William Alexander Stephenson was born July 14, 1878, probably in St Andrew. He received his schooling at the Half-Way-Tree Middle Grade School and at Wolmer’s School. The strong moral influence of the Rev H H Isaacs, headmaster of the Half-Way-Tree school, who urged his pupils to ‘be of use in your day and generation’, suggested journalism to the young Stephenson as the best way in which he could serve.
He got his first job at Gall’s News Letter, and later moved to The Telegraph. Finally he became a valued member of the staff of the Daily Gleaner, becoming Associate News Editor. His younger brother, Walter George Stephenson, born in 1885, also went to work for the Gleaner as soon as he left school. William did a variety of reporting for that newspaper, being especially known for his reporting on cricket, and on legal cases. He also did very valuable writing on Kingston city life; in 1911 he produced two series of articles, one on life in and around the Parade, the other on the conditions in the slum areas to the west of the city centre. His considerable knowledge of life in his native city is clearly shown in his journalism.
His work had also appeared in the Jamaica Times. He won a prize offered in the paper’s early days, for the best story submitted. Later he contributed a series of articles under the nom-de-plume “Flying Adjutant”. He always maintained a high regard for the work of the Times.
W A Stephenson had a distinctive journalistic style, which became well known and much appreciated in the island. On reading a piece by him, even if unsigned, the knowledgeable reader could say – “That is Stephenson’s.”
He lived in the Kencot area of St Andrew, and served on district school boards and the Jamaica Agricultural Society in the parish; after leaving the Gleaner in 1913 he was for some years the Chief Sanitary Officer. He was a Freemason. He emigrated to New York, with his family, between 1918 and 1920, and died there in May 1926. While in the USA he had returned to journalism, founding a newspaper to promote the interests of West Indians there.
He got his first job at Gall’s News Letter, and later moved to The Telegraph. Finally he became a valued member of the staff of the Daily Gleaner, becoming Associate News Editor. His younger brother, Walter George Stephenson, born in 1885, also went to work for the Gleaner as soon as he left school. William did a variety of reporting for that newspaper, being especially known for his reporting on cricket, and on legal cases. He also did very valuable writing on Kingston city life; in 1911 he produced two series of articles, one on life in and around the Parade, the other on the conditions in the slum areas to the west of the city centre. His considerable knowledge of life in his native city is clearly shown in his journalism.
His work had also appeared in the Jamaica Times. He won a prize offered in the paper’s early days, for the best story submitted. Later he contributed a series of articles under the nom-de-plume “Flying Adjutant”. He always maintained a high regard for the work of the Times.
W A Stephenson had a distinctive journalistic style, which became well known and much appreciated in the island. On reading a piece by him, even if unsigned, the knowledgeable reader could say – “That is Stephenson’s.”
He lived in the Kencot area of St Andrew, and served on district school boards and the Jamaica Agricultural Society in the parish; after leaving the Gleaner in 1913 he was for some years the Chief Sanitary Officer. He was a Freemason. He emigrated to New York, with his family, between 1918 and 1920, and died there in May 1926. While in the USA he had returned to journalism, founding a newspaper to promote the interests of West Indians there.
In the U.S.A.
A rare and important missing link of the very early years of the Harlem Renaissance and the Garvey movement. No copy of any issue of this magazine located by WorldCat in any institution.
This issue of the “Informer”, while making no mention of Garvey, details the burgeoning cultural and social institutions of Harlem, laments the apparent disdain of American-born Blacks for West Indian emigrants, and urges all “colored people” to unite to build their own economic base: If only Black-owned businesses would thrive, the dominant Jewish merchants of Harlem could be “driven out…within a few months”, thus following the example of the Jews themselves, who had acquired financial power even as they were traditionally “despised and discriminated against”. Beyond this ambivalent anti-Semitism, Stephenson’s “Informer” promoted Christian spiritual ideals and urged Blacks to eschew race hatred.
William Alexander Stephenson, one of the editors, was a prominent Jamaican journalist who emigrated to New York in June 1918 - two years after Marcus Garvey - first coming to prominence in 1922 as News Editor of Garvey's "Daily Negro Times" newspaper, with J. A. Rogers, the future Black historian, as assistant.
Before his death in 1926, Stephenson cut a dashing figure in the literary world of the Harlem Renaissance, hobnobbing with Countee Cullen, Claude McKay and T. Thomas Fortune. But his very first American work was forgotten . . . .
Negro World, August 25, 1923
The Universal Ethiopian Anthem And How It Came To Be Written
By William A Stephenson > > >
The Universal Ethiopian Anthem And How It Came To Be Written
By William A Stephenson > > >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walter George Stephenson
Walter remained in Jamaica and continued his work at the Gleaner; in 1917 he authored a series of five articles on life in Kingston’s slums, which continued the work done by his brother in 1911. He returned to the same topic with two more articles in 1920. Another significant piece was his article on the arrest of Alexander Bedward in 1921.
When he died in June 1932 his funeral was attended by a large number of people from all sections of the community, expressing their affection and regard for a modest, unassuming man, who had been a popular and efficient journalist for three decades.
When he died in June 1932 his funeral was attended by a large number of people from all sections of the community, expressing their affection and regard for a modest, unassuming man, who had been a popular and efficient journalist for three decades.
Note:
Examples of the journalism of both W A and W G Stephenson (“W A S” – Chapter 4; “W G S” – Chapters 5 and 6) can be found in “Squalid Kingston”: 1890-1920, published by the Social History Project, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.
Examples of the journalism of both W A and W G Stephenson (“W A S” – Chapter 4; “W G S” – Chapters 5 and 6) can be found in “Squalid Kingston”: 1890-1920, published by the Social History Project, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.