Dangerous Press

Founded in 1879 by John J. Neimore and later revitalized under the leadership of Charlotta Bass in 1912, the California Eagle emerged in the early twentieth century as the most influential African-American newspaper in Los Angeles and the broader West Coast. During the 1905–1929 period, the Eagle served as an essential guide for Black migrants arriving in Southern California, publishing detailed information on jobs, housing, and community resources while maintaining a firm editorial stance against racial discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and real estate.

After Bass took ownership in 1912—making her one of the first Black women to own and operate a newspaper—the paper expanded its reach and sharpened its political voice, campaigning against segregated housing tracts, restrictive covenants, and police abuses, and urging readers to support Black-owned businesses as a matter of collective advancement. The Eagle's pages featured national race news, reports on civil rights struggles, and extensive coverage of church life, fraternal organizations, social clubs, and the growing Central Avenue business district.

By the mid-1920s, with a circulation of roughly 60,000—one of the largest of any African-American newspaper in the West—the California Eagle had become both a watchdog and a community-builder, shaping Black civic life in Los Angeles and providing a consistent platform for political mobilization during a period of profound demographic and social transformation.

About these images: The digitized newspaper pages are provided by the Internet Archive.