The Messenger. May 1923, Educational Number
Alice Dunbar Nelson Papers (MSS 0113)
![Randolph, A. Phillip and Owen, Chandler. The Messenger, [May 1923], from the Alice Dunbar Nelson Papers collection](https://exhibitions.lib.udel.edu/black-expression-in-black-and-white/wp-content/uploads/sites/284/2024/03/15_randolph-and-owen_messenger_1923-scaled.jpg "Randolph, A. Phillip and Owen, Chandler. The Messenger, [May 1923], from the Alice Dunbar Nelson Papers collection")
The Messenger was established in 1917 by A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen. Philip A. Randolph was the founder and first president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSPC) in which The Messenger became the official publication of the BSPC in 1925. The publication was considered to be quite radical as The Messenger was founded with the help of the Socialist party. Chandler Owen left the publication in 1923 and gradually, George S. Schulyer and Theophilis Lewis took over. With their editorial influence, The Messenger started to promote Black arts, culture, and writers. The Messenger only lasted until 1928 when the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters could no longer fund the publication.
![Randolph, A. Phillip and Owen, Chandler. The Messenger, [May 1923], page 719, from the Alice Dunbar Nelson Papers collection](https://exhibitions.lib.udel.edu/black-expression-in-black-and-white/wp-content/uploads/sites/284/2024/03/16_randolph-and-owen_messenger_1923-scaled.jpg "Randolph, A. Phillip and Owen, Chandler. The Messenger, [May 1923], page 719, from the Alice Dunbar Nelson Papers collection")
