was invited by the United States Department of State to conduct journalism seminars in Africa.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These photographs were received from Defender publisher Frank L. Stanley's widow, Vivian Stanley, and son, Kenneth Stanley, after his death. They were received as part of Frank Stanley's collection (most of which is housed in University Archives & Records Center), but have historically been housed and described separately.

Related Materials

See also the "parent" collection, the Frank L. Stanley, Sr. papers.

In addition, a subset of 3,700 these photographs was included in the microfilm project that also featured scrapbooks, legal records and minute books as well as the 1933 newspaper issues. Each reel begins with introductory material, series notes, and container listings for the portion microfilmed.

Creator

Source

Title
Louisville Defender photographs
Status
In Progress
Date
2023
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is in English.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Louisville Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Ekstrom Library, Lower Level Room 17
Louisville KY 40292
502 852-6752