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John Mitchell, Jr. (1863-1929),
editor and publisher of the Richmond Planet, was one of the most
famous and influential African Americans in Virginia. He
fearlessly investigated and condemned lynchings and other
violations of the civil liberties of blacks in Virginia and in
the South. In 1898 he exposed the racial injustices inflicted on
the regiment of African American volunteers who mustered into
service from Virginia for service in the Spanish-American War.
Mitchell won a national reputation as a courageous champion of
justice and as one of the most successful black editors in the
United States. He also served for eight years on the Richmond
City Council. He opposed adoption of the Virginia Constitution
of 1902 because it effectively disfranchised African Americans.
Nearly twenty years later he ran for governor, not expecting to
win, but to call attention to the plight of Virginia's African
Americans. |
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John
Mitchell. Photograph.
The Library of Virginia.
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Virginia
Newspaper Project Exhibit
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