Timothy Thomas Fortune (1856–1928) was an African American journalist, writer, and civil rights leader. He was one of the most prominent black journalists involved in the flourishing black press of the post-Civil War era. He was also the chief founder in 1890 of the Afro-American League, which, though it collapsed in 1893, was an essential forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP.)
Born into slavery in Marianna, Florida, Fortune attended a Freedmen’s Bureau school for a time after the Civil War and eventually became a compositor for a black newspaper in Washington, D.C. He moved to New York City in about 1880 and began his career in journalism.
Fortune was a prominent advocate for the rights of African Americans and used his writing to address issues such as racial discrimination, segregation, and voting rights. He served as editor and publisher of a newspaper first called the New York Globe (1882–84,) then the New York Freeman (1884–87,) and finally the New York Age, editing the latter from 1887 until he sold it in 1907. His editorials defended the civil rights of Northern and Southern blacks and spoke out against racial discrimination and segregation.
In addition to his journalism work, Fortune wrote several influential books, including Black and White (1884) and The Negro in Politics (1884.) He was also involved in politics and worked closely with prominent civil rights leaders such as Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Timothy Thomas Fortune
Men may be spoiled by education, even as they are spoiled by illiteracy. Education is the preparation of the mind for future work, hence men should be educated with special reference to the work.
—Timothy Thomas Fortune
Topics: Fortune
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