As part of our celebration over the next several months of 80 years of continuous publication, the MSR will be republishing notable stories from our extensive archives of more than 4,000 weekly issues of African American news in Minnesota. Many of our readers will be sure to recognize friends, family and neighbors from the distant and not-so-distant past — such as the young man in the photo below.
Over the years, the Minneapolis Spokesman and St. Paul Recorder employed dozens of young men and women as “newsies” to help deliver and sell the newspapers. The young man below, age 5½, was featured as “Star Newsie” in the July 32, 1937 issue of the St. Paul Recorder. According to the caption, Bruce is the son of Mrs. Mildred Williams and grandson of Mrs. Mildred Green, 561 St. Anthony Ave. “Bruce is a real salesman and someday he claims he will catch up with Eugene Hilyard, the paper’s leading newsboy salesman.”
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