The Afro-American Newspaper was founded in 1892 by former slave John H. Murphy, Sr. after merging his church publication, The Sunday School Helper with two other church publications, The Ledger (owned by George F. Bragg of Baltimore’s St. James Episcopal Church) and The Afro-American (published by Reverend Williams M. Alexander, pastor of Baltimore’s Sharon Baptist Church).  By 1922, Mr. Murphy increased the newspaper from a one-page weekly church publication into the most widely circulated black paper along the east coast, and used it to challenge Jim Crow practices in Maryland.  Following Murphy’s death on April 5, 1922, his five sons, each of whom had been trained in different areas of the newspaper business, continued to manage The Afro-American.  Two of his sons, Carl and Arnett Murphy, served respectively as editor-publisher and advertising director.

The Afro-American rose to national prominence while under the editorial control of Carl Murphy.  He served as its editor-publisher for 45 years.  The newspaper was circulated in Baltimore, Maryland with regional editions circulated in Washington, D.C. twice weekly and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Richmond, Virginia, and Newark, New Jersey once a week.  At one time there were as many as thirteen editions circulated across the country.  The Afro-American’s status as a black paper circulating in several predominately black communities endowed it with the ability to profoundly affect social change on a national scale.  In the 1930s The Afro-American Newspaper launched a successful campaign known as “The Clean Block” campaign which is still in existence today.  The campaign developed into an annual event and was aimed at improving the appearance of, and reducing crime in, inner-city neighborhoods.  The Afro-American also campaigned against the Southern Railroad’s use of Jim Crow cars, and fought to obtain equal pay for Maryland’s black school teachers.

The Afro-American joined The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on numerous civil rights cases.  In the 1950s, the newspaper joined forces with the NAACP in the latter’s lawsuit against the University of Maryland Law School for its segregationist admission policies.  Their combined efforts eventually led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision outlawing segregated public schools.

Following the death of Carl Murphy in 1967, his daughter Frances L. Murphy II served as chairman and publisher.  In 1974, John Murphy III, Carl’s nephew, was appointed chairman and eventually became the publisher.  Fourth generation members of the Murphy family, John J. Oliver, Jr. and Frances M. Draper, continue to manage the paper in recent years.