Companies launch historic collaboration to digitize black newspapers, create portal

By Hays Goodman Associate Editor The raging tornado that clawed its way up the banks of the muddy Mississippi river on May 7, 1840, couldn’t have hit at a worse possible time. River traffic was high on a Friday afternoon and the massive storm was wide enough to deal death on both sides of the water. The “official” death toll is listed at 137 to this day, but it’s extremely doubtful that even one African American death was noted in the tally for the day’s newspapers. Even 50 to 80 years later, in many parts of the country, white newspaper owners did not record the deaths of African Americans. So-called “black newspapers” have since grown up over the years to become powerful record keepers of a segment of society sometimes relegated to the sidelines by the mainstream media. Full Story: http://www.newsandtech.com/issues/2005/02-05/ot/02-05_blackpapers.htm