Today in History—November 1: Ebony Magazine Is Published

What if there were a magazine like Life or Look with beautiful, immersive photography, comprehensive coverage of culture, business, celebrity, and the arts—but focused expressly on the lives of Black Americans?

That was the question that animated John H. Johnson and his wife, Eunice Walker Johnson, in the early days of post-World War II America.

The Johnsons had, in 1942, started Negro Digest, and its success inspired the pair to create the first monthly magazine to capture the vibrancy of Black life in America.

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On this day in 1945, Ebony was born—and with it, what would become a Black publishing empire. The name of the magazine was the brainchild of Eunice, who was inspired by the strong, solid, African wood that evoked the heritage of the magazine’s audience. And the word meant “black.”

John—part journalist, part entrepreneur—saw Ebony as a way to change a national mindset: “Before I started Ebony you’d never know from reading other publications that Blacks got married, had beauty contests, gave parties, ran successful businesses, or carried on any normal living activities.” He also convinced some of the nation’s biggest advertisers that they were missing out on a huge marketplace: the Black middle class.

By 1963, when Ebony published a special edition to mark the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the magazine was such an important cultural touchstone that every living U.S. president contributed to the edition.

The publication continued to provide searing, memorable coverage of Black life in the 21st century, even as it struggled with the challenges of the digital era. The covers for its September 2013 issue featured prominent Black men, including director Spike Lee and NBA star Dwyane Wade, photographed with their sons and wearing gray hoodies under the headline “We Are Trayvon.”

As it continues as a digital magazine, Ebony’s legacy is unquestioned. Poet Maya Angelou said of the magazine, “Then Ebony arrived in 1945…to inform us and assure us that our lives were so important, they could never be edited out of the history of our people.”