Written by:
LaQuita Joseph
About:
Louis Martinet
The Crusader, a Republican newspaper founded by attorney Louis Martinet in 1889, informed people about public issues in articles spoke out against racial injustice. These stories ranged from reports on a white gang that terrorized the colored Bethlehem Lutheran Church to an incident when a group of laborers were harassed near Oakridge, La, leaving seven workers dead and six wounded.
Although The Crusader was a serious paper, it often made its points through grim humor, as in the following report:
"Last week in Fayette County, Ga., eight Negroes were killed and six were wounded. Eight whites were shot, but only one fatally. However deplorable these affrays, it is refreshing to see the Negro defending himself, but he must learn to shoot straight."
The main event that inspired this historic newspaper’s fight against the loss of rights, protection, and equality was the signing of the Separate Car Act in 1890. Articles on the fight against this law appeared in virtually every issue.
This Act separated the passengers by race into a certain coach or compartment on the train. If a passenger did not obey this law, he or she would be fined $25.
The Crusader was the first newspaper to voice its opinions about the Separate Car Act. It even published public speeches against the Act such as the July 8, 1890 speech by Henry Demas, one of the Louisiana Senate’s last black senators during the period immediately following Reconstruction.
The Crusader was known nationally, and famous public figures such as Albion Tourgee, the lead lawyer in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, would often comment on the paper’s contributions to the struggle for civil rights. Tourgee wrote these words in a letter to U.S. Sen. William Chandler: "It was The Crusader which set on foot the movement to test the constitutionality of the Jim Crow car law."
By 1894 The Crusader, still based in New Orleans, become the only black daily paper in the country and the only Republican daily paper in the South. In order to convert The Crusader into a daily paper the printers and laborers agreed to work for half pay. The editors worked for free and rotated editorial duties.
These partial wages and voluntary work arrangements were only two of the many sacrifices that were made in order for The Crusader to become a daily paper. Publisher Louis Martinet gave up a $1,200 annual stipend for three years to study in Europe. Rutherford B. Hayes, former President of the United States, had nominated Martinet for this prestigious and substantial fellowship on the recommendation of Albion Tourgee and in honor of his work on the newspaper and for civil rights.
Martinet refused the fellowship despite the enormous physical and financial stress caused by his work. He felt his place was with the Daily Crusader.
In 1896, following the decision of the U. S. Supreme Court that the Separate Car Act was legal, The Daily Crusader ceased publication. It would be almost 60 years of struggle, sacrifice and organizing before the segregation made legal in the Separate Car Act and the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision would be overturned in the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education.