The Afro-American Press and Its Editors

Penn believed that the black press played a crucial role in presenting the case to the broader American population that black people were fit for the full benefits of citizenship.^[3]

The book is frequently referenced as an important early work on African-American journalism. John Ernest called Penn's book comprehensive and detailed and the foundation of many later studies. Penn wrote in part to encourage blacks to support black papers.^[4] Charles A. Simmons writes that Penn's book along with Armistead S. Prides, A Register and History of Negro Newspapers in the United States: 1827–1950 and Warren Henry Brown's Check List of Negro Newspapers in the United States (1827-1946) are essential starting points for understanding the early history of African American newspapers.^[5]