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The Forum (Tacoma)

African American newspaper in Tacoma, Washington

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 12, 2025
Entity authorityQ103512923
Source-derived summary

The Forum was an African-American owned newspaper founded by John Henry Ryan and Ella Ryan and published by the Graham–Hickman Company weekly from 1903 to 1918 covering the Tacoma area of the U.S. state of Washington. It was founded on July 3, 1903 and ceased publication on December 28, 1918. While the second page of the paper contained black society news, the paper covered mostly local politics and had mainly white readers and advertisers. The Forum published occasional reprinted pieces from other publications with black interests. In 1906, Ella became sole publisher and editor. John was still listed on the masthead as editor, although he pursued a political career.

History

John Henry Ryan and Ella Ryan were African American business owners. They owned The Forum and were the editors. The Forum was the first African American owned weekly newspaper.

In 1903, The Forum merged with the Tacoma Sun, a weekly newspaper that had been publishing for 12 years.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Forum (Tacoma)” is african American newspaper in Tacoma, Washington. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Forum, Tacoma and African, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1903, 1918, 1906—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Forum, Tacoma and African is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “african American newspaper in Tacoma, Washington” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 12, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q103512923. The first chronological checks are 1903, 1918 and 1906.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Forum (Tacoma)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Forum (Tacoma) primary sources, The Forum (Tacoma) archive and Forum research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Forum (Tacoma)”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from The Forum (Tacoma)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.