Jesse Lee Albritton Papers

Biographical/Historical Note

Jesse Lee Albritton was born on April 25, 1911 in Fairfax, Georgia to Hilda Rose and Thomas Y. Albritton. He completed elementary school and attended various other schools without receiving any certificate. He continuously spoke out about the poor living conditions in which his family lived, and eventually left home on his own to seek a better life. In 1937 he moved to St. Louis, Missouri and began working on the St. Louis Argus Newspaper. He met Ida Marie Bonner and they married after a brief courtship. The couple then moved to Chicago.

Albritton’s first job upon moving to Chicago was selling advertisements for the Chicago Defender Newspaper. While working at the paper, he met union labor leaders, including Mr. Paul Dorfman of the Waste Material Handler’s Union, which was under the jurisdiction of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Dorfman introduced Albritton to the ALF leadership, where Albritton became involved in union organizing. In 1942 he was promoted in the union and began writing his column, “Color in the News,” for the AFL paper Federation News. The column ran throughout the 1940s. He took a brief interruption from this position when he entered the military service during WWII. Albritton also offered news commentary for the CFL’s radio station, WCFL, and early commercial television station WBKB.

Under the guidance of Mr. Nubian J. Conley, of Conley and Conley Printing, then located at 63rd and Rhodes, and Leo Foster Printing, Albritton learned the printing business. He worked with Leo Foster to publish a magazine, Club Life. The publication covered the social life of clubs and organizations of African Americans in the Chicago area. The dates for Albritton’s work on Club Life and in the printing business are unclear, but the business appears to have been active in the mid-1950s, about the same time he was working in Senator Dirksen’s office. Jesse Lee Albritton was a WWII army veteran, salesman, labor movement organizer, and a member of the Elks, Shriners, and the Prince Hall Eureka Lodge. In June 1964, Albritton died unexpectedly in a fishing trip accident on Lake Michigan. His body was found 18 days later; the cause of death was drowning. At the time of his death, he was a Cook County Deputy Sheriff.

Sources
Nathan Godfried. WCFL, Chicago’s Voice of Labor, 1926-78. Urbana: University of

Illinois Press, 1997.

Scope and Content Note

The Jesse Lee Albritton Papers are divided into three series: biography, manuscripts and photographs which include materials related to his work as a journalist, publisher, and public figure. It spans the years 1938-2005; the bulk of the collection consists of a scrapbook, political sketches, newspaper clippings, speeches, correspondence, and records relating to Albritton’s death.

The scrapbook contained in the collection is comprised of Albritton’s “Color in the News” column from the Federation Newspaper, spanning the dates 1942-1949. Also included in the collection are political sketches, including political cartoons of Illinois politicians, as well as one of Bobby Kennedy. The newspaper clippings also contain some photos of Albritton with figures like Jesse Owens, as well as articles about his sudden death. Albritton also collected copies of “The Daily Sports Page,” a daily sports publication, of which the collection has materials from July and August of 1960. This collection provides a window into the fields of politics and journalism in the 1940s and 1950s. Albritton’s interest in sports, especially baseball highlights the pivotal role African American sports’ discrimination played in the early Civil Rights movement. The photographs within this collection include a number of Chicago area and national political figures. Most of the photographs are undated.

Arrangement 

Papers are divided into three series: Series 1: Biography, 1938-1965 is in chronological order; Series 2: Manuscripts, 1942-1960; Series 3: Photographs, 1946-1962, undated are in the original donor’s order.

Related Materials

• Charles Hayes Papers
• Prince Hall Freemasonry Archives

Container List

Series 1: Biography, 1938-1965

Series 2: Manuscripts, 1942-1960

Series 3: Photographs, 1946-1962, undated