Philadelphia Tribune

Our tour starts just outside the Seventh Ward at 725 Sansom St outside the original publishing office of the Philadelphia Tribune. 139 years ago, Christopher J. Perry Jr, a 28 year old African American man started publishing a single page newspaper out of this building each week. Today, The Philadelphia Tribune is published 5 times a year and one of the major newspapers in the Philadelphia-metro area. At the time of Du Bois’ writing The Tribune was already a major fixture in the neighborhood and a weekly 8-page newspaper. Du Bois mentions it directly in the book, stating that:

“The Philadelphia Tribune is the chief news sheet and is filled generally with social notes of all kinds, and news of movements among Negroes over the country. Its editorials are usually of little value chiefly because it does not employ a responsible editor. It is in many ways however an interesting paper and represents the pluck and perseverance on the part of its publisher.”

Today, we see that this street has become a busy area known as Jewellers Row for the many jewelry shops along it.