[2] The paper was a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a trade group of more than 200 Black-owned media companies in the United States.

After serving in Vietnam, receiving the Bronze Star Medal and a Presidential Citation, he retired from the Navy in 1969, and began publishing The Charleston Chronicle on August 19, 1971.

[10][11] In 2016, the South Carolina General Assembly recognized Tolbert Smalls Jr. "for his significant contributions in bringing indispensable news to the African-American community in Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley counties".

Blakeney criticized the retiring mayor, who oversaw a revitalization of the city but with benefits not equally distributed among racial groups.

"[13] Malcolm Graham, brother of Cynthia Hurd, who was murdered by Dylann Roof at the Emanuel AME Church, wrote an op-ed in The Charleston Chronicle in 2015.

"[15] The Secret Gumbo Grove, an award-winning children's book written by Eleanora E. Tate, was based on a three-part story she published in The Charleston Chronicle.