Reading the Arizona Gleam in 1937, Phoenix, Arizona


Times have changed. And while there is still a long way to go for everyone to enjoy their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as someone who enjoys looking back at history, I am optimistic.

I have to admit that I'd never even heard of the Arizona Gleam until just a few minutes ago as I was looking around on the Library of Congress website. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, I'm just always interested in looking, and time-traveling. Let's go to Phoenix in 1937 and read Arizona's Premiere Race Weekly.


This publication specifically addressed issues of interest to what we would call Black people today, or African-Americans. The use of the language has changed since 1937, so many people might find this shocking, or offensive. The NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, still exists, but nowadays it's more correct to say "Persons of Color". A subtle difference, but the kind of difference that shows respect.

I think of the people who read this in 1937, and would never live to see the Civil Rights acts of the 1960s, but who believed that day would come.

Thank you for reading the Arizona Gleam with me!

Here's a link to the Arizona Gleam at the Library of Congress: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95060626/
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