Historic Black newspaper publisher speaks at Baltimore County senior living facilities

By Timothy Cox

for Baltimore/Westminster PATCH online

BALTIMORE, MD – About a hundred residents at a Baltimore County senior apartment complex, were very attentive while listening to a main speaker in honor of National Women’s History Month.

On Wednesday, March 24, Dr. Frances "Toni" Murphy Draper, publisher of the Baltimore AFRO newspaper, spoke about her family legacy and experiences as a member of the nation's premier black newspaper publishing family – and one of the oldest black businesses in the nation, she added.

During her hourlong talk at Heritage Augsburg Independent living facilities in Gwynn Oak, Baltimore County, Draper divulged her unique history as the descendant of a publishing empire. She's the great-great granddaughter of William Murphy, founder of the Baltimore AFRO-American newspaper.

Though other black newspapers like the New Pittsburgh Courier and the New York Amsterdam News try to claim older status, Mrs. Draper said her paper has continuously published since the late 1800s.

“That’s the major difference with us and them – we’ve never stopped operating,” said the Morgan State University graduate. Mrs. Draper also spoke about her experiences as a school teacher, newspaper executive and her current role as a pastor of Freedom Temple AME Zion Church in Baltimore.

In 2018 she became chairman of the board and publisher of the AFRO-American Newspaper.

Mrs. Draper, 78, was born in Baltimore in December 1947. Her great-grandfather, John H. Murphy Sr., founded the Baltimore Afro-American in 1892, and established the Murphy family as a Baltimore newspaper family.

Her grandfather, Carl J. Murphy edited the paper from 1922 to 1967 and her grandmother Vashti Turley Murphy, was one of the founding members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Mrs. Draper is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Her aunt Elizabeth Murphy Moss, was the first black woman certified as an overseas war correspondent in World War II. Mrs. Draper’s mother, Frances L. Murphy II, served as publisher and chairman of the AFRO-American board in the 1970s.

After enlightening her audience about her family history, Mrs. Draper introduced her husband, Andre Draper – currently an administrative board member of the AFRO newspaper.

She also acknowledged the spiritual aspects of her career path and her familial success patterns.

Without directly referring to the popular 1965 secular song, “Turn Turn Turn,” by The Byrds, Mrs. Draper acknowledged the more biblical phrase, referring to the changing seasons of life as in: "To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven."

This famous phrase comes from the King James Bible in Ecclesiastes 3:1, as written by King Solomon to describe the different stages, responsibilities, and emotional phases that all humans walk through in life.

She then expressed to her mature-aged audience to “enjoy your life, as it is.”

(ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Timothy Cox is a veteran journalist and former Entertainment Editor for the New Pittsburgh Courier. The freelance correspondent also writes for papers in Atlanta, Detroit, Canton, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and resides in Baltimore.)