Feb. 14, 1953: Detroit Free Press hires first black editorial staff member

On this day in 1953, the Michigan Chronicle reports that Collins C. George has joined the Detroit Free Press staff.

The 43-year-old Harvard educated, former war correspondent and Pittsburgh Courier editor is believed to be the “first Negro ever employed as a regular staff member of the Free Press editorial department.”

Says Free Press executive Lee Hills as reported by Jet magazine: “Mr. George’s qualifications are outstanding. His record for more than eight years at the Pittsburgh Courier was one of which any newspaperman might be proud.”

George will work primarily as a music critic for the newspaper.

He will join the ancestors in 1980 at age 70.

  detroit free press, Freep, integration, race

Ken Coleman

Ken Coleman, the author of On this Day: African-American Life in Detroit, is a native Detroiter and former news reporter. He served on the Detroit Charter Revision Commission. He lives in Detroit with his wife, Kim Trent, and their son, Jackson Coleman.

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