Robert Sengstacke Abbott

Abbott, Robert Sengstacke (1868–1940), journalist, editor, and publisher and founder of the Chicago Defender, an important newspaper in the United States. The son of former slaves, Abbott graduated from Kent College of Law in 1899, but soon left the legal profession. Utilizing previous newspaper experience he published the first issue of the Chicago Defender on May 15, 1905. A leading proponent of equal rights for African Americans, Abbott used the paper to encourage Southern blacks to move to the North for better jobs and opportunities during the industrial boom of World War I.