[1] In 1919, William C. Linton became the founding editor and publisher of the paper.
Linton unexpectedly fell ill and died in March 1922[2] after which Joseph Dandridge Bibb (who previously served as a co-editor for the paper) took over.
The paper's "Don't Spend Money Where You Can't Work" campaign advocated for the boycott of white-run businesses with racially discriminatory hiring practices, and the campaign led to over 15,000 Chicago blacks securing jobs.
[3] The newspaper was The Chicago Defender's contemporary and rival.
185,000 copies of The Defender were in circulation at the time.