John Carter Minkins papers

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: MS 025.003

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

A collection from the career and life of John Carter Minkins, whose journalism career spanned from 1888 through the 1950s. Included are 18 typed manuscripts of articles and speeches that he wrote, 18 letters, newspaper and magazine clippings, three portraits of Minkins, a certificate appointing Minkins as Grand Reporter of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World, and two booklets written by C.H.J. Taylor signed to Minkins by the author.

The topics covered by the typed manuscripts includes: Historical figures like Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington Carver; The hypocrisy and foolishness of White supremacist ideas of racial purity; The New Deal; and civil rights for Black Americans in light of their service and loyalty in World War II. There are also speeches he gave at events for the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World.

Correspondence includes: Four letters from C.H.J. Taylor from March, 1896; Six letters of recommendation written in 1906 by publishers and editors that Minkins had worked for; An undated letter addressed to Robert Reed Church, Jr., the Memphis, Tennessee, political organizer; A 1944 letter from William McGregor; Two letters from Emanuel C. Wright of the National Freedom Day Association; A 1952 letter from Buena V. Kelley, Grand Daughter Secretary of the Daughters of IBPOE of the World; A 1952 letter from Armistead S. Pride, dean of journalism at Lincoln University, with questions regarding Minkins' career; And a 1952 letter from Rhode Island Governor Dennis J. Roberts.

Additionally, there are nine newspaper clippings by and about Minkins and his family and one article about C.H.J. Taylor, an article from Brown Alumni Monthly, May 1982, about his daughters who attended Brown Universit, a certificate appointing Minkins as Grand Reporter for the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World dated October 1, 1953, three photographs of Minkins, and two booklets by C.H.J. Taylor ("The Negro Normal and Abnormal," 1887, and "Whites and Blacks, or, the Question Settled," 1889) dedicated to Minkins by the author.

Dates

Creation: 1896-1982

Conditions Governing Access

RIBHS staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

Conditions Governing Use

RIBHS staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

Biographical / Historical

John Carter Minkins was born January 29, 1869, in Norfolk, Virginia. He was raised by his grandmother after his mother, Georgiana Minkins, died when he was young. He never knew his white father. He graduated from Norfolk Mission College in 1888, where he met his wife, Rosa Louisa Jessup (1871-1945). They married in 1894. Minkins and Rosa had seven daughters and four of them attended Brown University.

He began his journalism career first in Virginia at the Norfolk Evening Telegram in 1888 and the Tidewater Republican in 1889, before moving to Providence to manage the African heritage newspaper the New England Torchlight in 1891. He worked for several Providence area newspapers, including becoming the first African heritage editor in chief of a white newspaper at the Providence News-Democrat in 1906. He owned the Rhode Island Examiner from 1911 until it folded in 1914. Simultaneously, he worked for the Providence Evening Tribune from 1911 until it folded in 1938. From 1939 until his death, he served as the Grand Lodge Reporter of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World, writing for their national paper, the Washington Eagle. In addition to his regular work at these newspapers, he also served as a correspondent for Hearst starting in the 1890s, a contributor to the Rhode Island Free Press starting in 1940, and wrote a regular Providence Sunday Letter for the Boston Globe.

Minkins was known as a fair and honest journalist. While covering the Lizzie Borden murder case early in his career, he was critical of a Boston Globe writer who used false and sensationalized information in his coverage of the case. He used his platform to attack white supremacy and promote equal rights for Black Americans. Over the course of his career, he wrote for both Democratic and Republican newspapers and would support politicians from either party that he believed to be more progressive in their support for civil rights for Black citizens.

Minkins was an active member of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World (IBPOEW), serving as state president in 1935. He later served as the district deputy and president of the New England Association of the IBPOE from 1940 to 1955.

Minkins died on October 29, 1959, at 90 years old.

Extent

.42 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

A collection from the career and life of John Carter Minkins, whose journalism career spanned from 1888 through the 1950s. The collection includes typed manuscripts of articles and speeches he wrote, correspondence, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, and booklets.