Lillian Thomas Fox
Lillian J. B. Thomas Fox (1866–1917) was an African-American journalist and clubwoman active in Progressive Era Indianapolis. She rose to prominence in the 1880s and 1890s as a civic leader and writer for the Indianapolis Freeman, a leading national black newspaper at the time, and the later joined the Indianapolis News as Indiana's first black columnist for a white newspaper.[1] At the Freeman, where she was the only woman on the editorial staff, Fox's writings favored Booker T. Washington approach on black economic progress. She became a well-known speaker and activist, founding the Indianapolis Women’s Improvement Club and the Indiana State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, as well as becoming involved in national organizations.[2] She was especially an advocate for improving access to public health and fighting tuberculosis within the Indiana black community.[3] Her pioneering column in the Indianapolis News, "News of the Colored Folk," ran for 15 years from 1900 to 1915 before her she retired for health reasons. In 2014, she was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.[4]
References
- ^ Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert G. (1994-11-22). "Fox, Lillian Thomas". The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 597. ISBN 0253112494.
- ^ Slaymaker, Julie. "Fox, Lillian Thomas". Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
- ^ Indiana Magazine of History. "Moment of Indiana History - Indiana Public Media | Above And Beyond: Lillian Thomas Fox & Beulah Wright Porter". WFIU Public Radio. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
- ^ "6 selected for Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
- 1866 births
- 1917 deaths
- 19th-century American journalists
- 20th-century American writers
- 20th-century women writers
- African-American journalists
- African-American women journalists
- American columnists
- American women journalists
- Journalists from Indiana
- Writers from Chicago
- Women columnists
- 19th-century women writers