Journalist Ethel Payne

Journalist and civil rights activist Ethel Payne was often known as the First Lady of the Black Press. The Anacostia Community Museum’s collection includes several of her press badges and credentials, showing how she traveled all over the world on behalf of the Black press. She was often the only American or woman journalist covering these covering these important moments in history.

Rachel Seidman
Curator, Anacostia Community Museum