RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Department of Historic Resources is honoring the editor of the Richmond Planet who crusaded for civil rights beginning in 1883.
Officials on Saturday dedicated a new state historical marker honoring John Mitchell Jr. in downtown Richmond.
Mitchell was born enslaved near Richmond in 1863. Twenty years later he became the editor and publisher of the black-owned Richmond Planet.
Officials say Mitchell became known as the “Fighting Editor” for his crusades against lynching and other civil rights issues. He served on the Richmond City Council and founded the founded the Mechanics Savings Bank in 1902. Mitchell led a boycott of Richmond’s segregated streetcars in 1904 and he ran for governor to protest black disfranchisement in 1921.
He served as editor of the Richmond Planet until his death in 1929.
