Robert Sengstacke Abbott was a successful African American entrepreneur. He has been described as America’s first black media mogul. He was the publisher of “The Chicago Defender” newspaper and one of the richest black men in America then.
The Chicago Defender founded by Abbott on May 5, 1905, is revered as one of the most important black newspaper in history. It was a weekly newspaper that would pave the way for black publishers such as Earl G. Graves, John H. Johnson and Edward Lewis.
According to the African American Registry, Abbott set up his printing equipment in his landlady’s dining room with a folding card table and a kitchen chair as his office. When he started, he sold 300 copies by going door to door, visiting every barbershop, poolroom, drugstore, and church on the South Side of Chicago.
He worked for 15 years and finally made a success out of the newspaper. The Chicago Defender got successful that Abbott became one of the nation’s most prominent post-slavery black millionaires.
Born in 1870 in Georgia to freed slaves, Abbott was still a baby when his father, Thomas Abbott, died of leukemia. He was an errand boy. His mother, Flora, later married John Sengstacke, a mulatto of German descent who added Sengstacke to his name.
He grew up with his half-German stepfather. Young Robert encountered racial injustice every step of the way as a young man until his adulthood.
Robert Sengstacke Abbott was a successful African American entrepreneur. He has been described as America’s first black media mogul. He was the publisher of “The Chicago Defender” newspaper and one of the richest black men in America then.
The Chicago Defender founded by Abbott on May 5, 1905, is revered as one of the most important black newspaper in history. It was a weekly newspaper that would pave the way for black publishers such as Earl G. Graves, John H. Johnson and Edward Lewis.
According to the African American Registry, Abbott set up his printing equipment in his landlady’s dining room with a folding card table and a kitchen chair as his office. When he started, he sold 300 copies by going door to door, visiting every barbershop, poolroom, drugstore, and church on the South Side of Chicago.
He worked for 15 years and finally made a success out of the newspaper. The Chicago Defender got successful that Abbott became one of the nation’s most prominent post-slavery black millionaires.
Born in 1870 in Georgia to freed slaves, Abbott was still a baby when his father, Thomas Abbott, died of leukemia. He was an errand boy. His mother, Flora, later married John Sengstacke, a mulatto of German descent who added Sengstacke to his name.
He grew up with his half-German stepfather. Young Robert encountered racial injustice every step of the way as a young man until his adulthood.
