Last updated on November 22nd, 2025 at 01:56 am
CHARLOTTA BASS
Bass is the first Black woman to be nominated to run for Vice-President in 1952 for the Progressive Party, running on an anti-war platform (Korean War). The Sumter, South Carolina native was born on February 14, 1874 and grew up in an era where there was literally no road map for women aspiring to better their conditions in a man’s world. Bass wrote her own rules and wound up on the FBI’s list of national threats until well after her retirement from public life. Charlotta Bass began her public life working in the publishing industry.
She did a 10- year apprenticeship selling subscriptions for her brother, Ellis’ newspaper, The Providence Watchman. Then she relocated to California for health reasons and go a job performing the same duties at the California Eagle.
When the owner died, Bass became editor and then purchased the newspaper at auction for $50, becoming the first Black woman to own and operate a newspaper. She did so form 1912-1951. Under her leadership, the Eagle was a champion of injustice, racial discrimination police brutality, voting rights and fair housing.
Bass encouraged Black businesses with a campaign known as “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work”. She was the 1st Black grand Jury member in the L. A. County Courts in 1943. In 1966 Bass had a stroke and retired from public life, still on the FBI list. She ran a library out of her garage for the local children until her death on April 12, 1969 of cerebral hemorrhage.
