In today's world, where many people rely on personalized news in social media channels, there is widespread debate about truth in reporting. Truth itself has become a flexible concept, heavily influenced by the political biases of the people who produce articles, and also, the biases of the audiences that consume it. It doesn’t help that article recommendations generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) reinforce this problem by serving up only the news stories that you are most likely to agree with.
It turns out, this issue has been with us long before this era dominated by social media and cable news channels.
As I initiated research for my article, Robert Johnson’s Dallas, I wanted to understand the environment that Johnson likely experienced when he visited Dallas. A go-to resource for researchers is the Dallas Morning News on-line archive, which can be accessed via the Dallas Public Library’s website. This archive is fully indexed to enable keyword searches over the entire publication history of the News – very handy. Fort Worth’s Star Telegram is also available.
As I began my research, I realized that Johnson visited over a weekend in Dallas that intersected with Juneteenth. Perhaps I could locate contextual information by incorporating that in keyword searches. Not surprisingly, I suppose, perusing the News for those dates of Johnson’s visit yielded very thin results.
Looking for anything regarding Juneteenth got me exactly two articles in the News, both with ominous sounding headlines:
On June 20, 1937: “One Killed and Thirteen Injured As Negroes Observe Juneteenth”
On June 21, 1937: “Juneteenth Fights, Slashings Carried Over Into Sunday”
It sounded like a free-for-all, I wondered if Robert Johnson was dodging knife fights while in Dallas. More investigation seemed warranted.
The next logical place to look was the African American newspaper of that era, The Dallas Express. I found partial on-line indexing of the Express on newspapers.com, but only for the years of 1919-1922. To look at June 1937, I would need to go “old school” - multiple visits to the Dallas Public Library, where the Express is available on microfilm. Since the articles are not indexed, that simply means reading the newspaper on the dates of interest.
This is where I found a treasure trove of information, including a complete run-down of Emancipation Day events; the landmark NAACP convention at the Moorland YMCA; and even a mention of Robert Johnson himself, who lodged at the Moorland during his visit to Dallas. I also learned more about civil rights legends who shaped these early days of the movement.
Reading the stories made an impression on me. The African American community in Dallas was frustrated, as any of us would be today, by the unequal treatment they received. But they were also hopeful. They were determined to raise themselves up, and this particular weekend was one of recognizing accomplishments and striving for more.
Within articles and in reports of Emancipation Day speeches, there was an emphasis on being good citizens, and they sought simple things. They wanted to participate without interference in our electoral processes, an end to mob lynchings, and access to education. Again, who among us wouldn’t expect the same?
In the aftermath of the Emancipation Day celebrations, there was evident pride across the community for a job well done.
In particular, one article caught my attention; in an editorial published on June 26, 1937, the Express editors lambasted mainstream Dallas newspapers for their treatment of the Juneteenth celebration. From my initial searches on-line, I was aware of the nonexistent treatment of the celebrations in the Dallas Morning News. However, the Express editorial seemed to suggest biases in the “great newspapers” of Dallas, (i.e., plural newspapers), which led me to the Daily Times Herald, which later became the Dallas Times Herald.
As with the Express, the Herald isn’t indexed and available on-line at the Dallas Public Library, which meant more old school browsing of articles via microfilm at the library.
What I discovered was, in my estimation, a far more balanced coverage in the Herald than was available in the Morning News. I also learned other tidbits of information that was not covered by either the Express or the News. The Herald covered the Emancipation Day celebration at Fair Park as a major event among other events, even detailing the rail plans by which African Americans from across the region were coming to Dallas. This is where the extent of the celebration became clearer for me.
In the June 20, 1937 edition of the Times Herald, a brief article was published that outlined the NAACP convention, mentioning the drive for a State University for African Americans and support for the Wagner-Van Nuys Anti-lynching Bill in the United States Senate. Certainly not nearly as complete as the reports in the Express, but at least it wasn’t completely ignored by the Herald. Also, on June 20, the Herald positively summarized the events of Emancipation Day celebration.
That said, the Herald also carried a story about violence attributed to the Emancipation Day celebration, in the June 20 article “Violence Has Part in Negro Celebrations: Deep Ellum Fight Marks Juneteenth.”
However, in the same story, the Herald struck more of a balanced tone by stating, “Police found themselves anything but disappointed Saturday night when Juneteenth proved to be the quietest in many years, despite the double holiday angle of the celebration.” (The “double holiday angle” of the celebration alluded to the fact that Juneteenth fell on a Saturday in 1937).
What really happened was that a scuffle broke out at Elm Street and Central Avenue in the heart of Deep Ellum, involving 8 to 10 persons, where one man suffered two cuts on his head and was treated at Parkland Hospital. Also, a person was found dead on the railroad tracks above the Triple Underpass, decapitated by a train, completely unrelated to Juneteenth.
Other reported incidents included an argument about a debt and a petty theft. These are the unfortunate, but routine incidents that happen every day in a big city. They happen every day among all communities, regardless of race. What the editors of the Express were objecting to, I believe, was associating these unrelated incidents to the Juneteenth celebration, which by all accounts was safe, fun, educational and an overwhelming success.
As the Times Herald did cover the positive aspects of the event, the Morning News utterly ignored it. In the context of researching this story from 1937, relying on the source that was easiest to access, the Morning News, would have yielded, at best, nothing, and at worst, a city plagued by riots and crime.
I do have a punchline for this posting. It is not my intention to pick on the Morning News, it is a rich historical archive, as is the Times Herald and The Dallas Express. Heck, my first job when I was 16 years old was throwing a paper route for the Morning News. However, the authentic history of a city is built in layers, and each newspaper had a unique perspective and audience to reference and cross-check.
I simply would like to make an appeal that we have equal access to these and other local newspapers on-line. I asked staff at the Dallas Public Library why neither the Dallas Times Herald nor The Dallas Express are indexed and available for on-line searches. I was told it was due either to budget or ownership rights. In the case of the Times Herald, a staff member placed the onus on the Morning News itself. When the Times Herald folded shop almost 30 years ago, the Morning News purchased the assets of the Herald, the implication being that the News chooses to not allow indexing of their former competitor.
I hope that is not the case, but I do call on the Dallas Public Library and the Morning News to drastically reduce the friction of historical research by making more of these key assets available for on-line keyword searches. The entire story of Dallas, in all its’ layers, is just sitting there, waiting to be discovered. The telling of our city’s history has always been slanted towards the view promoted by wealthy businessmen who helped build it. The soulful, grass roots and surprising elements of our city’s history are still ripe for discovery.
By Larry W. Taylor ©2018. All rights reserved.
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