John Carter Minkins was born on January 29, 1869 in Norfolk, Virginia to Georgiana Minkins and William H. Carter. After his mother died when he was a small child, John went to live with his maternal grandmother and uncle who raised him. His grandmother placed a high priority on education, so John attended Norfolk Public Schools for eight years then enrolled in Norfolk Mission College in 1884 and was a member of its first graduating class in 1888. John met his future wife, Rosa Lerisa Jessup, at Norfolk Mission College and they married in 1894. Rosa was the daughter of Landon Jessup and Mary Mitchell also of Norfolk. The couple went on to have eight children: Miriam, Imogene, Rosa, Georgiana, Mary, Hope, Carolyn, and Beatrice.
After Minkins left college, he encountered difficulty in securing a job. He eventually came across an opportunity to move to Rhode Island and work for a newspaper there that was more accepting of African-American professionals than any in Reconstruction Virginia. In Rhode Island, Minkins worked for “The New England Torchlight” (1891), “The Providence News” (1891), “The Evening and Sunday Telegram” (1892-1900), “The Pawtucket Times” (1900-1904), “The Evening Telegram” (1904-1906), “The Providence News-Democrat” (1906-1911), “The Providence Evening Tribune” (1911-1938), “The Rhode Island Free Press (1940-1946). During his tenure at the Evening and Sunday Telegram, Minkins covered the trial and acquittal of Lizzie Borden. In less sensational topics, he covered the Rhode Island legal and political spheres including elections, trials, and scandals. Minkins also served as a correspondent for several major New England newspapers outside of Rhode Island including the New York American and Boston American. He provided these newspapers with information on the political and social goings-on in Rhode Island. Minkins continued to read and contribute to newspapers right up until his death.
Minkins also started his own newspaper, “The Rhode Island Examiner,” in 1911 drawing upon the network of suppliers, politicians, and journalists he built since moving to Rhode Island in the 1890s. Because Minkins had a reputation as a fair and impartial reporter, The Rhode Island Examiner enjoyed wide readership and several thousand subscriptions each year.
In their personal lives, John and Rosa championed the cause of African-American equality and rights, and John also did so through the Rhode Island Examiner. They belonged to various social organizations that promoted the cause through leaflet campaigns and national gatherings. John made several speeches on the topic of African-American equality throughout his life. He was also an avid checkers player.
John and Rosa Minkins had been married for 50 years when Rosa died on December 23, 1945. John died on October 29, 1959 in Pawtucket where they lived for nearly 50 years.
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John Carter Minkins Papers, Mss. Gr. 226, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
The John Carter Minkins Collection contains correspondence, business records, newspapers, telegrams, pamphlets, books, magazines, and ephemera. Most of the collection focuses on the professional and personal papers of John Carter Minkins (1869-1959), a noted African-American journalist who worked for newspapers in Virginia and Rhode Island in the 1890s through the 1930s and started his own newspaper called the “Rhode Island Examiner” in 1911.
The collection is arranged in thirteen series as follows:
The collection was given to the University of Rhode Island by Raymond Stephenson in two donations, one in July 2012 and the other in August 2012.
This series contains papers related to John Minkins’ work as a journalist and newspaper owner in the 1890s through the 1910s. It contains correspondence, handwritten and typed article drafts, telegrams, and business and financial records. Highlights include Minkins’ correspondence with three different Rhode Island Governors: R. Livingston Beeckman, Elisha Dyer, and Lucius Garvin.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by sender or category and then chronologically within each folder.
This series contains the personal papers of John Minkins including correspondence, insurance documents, bank documents, invitations to attend events, manuscript drafts, copies of speeches, and documents from his time at Norfolk Mission College.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by sender or category and then chronologically within each folder.
This series contains documents relating to members of John Minkins’ immediate and extended family including school report cards, medical logs, and drawings made by the Minkins daughters.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by name and then chronologically within each folder.
This series contains the correspondence of members of John Minkins’ immediate and extended family including his uncle, Charles E. Minkins, who raised him as a child.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by sender and then chronologically within each folder.
This series contains the correspondence of Rosa [Jessup] Minkins’ parents, Landon and Mary Jessup as well as her step-mother, Maria. It also contains documents relating to Landon Jessup’s work as a shoe merchant in Norfolk, Virginia.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by sender or category and then chronologically within each folder.
This series contains correspondence between Landon and Mary Jessup and John and Rosa Minkins as well as correspondence between John and Rosa Minkins before they were married. It also contains documents related to the wedding of John and Rosa Minkins in 1894.
The folders are arranged chronologically by category and then within each folder.
This series contains the personal papers of Rosa [Jessup] Minkins including transcriptions of sermons from her time at Norfolk Mission College, handwritten manuscripts, and various books.
The folders are arranged alphabetically and then chronologically within each folder.
This series contains the correspondence of Rosa Minkins from both friends and extended family members as well as some businesses.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by sender and then chronologically within each folder.
This series contains several printed pamphlets, books, magazines, advertisements, and government documents relating either to John Minkins’ work as a journalist or his personal involvement in the African-American equality movement. Highlights include a pamphlet written by John Minkins entitled “Negro Progress Since Emancipation,” published in 1909, and a pamphlet from the National Wholesale Liquor Dealers Association entitled “The Anti-Prohibition Manual” from 1915. There are also two sub-series within this series: City of Providence and State of Rhode Island. Each includes documents from the stated agency.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by title.
The folders are arranged alphabetically.
The series contains reports from Rhode Island government entities.
The folders are arranged alphabetically.
This series contains three sub-series: Photographs of a Known Subject, Photographs of an Unknown Subject, and Photographs of the front lines of battle during World War I copyrighted by Underwood and Underwood of New York. The photographs are mostly printed on photographic paper and then mounted on a cardboard backing, but there are some Tin-Type photographs as well.
The folders of sub-series one and two are arranged alphabetically. The folders of sub-series three are arranged chronologically.
This series contains newspaper clippings from various newspapers that John Minkins collected during his career. The folders are organized chronologically. Highlights include articles on the engagement of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abbie Aldrich and the migration of multi-millionaires to Newport to avoid paying taxes in New York City.
The folders are arranged chronologically.
This series contains several different full-size newspapers including some of the publications John Minkins worked for and others that he read. The highlight of this series is 165 issues of the Rhode Island Examiner newspaper which Minkins owned and ran. A complete listing of newspaper titles and issues that are part of this collection can be viewed by clicking here.
The newspapers are arranged chronologically within each box.
This series contains period clothing that belonged to the Minkins family including Carolyn [Minkins] Stanley’s World War II Army Transportation Corps Uniform. It also contains several oversize documents and art works.
The items are not organized in any particular way.