Born in 1950 in Nassawadox, Virginia, Wilmer Ames was best known as the founder and editor-in-chief of
Emerge, a monthly newsmagazine which addressed social, political, and economic issues from a black perspective. Ames...
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Born in 1950 in Nassawadox, Virginia, Wilmer Ames was best known as the founder and editor-in-chief of
Emerge, a monthly newsmagazine which addressed social, political, and economic issues from a black perspective. Ames received his BA from Lincoln University and his MA from Columbia University's School of Journalism. He studied medicine at Rutgers University for two years before returning to journalism. Ames also worked as a reporter and freelancer for a number of publications before he founded
Emerge, including
Time,
Sports Illustrated,
People,
GQ, and
New York magazines.
Emerge targeted upwardly mobile blacks and covered popular news stories of the day, as well as in-depth portraits of leading figures in the 1990s such as Louis Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson, and Clarence Thomas. The collection contains biographical information on Ames; published articles and research materials for
Time and
Sports Illustrated; typescripts for a pilot television series; personal and professional correspondence with editors; reviews; and a manuscript for the book
Chuck Norris: Being Physically and Mentally Fit (which he co-authored). The bulk of the collection concerns the formation and development of
Emerge. Found here are board minutes and memoranda, detailed plans, proposals, financial records, advertising and marketing plans, and articles submitted to and published in the magazine.
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