E17: Leading through Legacy at the AFRO with Frances "Toni" Draper

Okay, so the Afro was founded in 1892.

The person who gets the credit for the founding is my great-grandfather, John Henry Murphy, Sr., He was 52 years old.

He and his wife, Martha, had 10 children.

He had been enslaved, served in the Civil War as a sergeant on the Union side here in Maryland.

And once the war was over, he received his freedom.

That was the reward, I guess, for him.

We're fighting on the union side.

But the unique thing about this origin story to me anyway, besides the fact that he was 52 and 10 children and supposedly less than 2% of the black population could read, is that he purchased the name Afro was already in existence.

He purchased the name and the printing press because he had been the printer before.

for another public, it wasn't really a publication, I don't think.

He purchased that at an auction with $200 from his wife.

So she was the venture capitalist.

She was the investor.

So when we go back to the origin story, A strong woman was right there at the beginning.

She never worked in the paper.

The two of them had, this is the third time I said it, ten children, five boys, five girls.

And the boys all worked, and they were men, of course, worked in the family enterprise and had to pay their sisters the same thing.

The family history shows that one sister served on the board of the family business, Another sister, there's a building named for her at Coppin.

I'm part of her namesake.

Her name was Frances.

She was a professor at Coppin.

And so there were five of them all together, of the women.

And all of the men went to work at the family business.

And then the wars came.

So when the wars came, the men went to war, and I'm talking about World War II.

Okay, so the Afro was founded in 1892.

The person who gets the credit for the founding is my great-grandfather, John Henry Murphy, Sr., He was 52 years old.

He and his wife, Martha, had 10 children.

He had been enslaved, served in the Civil War as a sergeant on the Union side here in Maryland.

And once the war was over, he received his freedom.

That was the reward, I guess, for him.

We're fighting on the union side.

But the unique thing about this origin story to me anyway, besides the fact that he was 52 and 10 children and supposedly less than 2% of the black population could read, is that he purchased the name Afro was already in existence.

He purchased the name and the printing press because he had been the printer before.

for another public, it wasn't really a publication, I don't think.

He purchased that at an auction with $200 from his wife.

So she was the venture capitalist.

She was the investor.

So when we go back to the origin story, A strong woman was right there at the beginning.

She never worked in the paper.

The two of them had, this is the third time I said it, ten children, five boys, five girls.

And the boys all worked, and they were men, of course, worked in the family enterprise and had to pay their sisters the same thing.

The family history shows that one sister served on the board of the family business, Another sister, there's a building named for her at Coppin.

I'm part of her namesake.

Her name was Frances.

She was a professor at Coppin.

And so there were five of them all together, of the women.

And all of the men went to work at the family business.

And then the wars came.

So when the wars came, the men went to war, and I'm talking about World War II.