Founded in St. Paul, Minnesota, it was published in six separate editions in cities across the United States at the height of its popularity.

[1] African-American newspapers were common at the time, but few of them lasted longer than a year, since they were started for cultural purposes more than commercial ones.

Prominent St. Paul businessmen Thomas H. Lyles and James Kidd Hilyard led the team and put their own money into the paper to save it.

It provided job order printing services in addition to publishing the Western Appeal, which kept the paper afloat financially over the long term.

[3] Adams was an influential writer and a staunch Republican, and like other editors of his day, he expressed his opinions through his paper's editorial page.

The Western Appeal even received funding directly from the Republican Party, another common practice for newspapers of the time.

After 1900, with the growth of African-American civil rights organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Urban League, the influence and importance of newspapers like The Appeal began to decline.

Adams's son, John Jr, took over The Appeal and hired a young graduate student, Roy Wilkins, as editor in April 1923.