John Henry McCray
John Henry McCray was an American journalist, newspaper publisher, politician, civil rights activist, and college academic administrator. An African American, he worked at some of the country's most prominent Black newspapers including the Lighthouse and Informer newspaper of South Carolina ; the Charleston Messenger; the Pittsburgh Courier as the Carolina editor ; the Baltimore Afro-American ; The Chicago Defender ; and the Atlanta Daily World. McCray was a co-founder of the Progressive Democratic Party of South Carolina.
Early life and education
John Henry McCray was born on August 25, 1910, in Youngstown, Florida, to parents Rachel Rebecca Montgomery and Donald Carlos McCray. He grew up in Lincolnville, near Charleston.He attended high school at Avery Institute in Charleston, where he was valedictorian. He earned his B.S. degree in chemistry in 1935 at Talladega College.
Career
He started his career at North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, the largest Black-owned life insurance company. From 1935 to 1938, he was working as a city editor of the Charleston Messenger. From 1939 to 1941, he stated his own newspaper Charleston Lighthouse, followed by taking over Reverend E. A. Parker's People's Informer.On December 7, 1941, McCray published the first edition of the Black weekly newspaper, Lighthouse and Informer. The Lighthouse and Informer, was a progressive publication which called for racial equality, and rejected any racial accommodation, and incrementalism. The articles covered many aspect of Black life and columns. The last publication of the Lighthouse and Informer was June 12, 1954.
In 1944, he was cofounder of the Progressive Democratic Party of South Carolina. The PDP was the first Black Democratic Party in the Southern United States.
In September 1964, McCray become director of public relations at his alma mater, Talladega College, where he eventually retired from in 1981, then as the director of recruitment and admissions.
Death and legacy
McCray died on September 15, 1987, in Sylacauga, Alabama.The library at the University of South Carolina holds the John Henry McCray Papers. McCray is part of a mural, The Pursuit of Opportunity: Celebrating African American Business, by artist Ija Charles, located at 1401 Main Street in Columbia, South Carolina. Additionally there is a historical marker located in Columbia, dedicated to McCray and the Lighthouse and Informer.
McCray is included in Sid Bedingfield's book, Newspaper Wars: Civil Rights and White Resistance in South Carolina, 1935–1965.
In 2020, the National Park Service gave a three-year grant to Allen University located in Columbia to study McCray.