Mr. George L. Knox, the publisher of the _Freeman_, at Indianapolis, Ind., has given the colored people one of the best illustrated weekly papers ever issued in this country. Mr. Knox is a hard worker, and the _Freeman_ is doing a most creditable work.
Mr. Walter H. Stowers is a city clerk in Detroit, Mich. He is one of the bright minds among young colored men. He is Deputy County Clerk for Wayne County, Mich., his special duty being clerk of one of the Circuit Court rooms. He has also been admitted to the bar, and is a member of the law firm of Barnes & Stowers. He was at one time one of the editors of the _Plaindealer_. Mr. Stowers and Mr. Wm. Anderson wrote "Appointed," an American novel, which has attracted considerable attention.
Mr. Stewart has for years done work on white daily papers as a regular reporter. At the last General Conference of the A. M. E. Church, which met in Wilmington, N. C., Mr. Stewart took all of the conference reports, and the _Wilmington Messenger_ has this to say of him:
"The _Messenger_ gave full and readable reports of the proceedings of the conference, and we take this opportunity to commend Mr. Charles Stewart for the excellent and satisfactory manner in which he made the reports for us. It was a laborious piece of work, and all who read the reports can testify that the work was efficiently and cleverly done.
Mr. Stewart is a native of Kentucky, and began newspaper work on the Louisville _Courier-Journal_ in 1880. Subsequently he was engaged by the Chicago _Inter-Ocean_ and worked as a reporter on that paper from 1885 to 1892, since which time he has been on the editorial staff of the Chicago _Dispatch_. He is said to be the only Negro holding such a position in journalism.
[Illustration: MRS. J. ST. P. RUFFIN, _Editor of The Woman's Era_.]
_The Woman's Era_, published at Boston, Mass., is strictly a woman's journal. It is issued monthly, and Mrs. Josephine St. P. Ruffin is its editor. The _Era_ is the organ of the Federation of Afro-American Women. It is beautifully illustrated, and the literary matter is of the very best quality.
_The Woman's Era_ is a much-needed publication, and to my mind is filling a long-felt want. I am personally acquainted with Mrs. Ruffin and I am sure she is well suited for the work she has in hand as the editor of the _Woman's Era_. We need more such bright intellectual lights as Mrs. Ruffin to penetrate the dark clouds of prejudice that hang over this country North and South.