The Grand Rapids History Center is pleased to share a rare and important piece of Grand Rapids' early-20th century Black experience. Published in Grand Rapids from 1920-1924, the Michigan State News was an African American-owned newspaper. Only two issues of this newspaper are known to exist today. One, dated April 26, 1920, is in our archival collections and is also available on our Digital Collections page. The only other known issue, dated November 8, 1924, is held by the Grand Rapids Public Museum and is available on their website.
The paper's founder and editor, George Marion Smith (1884-1970), was also a founding member of Grand Rapids' NAACP chapter in 1919. The Michigan State News assistant editor, Percival Leroy Prattis (1895-1980), would go on to write for the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier, two of the most prominent African American newspapers in the country. Historian Dr. Randal Jelks notes that "[a]lthough short lived, the State News articulated a viewpoint that helped to galvanize the fight against Jim Crow” and that it “[gave] African Americans a statewide journalistic voice.”
The Grand Rapids History Center is committed to preserving the Michigan State News and continuing to make it accessible for future generations. We’re searching for additional issues that might be long stored away and we need your help. Please contact the library, opens a new window with any information on potential copies.
