- Creator
- Poston, Ted, 1906-1974
- Call number
- Sc MG 771
- Physical description
- 0.25 linear feet (1 box)
- Language
- English
- Preferred Citation
- [Item], Ted Poston tribute album, Sc MG 771, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
- Repository
- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
- Access to materials
- Request an in-person research appointment.
Ted Poston was the first full-time African American journalist for the New York Post. There he covered many major Black-oriented news stories as well as mainstream items, working from 1936 until his retirement in 1972. Prior to this appointment, he wrote for the Pittsburgh Courier, Amsterdam News, and the New York Contender. He was also on the staff of the Federal Writers' Project. From 1940-1945, Poston was a member of the "Black Cabinet", an informal network of African Americans serving in or advising the Roosevelt administration. During this period, he was head of the Negro News Desk in the Office of War Information and was responsible for relations with the Negro press until the end of World War II, whereupon he returned to his position with the New York Post. The Dark Side of Hopkinsville, a book of his short stories, edited by Kathleen Hauke, was published posthumously in 1991. The Ted Poston tribute album contains letters of tribute presented to Poston on September 27, 1945, upon leaving his position as a member of President Franklin Roosevelt's "Black Cabinet" and as head of the Negro News Desk. Accolades poured in from men in the military, the War Department, and other government agencies and private organizations. Campbell C. Johnson wrote of Poston's "important part in interpreting the needs and reactions of the Negro group during the war period in top level circles, particularly those close to the White House..." George M. Johnson, of the President's Committee on Fair Employment Practice, stated that Poston's "departure point[s] up graphically the need for a White House spokesman for the 13,000,000 American citizens who fall under the category of the term 'Negroes'."
Administrative information
Source of acquisition
Purchase from Charles Apfelbaum Rare Books and Collections, November 1985.
Revision History
Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark. (2020 October 14)
Processing information
Accessioned by Diana Lachatanere, 1985.
Key terms
Names
Subjects
Using the collection
Location
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor