Parts of Dead Sea Scrolls, world's oldest biblical manuscripts, are for sale _ in tiny pieces
JERUSALEM – Parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls are up for sale — in tiny pieces.
Nearly 70 years after the discovery of the world’s oldest biblical manuscripts, the Palestinian family who originally sold them to scholars and institutions is now quietly marketing the leftovers — fragments the family says it has kept in a Swiss safe deposit box all these years.
Most of these scraps are barely postage-stamp-sized, and some are blank. But in the last few years, evangelical Christian collectors and institutions in the U.S. have forked out millions of dollars for a chunk of this archaeological treasure. This angers Israel’s government antiquities authority, which holds most of the scrolls, claims that every last scrap should be recognized as Israeli cultural property, and threatens to seize any more pieces that hit the market. Read more.
Chicago Defender
Chicago Defender (http://www.chicagodefender.com/) is a Black newspaper founded in 1905 by Robert Abbott. Begun as a four-page printing of 300 copies, the newspaper grew its readership by using the sensationalist techniques of yellow journalism to highlight racial injustice and give Blacks a voice. The paper was popular in the South despite the refusal of White distributors to carry it—Pullman porters (the flight attendants of the railroad) helped smuggle the paper to Southern cities, where it was read aloud in barbershops and churches.
The Defender was the most important Black newspaper of the early 20th century. It helped drive the “Great Migration” of Blacks from the South to the North during World War I by praising life in the North and posting job listings and train schedules. The newspaper was actually banned in some Southern cities because of the negative depictions of Southern life.
Instead of using the term “Black” or “Negro”, the Defender referred to Black people as “the Race”. The newspaper campaigned for civil rights legislation and highlighted the work of Black writers like Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks.
The Defender remained popular during World War II and became a daily newspaper in 1956. Readership declined after the 1997 death of its long-time publisher John H. Sengstacke, but it remains in publication to this day.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/news_bios/defender.html
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/248.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/110456/Chicago-Defender
