The Guardian Front Page

The Guardian was the leading newspaper within Boston's black community during the early twentieth century. This issue, dated January 3, 1931, includes coverage of the centennial commemoration of the abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, which was founded by William Lloyd Garrison on January 1, 1831. The lead headline "25 Lynched in Year Ending at Liberator 100th" highlights the irony of celebrating the work of abolitionists while black citizens and communities across the country still faced the ever-present threat of lynching and violence. The speakers at the event, the article reports, stressed "the need of practising today the fair and equal treatment which Garrison had advocated right in the North." and that "Garrison would today put fighting color prejudice in civil life ahead of all else."