Ethel L. Payne

Ethel L. Payne was born on August 14^th, 1911 in Chicago, Illinois. Her father was a Pullman Porter and tragically died when Ethel was only 12 years old. Her widowed mother struggled to financially support her six children; however, she always encouraged her children to purse their educational careers.

Payne attended Lindblom High School, which was located in an all white district. Despite racist taunts, she excelled in English and history and she wrote stories for the school newspaper. At this point in her life, Payne aspired to become a lawyer. Unfortunately due to financial constraints and discrimination, she was not able to achieve a career in the law field.

Payne stated that she wanted a more adventurous life so she accepted a job overseas in Tokyo as a hostess for the Army Special Services Club. During this time, Payne kept a diary of the accounts she witnessed between the African Americans and Japanese.

Payne gave her diary to Alex Wilson, a traveling reporter of the Chicago Defender, a black newspaper. Wilson was impressed with the diary and had the Defender publish lengthy excerpts of Payne’s diary and offered her a reporter position.

In 1952, Payne’s story concerning the adoption of African-American babies received an award from the Illinois Press Association for the best story of the year.

A few years later, Payne became the chief of newspaper’s Washington Bureau and continued her focus on civil rights issues. She covered numerous, historical events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott as well as the March on Washington in 1963. Much of her accounts were documented in her series entitled, “The South at the Crossroads.” This series chronicled the regions violent entry into the era of civil rights.

Payne was a fierce journalist and she was not afraid to ask controversial questions regarding race. At press conferences, President Dwight Eisenhower was known to ignore her questions.

In 1972, Payne became the first female African-American radio and television commentator after being employed by the CBS Broadcasting Company.

Payne was known as the “First Lady of the Black Press.” She successfully combined her passionate concern for the rights of African Americans with her talent of investigating writing and reporting.

Ritchie, Donald A. American Journalists: Getting the Story. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. Print.

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