Guide to the Frank E. Bolden Papers, 1930-1967 AIS.2008.05
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Frank E. Bolden Papers
Creator
Bolden, Frank E., 1912-2003
Collection Number
AIS.2008.05
Extent
2.5 Linear Feet(2 boxes)
Date
1930-1967
Abstract
This collection contains documents relating to the life and career of journalist, Frank E. Bolden, a reporter and city editor of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper and war correspondent for the U.S. military. The material in this collection, dating between 1930 and 1967, includes correspondence, drafts of articles, student notebooks, memos, photographs, and newspaper clippings.
Language
English
.
Author
Wendy Pflug.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Biography
Franklin Eugene (Frank) Bolden, Jr., was born on December 24, 1912 in Washington, Pennsylvania. His family contributed several "firsts" to history. His father, Frank E. Bolden, Sr., was the first African American mail carrier in Washington. Bolden's grandfather also achieved a notable first in 1871 as the first African American in Nashville, Tennessee, to sit on a grand jury.
Frank Bolden graduated from Washington High School in 1930 and enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh. Bolden planned on becoming an attorney, but found an interest in science and switched to a major in biology. While at the University of Pittsburgh, he became the first African American member of the marching band playing the clarinet. He also joined the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. It was during this time as a student at Pitt that he wrote articles for the Pittsburgh Courier. As a "stringer," or a free-lance contributor, he wrote sports articles for extra money. Bolden graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1934 earning a Bachelor of Science degree. He then applied to Pitt's School of Medicine, but was turned down due to his race. Pitt, like many medical schools at the time, did not admit African Americans. He also applied to be a teacher with the Pittsburgh Public Schools, but at that time they did not hire African American teachers.
While pursuing graduate studies at Pitt, he was hired by the Pittsburgh Courier and became a general assignment report and feature writer covering the cultural and social life of Wylie Avenue in the Hill District. Bolden covered the jazz clubs and once famously quipped, "Wylie Avenue: the only street in America that begins with a church and ends with a jail" (Love). He invented a unique lexicon to give colorful descriptions of the nightlife. He referred to prostitutes as the "sisterhood of the nocturnal order." He also covered sports and wrote about the Negro Baseball League. He covered baseball legends Satchel Paige of the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays. He also wrote a series that traced the complete genealogies of eight prominent African American families in Pittsburgh, tracking down all living relatives.
When the United States entered World War II, the editors at the Pittsburgh Courier submitted Bolden's name as a war correspondent. He was subsequently chosen by the U.S. War Department as one of the first two accredited war correspondents. Bolden's stories were filed with the National Negro Publishers Association, and appeared in Black newspapers across the United States like Chicago's Defender, Baltimore's Afro-American, and the Pittsburgh Courier. Due to racial segregation in the military, Bolden was only permitted to cover African American units. Through his articles which described the bravery of soldiers in the 92nd Infantry Division in Italy, he helped debunk the myth that African Americans could not handle the stress of combat. Bolden was also embedded with African American troops in Asia helping to build an air strip along the Burma Road. Many of the soldiers lost their lives in the brutal tropical conditions.
Bolden also had the opportunity to interview Mahatma Gandhi, who had read Bolden's war articles. A two hour interview turned into a two week stay as a house guest. Bolden compared the Indian independence from Great Britain as similar to struggles of Blacks in the United States. Not wanting to be outdone by Gandhi, Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru also invited Bolden to stay with him.
Bolden returned to the Courier in 1945 as a features writer after declining offers from Life Magazine and the New York Times. The Pittsburgh Courier was the leading African American newspaper in the country at the time. According to his obituary in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "[Bolden] thought he would have less impact on civil rights at a white publication than at a black publication. Plus he felt a debt of gratitude toward the Courier, a weekly paper" (Rouvalis).
Bolden was promoted to city editor, a position he held from 1956 to 1960. In this position, he often traveled between Courier branch offices for extended stays in cities such as Detroit and Cleveland. In the 1960s the Pittsburgh Courier ran into financial difficulties. Many African American newspapers lost circulation during this time period as mainstream white newspapers gave coverage to the Civil Rights' Movement. Bolden married Nancy Travis in 1960 and in 1962 he left for a brief stint as a reporter for the New York Times and then a position at NBC-radio and NBC-TV. In 1964 he returned to Pittsburgh to become assistant director of information and community relations for the Pittsburgh Board of Education. He retired in 1981 and spent his days as the "unofficial historian of Pittsburgh's African American community" (Brennan). Despite his attention to African American history and writing about the lives of countless others, Bolden never wrote about his own life. When asked why, he would shrug and say: "I feel like a mosquito in a nudist camp. I don't know where to begin" (Rouvalis).
Bolden died on August 28, 2003 at age 90 in Pittsburgh.
Sources:
Brennan, Carol. "Frank E. Bolden." Contemporary Black Biography. Gale Group, Inc, 2006
Rouvalis, Cristina. "Reporter, raconteur Frank Bolden dies at 90." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette August 29, 2003.
Frank Bolden: the man behind the words. Produced, written, and directed by Daniel Love. Narrated by David Early. Daniel Love, 2001. Videocassette
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Scope and Content Note
The Frank E. Bolden Papers contain correspondence, writings, newspaper clippings, memos and student notebooks that date between 1930 and 1967. The collection contains material from his time as a student at the University of Pittsburgh, records relating to his journalism career with the Pittsburgh Courier and the U.S. Military, along with materials on his personal and family life. Each series contains a scope note detailing the content found within the records.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into the following four series:
Series I. University of Pittsburgh, 1930-1937
Series II. Journalism Career, 1942-1965
Series III. Correspondence, 1931-1961
Series IV. Personal, 1933-1967
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Nancy Travis Bolden in 2008.
Previous Citation
Frank E. Bolden Papers, 1930-1967, AIS.2008.05, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Frank E. Bolden Papers, 1930-1967, AIS.2008.05, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Wendy Pflug in May 2010.
Related Material
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Pittsburgh Branch Records, 1940-1966, 1974, AIS.1964.38, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Percival L. Prattis Papers, 1916-1980, AIS.2007.01, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Urban League of Pittsburgh Records, 1915-1963, AIS.1981.11, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
The Courier's Big Story: A Romance in Journalism, 1953, film: Can 599, 600, Cinecraft Productions films (Accession 2019.227), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE 19807
Subjects
Corporate Names
University of Pittsburgh
Personal Names
Vann, Jessie
Prattis, Percival Leroy
Bolden, Frank E., 1912-2003
Geographic Names
Pittsburgh (Pa.)
Genres
Correspondence
Photographs
Memorabilia
Personal papers
Other Subjects
Newspapers -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Journalists -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
African American newspapers -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
African American journalists -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
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