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2001 SESSION

016092804
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 559
Offered January 10, 2001
Prefiled January 3, 2001
Commending the New Journal and Guide.
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Patron-- Jones, J.C.
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WHEREAS, the year 2000 marks the 100th anniversary of the New Journal and Guide, which has been published in Norfolk continuously since 1900; and

WHEREAS, originated by a local fraternal lodge as the Gideon Safe Guide, the newspaper became the Lodge Journal and Guide, owned by the Lodge Knights of Gideon in Norfolk; and

WHEREAS, in 1910 the newspaper was purchased by legendary publisher P. B. Young, who took the Norfolk Journal and Guide to a position of dominance among Southern black newspapers during his long and influential career; and

WHEREAS, investing heavily in production and editorial facilities, P. B. Young created a successful newspaper with regional and national impact on the African-American community; and

WHEREAS, by the 1930s the Norfolk Journal and Guide was widely recognized as the best source for African-American news and editorial opinion, a position strengthened by the paper’s often exclusive coverage of the activities of black troops and black units during World War II; and

WHEREAS, during the early 1940s, the Norfolk Journal and Guide won three consecutive Wendell Wilkie Awards for public service in Negro journalism; and

WHEREAS, with a circulation of 85,000 during the war and with hundreds of carriers selling the paper on city sidewalks and from their homes and businesses, the Norfolk Journal and Guide ranked as the largest employer of African Americans in the South; and

WHEREAS, harsher financial conditions and P. B. Young’s death in 1962 forced a reduction in the paper’s scope during the 1960s and eventually brought about bankruptcy in 1985, but the strong voice of the Norfolk Journal and Guide was never stilled; and

WHEREAS, under the strong leadership of owner and publisher Brenda H. Andrews, the paper, renamed the New Journal and Guide, continues its century-long tradition of service to the African-American community; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly congratulate the staff of the New Journal and Guide on its 100th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Brenda H. Andrews, publisher and editor-in-chief of the New Journal and Guide, as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration and appreciation for the newspaper’s many contributions to Virginia’s African-American community.