[3][4] It was also known for having an Information Wanted section, where Black families who had been forcibly separated in the slave trade could seek news about their missing loved ones.

[5][6] The paper's coverage included birth, marriage, and death notices.

It also featured music, poetry, and reader stories, and was "a major source of literature by and for African-Americans" during this time period.

[7] The paper published Julia C. Collins' novel as 31 serialized chapters in 1865, as well as many of her essays.

In 1952 after the AME Church Book Concern was dissolved, the paper's headquarters moved to Nashville, Tennessee.