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Jim French was an American newspaper editor, writer and photojournalist.
James John French was born on October 7, 1926 to Thomas (Perrett) French and Anna (Miller) French in Kansas City, Kansas.[1] He was the second youngest child of ten.
Jim's father, a barber, died when Jim was just eleven years old. In later years, Jim wrote an article in his column "the french line" about the relationship with his father.[2] (See images.) A few years after his father's death, Jim was living on Richmond St. in Kansas City with his mother, three siblings and three nieces and nephews while attending school. Jim finished high school in Kansas City and then moved to Topeka to attend the Kansas Vocational School for journalism.
In 1948, after finishing journalism school, Jim enlisted in the Navy, rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer by the time he retired in 1969. In the Navy, Jim was assigned to be a photo-journalist for their publication ALL-Hands Magazine and was a station manager for radio and television stations in Spain, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. He was the first photo-journalist assigned to Vietnam's Mekong Delta with the American Army's 9th Infantry Division.[3]
While in the Navy, Jim married Olivia around 1952 and they had four children. In 1961 they were still living in Kansas City, at 1934 N. 5th,[4] but moved to Charleston, South Carolina while Jim was still in the Navy.[3] After retiring from the Navy in 1969, he started another career which became a family business. He founded the Charleston Chronicle in Charleston, South Carolina in 1971, a newspaper dedicated to fair reporting of Black news. The Charleston Chronicle was a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade group of Black owned media companies.[5] Jim's family was involved in all aspects of running this paper, from writing stories to printing. It was in this weekly paper that Jim wrote his column "the french line." The paper played a significant role in predominantly Black Charleston and many awards were bestowed on Jim and on his paper. In 2016 Jim retired and turned the control of the paper over to his grandsons Tolbert and Damian Smalls. They ran the newspaper until 2021.[6]
Jim died in 2021 in Charleston.[7][8]
April 1 , 1930 (enumerated April 15)[9]
Address | Name | Relationship | Home Owned/Rented | Value of Home | Radioset | Sex | Color | Age | Marital Status | Age at First Marriage | Education | Place of Birth | Place of Birth of Father | Place of Birth of Mother | English Speaker | Occupation and Employment | |
423 Richmond St. | J. Thomas French | Head | Owned | 1500 | no | Male | Negro | 68 | Married | 48 | Can read and write | South Carolina | South Carolina | South Carolina | yes | Barber at own shop | |
Annie French | Wife | Female | Negro | 42 | Married | 22 | Can read and write | Missouri | Missouri | Missouri | yes | Servant in private family, worker | |||||
Cecile French | Daughter | Female | Negro | 18 | Single | Can read and write | Kansas | South Carolina | Missouri | yes | Laborer in laundry, worker | ||||||
Milford French | Son | Male | Negro | 16 | Single | Can read and write | Kansas | South Carolina | Missouri | yes | Porter at Shoeshine, worker | ||||||
Elray French | Daughter | Female | Negro | 12 | Single | Attended School, Can read and write | Kansas | South Carolina | Missouri | yes | none | ||||||
Portella French | Daughter | Female | Negro | 10 | Single | Attended School, Can read and write | Kansas | South Carolina | Missouri | yes | none | ||||||
Nanlee French | Daughter | Female | Negro | 8 | Single | Attended School | Kansas | South Carolina | Missouri | none | |||||||
Thomas French | Son | Male | Negro | 7 | Single | Attended School | Kansas | South Carolina | Missouri | none | |||||||
James French | Son | Male | Negro | 4 | Single | Did not attend school | Kansas | South Carolina | Missouri | none | |||||||
Letha French | Daughter | Female | Negro | 1 7/12 | Single | Did not attend school | Kansas | South Carolina | Missouri | none |
- April 1 , 1940 (enumerated April 10) [10]
Address | Home Owned/Rented | Value of Home or Rent | Name | Relationship | Sex | Color | Age | Marital Status | Education | Place of Birth | Residence April 1, 1935 | Employment | Occupation | Number of Weeks Worked | Income in 1939 | Income from sources other than wages or salary | |
423 Richmond St. | Owned | 600 | Annie French | Head | Female | Negro | 50 | Widowed | 3rd Grade | Missouri | same | no | Home Housework | 0 | 0 | yes | |
Thomas French | Son | Male | Negro | 16 | Single | 1 Year High school completed | Kansas | same | no | At home | 0 | no | |||||
Leatha French | Daughter | Female | Negro | 12 | Single | Attended school, 4th grade | Kansas | same | |||||||||
James French | Son | Male | Negro | 14 | Single | Attended school, 5th grade | Kansas | same | |||||||||
Elray McDaniel | Daughter | Female | Negro | 21 | Married | 8th grade completed | Kansas | same | no | At home | 0 | no | |||||
Anna McDaniel | Granddaughter | Female | Negro | 3 | Single | 0 | Kansas | ||||||||||
Joanne McDaniel | Granddaughter | Female | Negro | 1 | Single | 0 | Kansas | ||||||||||
Arvil Wallace | Grandson | Male | Negro | 3 | Single | 0 | Kansas |
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