[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 28 (Monday, February 28, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S959-S961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise to offer a tribute to honor Robert 
W. Bogle and the Philadelphia Tribune newspaper. Bob Bogle's family and 
many of his friends are with us in Washington, DC. They traveled from 
Philadelphia and other parts of our State and beyond to be with us as 
we pay tribute to his leadership and his commitment to the Philadelphia 
African-American community and to all the people in the city of 
Philadelphia and southeast Pennsylvania. I rise as well to honor the 
role the Philadelphia Tribune, as a leader in the Black press, has 
played in communities throughout our State.
  This is the fifth year I have come to the floor of the Senate to 
honor a prominent African-American Pennsylvanian as part of the 
celebration of Black History Month. Bob Bogle today joins the Reverend 
Leon Sullivan, Judge Leon Higginbotham, former U.S. Transportation 
Secretary Bill Coleman, and former Pennsylvania Secretary of the 
Commonwealth C. Delores Tucker in being recognized this month in this 
way.
  Today, I will talk about Bob Bogle and the Philadelphia Tribune and, 
in a larger sense, the history and the future of the Black press in 
Pennsylvania and across the country.
  From the time Bob was a young child, his life has been inseparable 
from the Philadelphia Tribune. Bob's father John Bogle was the 
advertising director at the Philadelphia Tribune. Bob still reminisces 
about the playground he lived in, which was much different than the 
playgrounds in which most children live. As early as age 7, Bob would 
roam the Tribune building while waiting for his father to finish work. 
Bertha Godfrey, employed by the Tribune since 1946 and now senior vice 
president, recalls a young Bob Bogle wandering around curiously, 
observing the production department and other areas of the production 
of the Philadelphia Tribune newspaper.
  In 1970, Bob Bogle started selling advertising for the Tribune and 
quickly worked his way up, impressing his colleagues and business 
associates alike. In 1973, he became advertising director, in 1976 
director of marketing, and, by 1983, executive vice president and 
treasurer, before becoming president and chief executive officer of the 
Tribune in 1989.
  Despite his early exposure to the Tribune, Bob did not initially plan 
on a career in journalism. He attended Cheyney State College--now 
Cheyney University--to study sociology, earning a B.A. in urban 
studies. After it became clear he was going to play a role in the 
management of the Tribune, he also attended the University of 
Pennsylvania's Wharton School to study marketing and economics. He has 
completed courses of study at Temple University and the Rochester 
Institute of Technology and continues to this day to hone his newspaper 
expertise by participating in annual workshops in many areas of 
marketing and advertising and publishing.
  Bob has become a role model for Philadelphia African Americans and 
for the community at large. He served in leadership roles in a wide 
range of professional, civic, and social organizations. He is chairman 
of both the Hospitals and Higher Education Facilities Authority of 
Philadelphia and the Council of Trustees at Cheyney University, and 
serves as a commissioner of the Delaware River Port Authority. He also 
serves on the executive committee of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber 
of Commerce and on the boards of the Mann Music Center for the 
Performing Arts, the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, the African-
American Chamber of Commerce, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors 
Bureau, and of course, The Philadelphia Tribune. In 1995 Bob became the 
first African American to serve on the board of U.S.-Airways Group, one 
of the Nation's largest airlines. He served two terms as president of 
the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the nationwide trade 
association for Black newspapers.

  Some of Bob's more recent board affiliations include the Philadelphia 
Museum of Art Corporate Partners Board, the Pennsylvania Newspaper 
Association Foundation, the Academy of Vocal Arts, the Greater 
Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation and the Historical Society 
of Pennsylvania. He is also a founder and serves as a convener for the 
Forum for a Better Pennsylvania, a statewide, private sector leadership 
organization committed to enhanced civic and economic inclusion for 
African Americans.
  Bob has also been honored for his service and leadership. In 2002, 
President George W. Bush appointed him to serve as a member of the 
National Museum of African American History and Culture Commission. In 
2000, he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Drexel 
University in Philadelphia. In addition, Bob has been a member of so 
many organizations too numerous to name.
  While he is recognized as a community leader in various realms, it is 
Bob's role at the Tribune and with the Black press movement that stands 
out as his life's work.
  Today, few question that the right to a free press, as enshrined in 
the Bill of Rights, applies to all. The right ensures that all 
Americans can participate in a vigorous and healthy debate necessary 
for a well-functioning democracy. But when our Constitution was first 
ratified, as we recall, most African Americans were not recognized as 
citizens and had few, if any, opportunities for participation in our 
democracy. It was not until a group of courageous men living in New 
York gathered some 30 years after the ratification of the Constitution 
that African Americans finally found an institution where they ``could 
plead their own case,'' as they said at the time.
  In 1827, editors John Brown Russwurm and Samuel Eli Cornish published 
Freedom's Journal, the first Black newspaper in America. The newspaper 
provided African Americans with a public square of their own, where 
they could participate in discussions and advocate for African 
Americans.
  As these two distinguished leaders wrote in their first editorial, 
``Too long have others spoken for us. Too long has the public been 
deceived by misrepresentations. . . . ''
  While the Freedom's Journal was short-lived, it began what was no 
less than a revolution. Other Black newspapers arose and began to 
explore subjects that were previously off-limits in the press of the 
day. New Black newspapers delved into previously unmentionable 
hardships in crafting a new identity for free and enslaved African 
Americans. Topics such as slavery and

[[Page S960]]

menial labor were examined by African Americans for African Americans. 
For the first time in the history of our country, African Americans 
were able to speak freely through a press of their own. In addition, 
African Americans could start announcing to the world some of their 
most precious moments in life, such as births, anniversaries, deaths, 
and other family news. The Black Press helped establish a new extended 
community of African Americans all across the United States.

  The Black Press expanded in the years prior to the Civil War, as over 
40 publications across the Nation provided African Americans with 
viewpoints on issues such as immigration to Africa, emancipation in the 
South of the United States, and, of course, abolition and freedom.
  Frederick Douglass was one of the many who published a Black 
newspaper in which he, like many others, urged African-American men in 
the North to enlist in the Union Army.
  The post-Civil War era saw a period of rapid growth for the Black 
Press. The first daily newspaper, the New Orleans Tribune, was 
published in 1864, and newspapers continued to open across the country 
as African Americans migrated from the South.
  By the 1880s, it became obvious that the growing African-American 
population in Philadelphia, PA, needed a newspaper. Christopher J. 
Perry filled the void. Following graduation from high school, Mr. Perry 
moved to Philadelphia to start a newspaper because, he said:

       For my people to make progress, they must have a newspaper 
     in which they can speak and speak out against injustice.

  Mr. Perry's newspaper, the Philadelphia Tribune, often told a 
different story from a perspective other than that of the city's 
traditional newspapers. Mr. Perry and the Philadelphia Tribune quickly 
established themselves as leaders of the growing African-American 
community in Philadelphia. The Tribune published stories highlighting 
Black institutions across Philadelphia that were not reported by the 
mainstream papers. Mr. Perry championed the causes of the African-
American community, from covering important events to offering articles 
about champions of social and racial equality. Additionally, he 
provided a forum for African Americans to report on job openings, 
musical performances, and other happenings within the African-American 
society.
  After Mr. Perry passed away in May of 1921, his children continued 
the traditions he began in the pages of the Philadelphia Tribune. The 
second generation of Perrys continued to fight for equality for African 
Americans. Eugene Washington Rhodes, Mr. Perry's son-in-law, succeeded 
him as editor. As Dorothy Anderson wrote in a tribute in 1958, ``In no 
year since The Philadelphia Tribune first burst upon the Philadelphia 
scene was there a single edition which did not press for equal rights, 
equal opportunities and equal privileges'' for the African-American 
community.
  Eugene Rhodes continued to spotlight social issues around the city of 
Philadelphia and around the country by focusing on the northern 
migration during the 1920s and dangerous housing conditions for African 
Americans in Philadelphia during the 1930s. In addition, he provided 
much needed support for some of the first African-American politicians 
in the city of Philadelphia, such as John Asbury and Andrew Stevens, 
the first African Americans elected to the Pennsylvania House of 
Representatives. Perhaps most importantly, the Tribune led the fight 
against segregation in the Philadelphia School District by creating its 
own legal defense fund and publishing many editorials championing the 
equality of African Americans.
  In 1940, the publisher of the Chicago Defender called a meeting of 
the major publications which made up the Black Press. He proposed that 
newspapers form an advocacy group to ensure the long-term survival of 
the Black Press. The Philadelphia Tribune was one of the newspapers 
invited to take part, and out of this first conference grew the 
National Newspaper Publishers Association. Over 200 newspapers are 
members today, and the association provides vital services to the Black 
Press so that its members can continue to report on African-American 
communities and society.
  As the current president and CEO of the Philadelphia Tribune, Bob 
Bogle has continued the tradition of Christopher Perry, while leading 
the African-American community of Philadelphia into and beyond the 21st 
century. The Philadelphia Tribune is now the longest operating African-
American newspaper in the Nation.
  Recognizing Bob's leadership, the National Newspaper Publishers 
Association has honored the Tribune five times with the Russwurm Award, 
the association's highest honor for ``Best Newspaper in America.'' The 
award is named for John B. Russwurm, cofounder, as I mentioned before, 
of Freedom's Journal in the 1800s.
  Recognized as a leading member of the Black Press, Bob Bogle has 
served two terms as president of the National Newspaper Publishers 
Association and is credited with increasing awareness of African-
American issues, values, and lifestyles. He is also a founding member 
and president of the African American News and Information Consortium, 
a group of premier Black newspapers in some of the largest markets in 
the United States of America.
  Finally, Bob continues in his role as ambassador for the city of 
Philadelphia. He sees race as a leading issue still plaguing our 
Nation, but he remains relentlessly optimistic. I am quoting Bob here:

       I am deeply engaged in the community. I believe that 
     Philadelphia, as the birthplace of America, is the best city 
     in America--it is diverse, it has great size; and our success 
     will come from our collective understanding of who we are. 
     The Philadelphia Tribune, though it is dedicated to covering 
     the black community, also honors diversity. We have non-
     African Americans in every area of our business.

  Of course, Bob has been not just a leader in the African-American 
community but a leader in the Philadelphia community at large for many 
years and especially active in the advancement of young African 
Americans who live in Philadelphia and the region. He describes his 
essential philosophy this way:

       To be responsible for what you do and be the best at it. We 
     need to account for what we do. Accountability means 
     responsibility and taking pride in your work and doing the 
     best you can.

  So says Bob Bogle, and those are good words to live by. They are 
words we can take to heart and strive every day in our own lives to 
live by.
  So I am honored to be able to offer this tribute today to Bob Bogle, 
to his team at the Philadelphia Tribune and in a larger sense the 
history and, most importantly, the future of the African-American 
press--so-called the Black Press--in the United States. So please join 
me today in honoring a man of strength, a man of character, 
accomplishment, and service--Robert W. Bogle of Philadelphia, PA.


                         Christian A. Fleetwood

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I wish to pay tribute to a man of 
extraordinary strength, moral character, and courage, to end National 
Black History Month on a high note. Every year, National Black History 
Month is given a theme; this year's focus rests on the American Civil 
War, the most divisive and destructive conflict ever witnessed in our 
great Nation. While many think of the Civil War as a conflict between 
Whites fought over the condition of African Americans, Blacks fought on 
both sides of the conflict as well. After Emancipation, the Union 
Armies fielded dozens of corps of the U.S. Colored Troops, making up 
approximately 10 percent of the total fighting force fielded by the 
North, at roughly 180,000 troops. One of those men was named Christian 
Abraham Fleetwood. His picture rests beside me today.
  In many aspects before the war, Fleetwood was already a rare man. 
Christian A. Fleetwood was born in Baltimore to two free persons of 
color, Charles and Anna Marie Fleetwood, on July 21, 1840. He was lucky 
enough to be educated by a wealthy sugar merchant, free of charge, and 
continued his education with the Maryland Colonization Society, before 
graduating from the Ashmun Institute, which would later become Lincoln 
University.
  Broadening his education, he travelled to Sierra Leone and Liberia, 
before returning to the United States to join the Union Army to fight 
for the freedom of the enslaved. Because of his education, Fleetwood 
was promoted to

[[Page S961]]

sergeant upon enlisting, and sergeant major just a few days later. As 
part of the 4th Regiment United States Colored Infantry, he would see 
action in the Virginia and North Carolina campaigns in the 10th, 18th 
and 25th Army Corps, and would distinguish himself valorously at 
Chaffin's Farm, on the outskirts of Richmond, VA, on September 29, 
1864.
  At the age of 24, SGM Christian Fleetwood stood a mere 5 feet, 4.5 
inches tall. Nonetheless, while marching on Confederate fortifications 
he witnessed Alfred B. Hilton, a fellow soldier, fall wounded while 
carrying the American flag and the Regimental Standard, which Hilton 
himself had retrieved from a wounded comrade. Rushing forward under 
withering fire, Fleetwood and another soldier named Charles Veale 
caught both banners before they brushed the ground. Now bearing the 
American flag, Fleetwood carried the attack forward, but retreated once 
it became clear that the unit did not have sufficient strength to 
penetrate the defenses. Returning through enemy fire to the reserve 
line, Fleetwood used his standard to rally a determined group of men 
and renewed the attack on the battlements.
  In a fight where the 4th and 6th Regiments of U.S. Colored Troops 
sustained casualties reaching 50 percent, Fleetwood refused to give up. 
For these actions and their contribution to victory at Chaffin's Farm, 
Fleetwood, along with Veale and Hilton, were awarded the Medal of 
Honor. Fleetwood's official Medal of Honor citation reads simply: 
``Seized the colors, after 2 color bearers had been shot down, and bore 
them nobly through the fight.'' Every officer in Fleetwood's regiment, 
all white men, submitted a petition to the War Department to have him 
commissioned an officer, a sure sign of the respect felt by all who 
witnessed his gallantry.
  The medal is now part of the collection of the Smithsonian's National 
Museum of American History, and appears in the exhibit entitled ``The 
Price of Freedom.'' The medal's inclusion in the Smithsonian exhibit is 
also unique. Fleetwood's daughter Edith Fleetwood donated his medal to 
the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum in 1948. The Smithsonian 
accepted the medal, making Christian Fleetwood the first African-
American veteran to be so honored.
  The Civil War did not call an end to Christian Fleetwood's service, 
though he was discharged honorably on May 4, 1866. Fleetwood would go 
on to organize a battalion of the D.C. National Guardsmen, and, in the 
1880s, formed Washington, DC's Colored High School Cadet Corps, which 
counted among its graduates Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., the Nation's first 
African-American general, and Wesley A. Brown, the first African-
American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.
  Christian Fleetwood embodied everything Americans revere. His actions 
in the 4th Regiment from Baltimore, MD, earned him the military's 
highest honor. He was selfless, brave, a fierce fighter for the 
abolition of slavery, and chose to dedicate his free life to service of 
his country and his community.

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