February, of course, is Black History Month. This coming weekend is the Washington and Lee University’s Mock Convention, a venerable institution more than a century old. This image of Adlai Stevenson from an October 1956 issue ofThe Richmond Afro-American has echos of both.
At the 1956 Mock Convention, Alben Barkleyboth finished his speech and expired in one final breath. That convention, like the real one, nominated Adlai Stevenson.
First published in 1941 The Richmond Afro-American was a direct descendant of The Richmond Planet which was started in 1882. Though Afro-American ceased publication in 1996, black newspapers are are very much alive in Richmond and throughout the United States.