The Advocate

The Cleveland Advocte, This Republican weekly paper concentrated on local and national news of interest to African Americans. Predominant topics included race riots, lynching and discrimination. But social and church news of Cleveland and other Ohio cities were also reported.

The Advocate was founded and edited by Ormond A. Forte whose motto for the paper was "Ohio's Leading Race Paper." Ormond A. Forte was born in 1887 in Barbados, B.W.I. He attended Cambridge University where he studied the classics. Forte came to Cleveland in 1910 to attend Cleveland Law School, then began working for Daniel K. Hanna who was the son of Marcus A. Hanna and publisher of the Cleveland News.

Forte founded the Advocate in 1914. The paper became the Cleveland Advocate in 1918 which he published until 1924. He later worked on the Toledo Pioneer and other Cleveland papers including the Eagle, and the Herald.

In July 1917, Ralph W. Tyler became a contributing editor. He had previously worked on the Dispatch and the Ohio State Journal, which were white newspapers. Ralph Tyler was appointed by the Committee on Public Information as the only black war correspondent in WWI. He was assigned to Pershing's staff and began writing from France in October of 1918.

Ormond Forte (1887-1959); born in Barbados, B.W.I. (British West Indies)

Available for purchase through the Western Reserve Historical Society

CONTENTS

1902-1920, selected issues

Images of selected articles and illustrations from the following issues: