BLOG |
Negro Digest offices, State Street
Ebony magazine, 1992
Ebony magazine, 1992
BLOG |
A fun find here from the early 1960s. As part of the United States Information Agency's "Personal Report" series, Michael Kubeyinje, a student in Washington, D.C., conducted a report on Johnson Publishing Company. "Personal Report" was inaugurated by the U.S.I.A to familiarize Nigerian audiences with aspects of American culture - one small part of America's Cold War cultural and educational projects on the African continent. Kubeyinje's report offers some rare and valuable footage of the interiors of Johnson Publishing's offices in both Washington, D.C. and its main headquarters in Chicago. We also get to meet some prominent JPC staffers, including Simeon Booker, Era Bell Thompson, Herbert Nipson, and Lerone Bennett Jr. Anyone familiar with the Johnson Publishing Company or its most recognizable magazine, Ebony, knows that the past few years have been a total mess. The magazine, along with sister publication Jet, were sold by Johnson Publishing in 2016 as part of a fire-sale that culminated in bankruptcy proceedings. The new owners, a Texas-based private equity firm called the CVS Group, were soon hit with lawsuits by former contributors who contended that they hadn't been paid for work on the magazine, and its print run was placed on hiatus in 2019. In mid-2020, Johnson Publishing defaulted on an estimated $10 million in loans and, after its new CEO Willard Jackson was forced out, the lendor forced the company into an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The magazine went up for sale in bankruptcy court a few weeks ago, and the winner turned out to be former NBA player turned business mogel Ulysses 'Junior' Bridgeman. A talented small forward, Bridgeman spent the majority of his career with the Milwaukee Bucks, and is perhaps best known for his part in a blockbuster trade conducted shortly after he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975, which saw him and three other players traded to the Bucks in return for OG center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley. After retiring from the NBA, he turned to fast food franchising, amassing over 100 restaurants and an estimated net worth in excess of $400 million by 2016. Bridgeman's winning bid was reported to be $14 million. Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman, c/o Journal-isms It's early days, so Bridgeman's plans for Ebony aren't clear, outside of his self-professed desire to restore the magazine to its fomer glory. Given the state of the magazine market, and of the economy as a whole, that seems pretty unlikely. However, Bridgeman's demonstrable talents as a businessman mean that he has as good a chance as anybody.
Of more immediate interest will be where Bridgeman decides to base the publication's business offices. Following the sale of the iconic Johnson Publishing building at 820 South Michigan Avenue to Columbia College Chicago, the company resided in a high-rise office complex a little further north on Michigan Avenue. A Chicago Tribune story reported that Bridgeman's love of EBONY was bolstered by childhood visits to the building, which he appreciated as a symbol of Black excellence. Given how closely the magazine's history is linked to Black Chicago, it seems likely that Bridgeman will attempt to maintain at least a nominal connection to the Windy City, particularly if it resumes print publication. The old EBONY building is long gone - now converted into upscale condominiums - but it might be possible to carve out a new space for the magazine. For inspiration on how to restore the relationship between a Black periodical and the built environment, Bridgeman could look to the Chicago Defender, which was widely applauded for returning to its roots on the South Side a little over a decade ago, by way of a former funeral home on King Boulevard. Here is a great little news report from American Newsreel on the Black press in America. It was originally published in 1953 as part of One Tenth of a Nation, a series of newsreels created during 1953 and 1954 which aimed to celebrate "the achievements of Black Americans in a variety of fields." A number of other newsreels in the series are available to view through the Library of Congress' Digital Collections. The quality of the footage isn't great, but it nevertheless provides a rare and illuminating video insight into the comings and goings at a number of the nation's most prominent Black publishing enterprises, including the Baltimore Afro-American, the Los Angeles Sentinel, and Johnson Publishing Company. It's interesting to see how the narrator of this clip links the respective achievements of many publication to their physical plants and offices. This is perhaps most notable through the descriptions of the Johnson Publishing offices at 1820 South Michigan Avenue, which the company had moved into just a few years earlier. "Luxurious editorial offices are eloquent testimony to the success of this publishing venture, but the surroundings don't interfere with business..."
|