Hopkinsville in Christian County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)
Ted Poston "Dean of Black Journalists"
Photographed By Shane Oliver, January 12, 2021
1. Ted Poston "Dean of Black Journalists" Marker
Theodore Roosevelt Poston was born on July 4, 1906, in Hopkinsville. He was a graduate of Attucks High School and Tennessee A&I State College. In 1936 he began freelance writing for the New York Post and was soon hired full-time. He retired in 1972 after spending a career there. He died in NYC in 1974 and is buried in Cave Spring Cemetery, Hopkinsville.
He covered major civil rights stories of his era and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1949. Poston received numerous other awards, including the George Polk Award in Journalism for national reporting. His book of short stories, The Dark Side of Hopkinsville, was published in 1991. He was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2000.
Erected 2017 by Kentucky Historical Society Kentucky Department of Highways.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Communications. In addition, it is included in the Kentucky Historical Society series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1949.
Location. 36° 51.958′ N, 87° 29.367′ W. Marker is in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in Christian County. Marker is on West 9th Street. Located in front of downtown Farmer's Market. Touch for map
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Lewis and Clark in Kentucky (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Courthouse Burned (about 500 feet away); Confederate Memorial Fountain (about 500 feet away); County Named, 1797 (about 500 feet away); Hotel Latham (about 700 feet away); Mary Edmunds Bronaugh (about 700 feet away); U.S. Post Office Building (approx. 0.2 miles away); Grace Episcopal Church (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hopkinsville.
Also see . . .
1. Poston, Ted (1906-1974). Ted Poston, the first African American journalist to work at a mainstream newspaper, was born on July 4, 1906, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. His mother, Mollie Cox, died when he was ten and he was raised mostly by his eight older siblings, while his father, Ephraim, taught at the Kentucky State Industrial College for Negroes (now Kentucky State University) in Frankfurt, over two hundred miles away. (Submitted on July 17, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.)
2. Community unviels historic marker. Poston was a native of Hopkinsville, the honorary Dean of Black Journalists in America and the first black journalist to make
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, July 11, 2017
2. Ted Poston "Dean of Black Journalists" Marker
3. Ted Poston Historical Marker dedication, Hopkinsville, May 20, 2017 (YouTube, 2 min.). (Submitted on June 6, 2021.)
Photographed By Shane Oliver, January 12, 2021
3. Ted Poston "Dean of Black Journalists" Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on June 6, 2021. It was originally submitted on July 17, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 298 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on February 14, 2021, by Shane Oliver of Richmond, Virginia. 2. submitted on July 17, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. 3. submitted on February 14, 2021, by Shane Oliver of Richmond, Virginia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
