Frank L. Stanley Sr. bought Sengstacke's share in 1936, and published the paper for the next 37 years.
[3] Circulation dipped in 1953 when it became a tabloid, and dropped to 10,000 in the 1960s when other major newspapers started hiring African Americans to cover civil right issues in their papers.
[2] During the 1950s the paper covered issues related to integrated public accommodation, and in the 1950s and 1960s it covered open housing, equal job opportunities, and desegregated schools.
Circulation dropped to 2,600 weekly by 1985, and the family sold its ownership to Consumer Communications Industries Corporation headed by Clarence Leslie.
[1] Bud Dorsey was a full-time photographer for the Defender for more than 20 years when he retired in 2002.