John H. Sengstacke, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

John H. Sengstacke

American businessman

Date of Birth: 25-Nov-1912

Place of Birth: Savannah, Georgia, United States

Date of Death: 28-May-1997

Profession: publisher

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

John Herman Henry Sengstacke (November 25, 1912 – May 28, 1997) was an African-American newspaper publisher and owner of the largest chain of black newspapers in the country.
Sengstacke was also a civil rights activist and worked for a strong black press, founding the National Newspaper Publishers Association in 1940, to unify and strengthen African-American owned papers.
Sengstacke served seven terms as president of the association, which by the early 21st century had 200 members. The nephew of Robert Sengstacke Abbott, Sengstacke was his designated heir to take over his Chicago Defender, which he did after his uncle's death in 1940.
Sengstacke also published the Michigan Courier in Detroit; the Tri-City Defender in Memphis, Tennessee; and acquired the Pittsburgh Courier in 1966, re–opening it the next year as the New Pittsburgh Courier.
Sengstacke worked with President Franklin D.
Roosevelt to have African-American reporters admitted to presidential press conferences.
He pressed for opportunities in the United States Postal Service for African Americans.
One of Sengstacke's major political goals was to desegregate the armed forces.
President Harry Truman supported this goal, naming Sengstacke to the commission he formed in 1948 to integrate the military.
Sengstacke died in 1997 at age 84.
In 2000, he was posthumously presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by US President Bill Clinton.