R. C. O. Benjamin: Difference between revisions

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'''Robert Charles O'Hara Benjamin''' (born [[March 31]], [[1855]] on Saint Kitts, West Indies; died [[October 2]], [[1900]] in Lexington, Kentucky) was a novelist, attorney, orator and newspaper publisher who founded the ''[[Negro American]]'' in [[Birmingham]] in the 1880s.
'''Robert Charles O'Hara Benjamin''' (born [[March 31]], [[1855]] on Saint Kitts, West Indies; died [[October 2]], [[1900]] in Lexington, Kentucky) was a novelist, attorney, orator and newspaper publisher who founded the ''[[Negro American]]'' in [[Birmingham]] in the 1880s.


Benjamin was enrolled at public school on Saint Kitts and continued to study with a private tutor in England. He was enrolled at Trinity College, Oxford for three years before leaving the university to voyage to the East Indies.
Benjamin was enrolled at public school on Saint Kitts and continued to study with a private tutor in England. He was enrolled at Trinity College, Oxford for three years before leaving the university to voyage to the East Indies. After two years he returned to England, then soon set sail for the United States, arriving [[April 13]], [[1869]] in New York. After ten days he found a berth as cabin boy on the ''Lepanto'', sailing to Venezuela, Guayana and the West Indies. When he returned to New York in the Fall, he decided to remain.


and traveled extensively after graduating, voyaging to the East and West Indies and Central and South America before settling in New York in the Fall of [[1869]]. He was immediately active in public affairs and was employed by Joe Howard, Jr of the ''New York Star'' as a solicitor. There he became acquainted with ''Progressive American'' editor John J. Freeman and joined that publication as city editor. After leaving that paper, Benjamin worked as corresponding editor for the Nashville, Tennessee ''Free Lance''. Beginning then he adopted the pen name "Cicero" for some of his editorial contributions.
Benjamin was immediately active in public affairs and was employed by Joe Howard, Jr of the ''New York Star'' as a solicitor. There he became acquainted with ''Progressive American'' editor John J. Freeman and joined that publication as city editor. After leaving that paper, Benjamin worked as corresponding editor for the Nashville, Tennessee ''Free Lance''. Beginning then he adopted the pen name "Cicero" for some of his editorial contributions.


Benjamin was well-known as a public speaker and campaigned for Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. He accepted a position with the post office in New York, but left not long after to become a schoolteacher in Kentucky where he also began to read law. He completed his studies in Memphis and was admitted to the Tennessee State Bar in January [[1880]]. While in that city, he was described by local schoolteacher Ida B. Wells as, "a very slender, puerile-looking, small specimen of humanity." He practiced as an attorney intermittently at different stops in his career, and famously won acquittal for a black woman accused of murder in Richmond, Virginia in [[1884]].
Benjamin was well-known as a public speaker and campaigned for Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. He accepted a position with the post office in New York, but left not long after to become a schoolteacher in Kentucky where he also began to read law. He completed his studies in Memphis and was admitted to the Tennessee State Bar in January [[1880]]. While in that city, he was described by local schoolteacher Ida B. Wells as, "a very slender, puerile-looking, small specimen of humanity." He practiced as an attorney intermittently at different stops in his career, and famously won acquittal for a black woman accused of murder in Richmond, Virginia in [[1884]].


Benjamin's primary activity was the establishment of a series of newspapers across the country, including ''The Colored Citizen'' in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and ''The Chronicle'' in Evansville, Indiana before he arrived in Birmingham and launched the ''Negro American'' in September [[1886]]. At every stop Benjamin's editorial voice was focused on promoting equal rights for African Americans, following his motto: "My race first and my best friends next." He was known as a courageous editor, unafraid of commenting on touchy issues, which included lynchings and other campaigns of racial violence in the South. He exceeded many African American social activists in calling upon blacks to arm and defend themselves against violence and described himslef as a "chronic disturber of the peace".
Benjamin's primary activity was the establishment of a series of newspapers across the country, including ''The Colored Citizen'' in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and ''The Chronicle'' in Evansville, Indiana before he arrived in Birmingham and launched the ''Negro American'' in September [[1886]].


Benjamin's outspokenness was unwelcome in Birmingham and he was forced to leave the city in the Summer of [[1887]]. His "last straw" was an editorial defending Montgomery ''Baptist Leader'' publisher Jesse C. Duke. Duke had mused about, "the growing appreciation of the white Juliet for the colored Romeo," following the lynching of an African American man accused of rape and was forced to flee the state, chased by a mob.
At every stop Benjamin's editorial voice was focused on promoting equal rights for African Americans, following his motto: "My race first and my best friends next." The ''Negro American'' was, he proclaimed, "Devoted to the Moral, Intellectual, Industrial and Political Interests of the People." He commented that since blacks made up more than a third of the population of Birmingham, that they should be represented in the city government.
 
Benjamin described himself as a "chronic disturber of the public peace". His courage in writing about controversial issues exceeded even his peers, and included editorials calling on blacks to arm and defend themselves against lynchings and racial violence.
 
Benjamin's outspokenness proved unwelcome in Birmingham. In Spring [[1887]] he wrote an editorial defending Montgomery ''Baptist Leader'' publisher Jesse C. Duke. Duke had mused about, "the growing appreciation of the white Juliet for the colored Romeo," following the lynching of an African American man accused of rape and was forced to flee the state, chased by a mob. In May Benjamin attended a two-day meeting in Selma at which the [[Alabama Colored Press Association]] was organized. He was forced to leave Birmingham later that Summer.


Benjamin moved to the west coast and was hired as local editor for the white-owned Los Angeles, California ''Daily Sun'' in [[1888]]. After two years he moved North to San Francisco and founded the ''California Sentinel'' there.  In California he was elected presiding elder of the state's conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. President Benjamin Harrison offered Benjamin a consulate post in Haiti, but he declined in order to continue publishing the ''Sentinel''.
Benjamin moved to the west coast and was hired as local editor for the white-owned Los Angeles, California ''Daily Sun'' in [[1888]]. After two years he moved North to San Francisco and founded the ''California Sentinel'' there.  In California he was elected presiding elder of the state's conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. President Benjamin Harrison offered Benjamin a consulate post in Haiti, but he declined in order to continue publishing the ''Sentinel''.
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==References==
==References==
* Penn, Irvine Garland (1891) ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Y80OAAAAIAAJ The Afro-American Press and Its Editors]'' Springfield, Massachusetts: Willey & Company
* Penn, Irvine Garland (1891) ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Y80OAAAAIAAJ The Afro-American Press and Its Editors]'' Springfield, Massachusetts: Willey & Company
* Suggs, Henry Lewis (1983) ''The Black Press in the South, 1865-1979''. Greenwood Press ISBN 0313222444
* Garraty, John A. & Mark C. Carnes, eds. (1999) ''American National Biography''. Oxford University Press ISBN 0195127994
* Garraty, John A. & Mark C. Carnes, eds. (1999) ''American National Biography''. Oxford University Press ISBN 0195127994
* Jordan, William G. (2001) ''Black Newspapers and America's War for Democracy, 1914-1920''. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press ISBN 0807849367
* Jordan, William G. (2001) ''Black Newspapers and America's War for Democracy, 1914-1920''. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press ISBN 0807849367

Revision as of 16:59, 17 September 2014

Robert Charles O'Hara Benjamin (born March 31, 1855 on Saint Kitts, West Indies; died October 2, 1900 in Lexington, Kentucky) was a novelist, attorney, orator and newspaper publisher who founded the Negro American in Birmingham in the 1880s.

Benjamin was enrolled at public school on Saint Kitts and continued to study with a private tutor in England. He was enrolled at Trinity College, Oxford for three years before leaving the university to voyage to the East Indies. After two years he returned to England, then soon set sail for the United States, arriving April 13, 1869 in New York. After ten days he found a berth as cabin boy on the Lepanto, sailing to Venezuela, Guayana and the West Indies. When he returned to New York in the Fall, he decided to remain.

Benjamin was immediately active in public affairs and was employed by Joe Howard, Jr of the New York Star as a solicitor. There he became acquainted with Progressive American editor John J. Freeman and joined that publication as city editor. After leaving that paper, Benjamin worked as corresponding editor for the Nashville, Tennessee Free Lance. Beginning then he adopted the pen name "Cicero" for some of his editorial contributions.

Benjamin was well-known as a public speaker and campaigned for Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. He accepted a position with the post office in New York, but left not long after to become a schoolteacher in Kentucky where he also began to read law. He completed his studies in Memphis and was admitted to the Tennessee State Bar in January 1880. While in that city, he was described by local schoolteacher Ida B. Wells as, "a very slender, puerile-looking, small specimen of humanity." He practiced as an attorney intermittently at different stops in his career, and famously won acquittal for a black woman accused of murder in Richmond, Virginia in 1884.

Benjamin's primary activity was the establishment of a series of newspapers across the country, including The Colored Citizen in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and The Chronicle in Evansville, Indiana before he arrived in Birmingham and launched the Negro American in September 1886.

At every stop Benjamin's editorial voice was focused on promoting equal rights for African Americans, following his motto: "My race first and my best friends next." The Negro American was, he proclaimed, "Devoted to the Moral, Intellectual, Industrial and Political Interests of the People." He commented that since blacks made up more than a third of the population of Birmingham, that they should be represented in the city government.

Benjamin described himself as a "chronic disturber of the public peace". His courage in writing about controversial issues exceeded even his peers, and included editorials calling on blacks to arm and defend themselves against lynchings and racial violence.

Benjamin's outspokenness proved unwelcome in Birmingham. In Spring 1887 he wrote an editorial defending Montgomery Baptist Leader publisher Jesse C. Duke. Duke had mused about, "the growing appreciation of the white Juliet for the colored Romeo," following the lynching of an African American man accused of rape and was forced to flee the state, chased by a mob. In May Benjamin attended a two-day meeting in Selma at which the Alabama Colored Press Association was organized. He was forced to leave Birmingham later that Summer.

Benjamin moved to the west coast and was hired as local editor for the white-owned Los Angeles, California Daily Sun in 1888. After two years he moved North to San Francisco and founded the California Sentinel there. In California he was elected presiding elder of the state's conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. President Benjamin Harrison offered Benjamin a consulate post in Haiti, but he declined in order to continue publishing the Sentinel.

In 1892 he married the former Lula M. Robinson and had two children, a son and daughter. He brought his family to Lexington, Kentucky in 1897 and quickly involved himself in political issues there. In October 1900 he got into an argument Michael Moynahan, a Democratic precinct worker whom Benjamin accused of harassing African American registrants. Afterward Moynahan shot Benjamin in the back, killing him. The presiding judge at the examination accepted Moynahan's claim of self-defense and declined to pursue criminal charges.

Publications

  • Benjamin, R. C. O. (1883) Poetic Gems
  • Benjamin, R. C. O. ( ) The Boy Doctor
  • Benjamin, R. C. O. ( ) History of British West Indies
  • Benjamin, R. C. O. ( ) Future of the American Negro
  • Benjamin, R. C. O. ( ) The Southland
  • Benjamin, R. C. O. ( ) Africa
  • Benjamin, R. C. O. ( ) Hope of the Negro Life
  • Benjamin, R. C. O. (1891) Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture
  • Benjamin, R. C. O. (1894) Southern Outrages: A Statistical Record of Lawless Doings

References

  • Penn, Irvine Garland (1891) The Afro-American Press and Its Editors Springfield, Massachusetts: Willey & Company
  • Suggs, Henry Lewis (1983) The Black Press in the South, 1865-1979. Greenwood Press ISBN 0313222444
  • Garraty, John A. & Mark C. Carnes, eds. (1999) American National Biography. Oxford University Press ISBN 0195127994
  • Jordan, William G. (2001) Black Newspapers and America's War for Democracy, 1914-1920. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press ISBN 0807849367
  • Wells-Barnett, Ida B. (1995) The Memphis Diary of Ida B. Wells. Miriam DeCosta-Willis, ed. Beacon Press. ISBN 0807070653
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