History of the Chicago Defender
On May 5, 1905, Robert Sengstacke Abbott founded the Chicago Defender in a small kitchen in his landlord’s apartment, with an initial investment of 25 cents and a press run of 300 copies. The Chicago Defender’s first issues were in the form of four-page, six-column handbills, filled with local news items gathered by Abbott and clippings from other newspapers. Five years later, the Chicago Defender began to attract a national audience.
By the start of World War I, the Chicago Defender was the nation’s most influential Black weekly newspaper, with more than two thirds of its readership base located outside of Chicago. During World War I, the paper utilized its influence to wage a successful campaign in support of “The Great Migration.” It published blazing editorials, articles and cartoons lauding the benefits of the North, posted job listings and train schedules to facilitate relocation, and declared on May 15, 1917 as the date of the “Great Northern Drive.” The Chicago Defender’s support of The Great Migration caused Southern readers to migrate to the North in record numbers. Between 1916 and 1918, at least 110,000 people migrated to Chicago, nearly tripling the city’s Black population. Following the war, the Defender covered controversial events such as the Red Summer Riots of 1919, a series of race riots in cities across the country. The Chicago Defender campaigned for anti-lynching legislation and for integrated sports. In 1923, the Chicago Defender introduced the Bud Billiken Page, the first newspaper section just for children. The Chicago Defender along with the Chicago Defender Charities, is the producer and organizer of the world famous Bud Billiken Day Parade and Picnic. The parade originated in 1929 as a vehicle to showcase children. Today, the Bud Billiken Parade is the largest event of its kind. Columnists at the Defender included Walter White and Langston Hughes. The paper also published the early works by Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks. Heralding itself as the “The World’s Greatest Weekly,” the Defender spoke out against segregation of the armed forces in the early 40s and actively challenged segregation in the South during the civil rights era. In 1940, John H. H. Sengstacke, Abbott’s nephew and heir, assumed editorial control and continued to champion for equality. In 1956, the Chicago Defender began publishing on a daily basis. In 1965, Stengstacke purchased The Pittsburgh Courier, including it in his “Sengstacke Newspaper chain,” along with papers like the Michigan Chronicle in Detroit and the Tri-State Defender in Memphis. Sengstacke served as publisher of the Defender until his death in May 1997. The Chicago Defender is the flagship publication of Real Times Inc., a media company that also includes among its holdings the Michigan Chronicle, the Front Page, the New Pittsburgh Courier, and the Tri-State Defender. One hundred and four years later, the Chicago Defender won the prestigious John B. Russwurm Award during 2009’s National Newspaper Publishers Association Merit Awards Gala, along with two first place and two third place awards, including the John H. Sengstacke General Excellence Award.
Chicago Defender’s Homes
- Landlady’s Kitchen Table (1905-1920)
- 3435 South Indiana Avenue (1920-1960)
- 2400 South Michigan Avenue (1960-2006)
- 200 South Michigan Avenue (2006-2009)
- 4445 South Martin Luther King Drive (2009-present day)
About the Chicago Defender’s Fifth and Final Home
- Location: 4445 South Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive
- Owned and managed by Eastlake Management
- Was once Metropolitan Funeral Home, sister company to the Metropolitan Assurance Company located at 4455 South King Drive
- Located four blocks from Defender founder Robert S. Abbott’s Mansion (National Historic Landmark) located at 4742 South King Drive