NOTE: The MYSTERY newspaper was co-edited by John Newton Templeton
[LINK] [LINK] [LINK] Black Antebellum Newspaper Found _________________________________________________________________ HARRISBURG (AP)--Finding a rare issue of a 19th century Black-oriented newspaper should take some of the mystery out of The Mystery. A West Fairview man working in the attic of a Harrisburg house about 10 years ago found one of only three known copies of The Mystery, published in Pittsburgh during the 1840s. Dick Eichelberger didn't know what he'd found until someone offered him $200 for the Feb. 17, 1847 issue. He had found it under a plank floor while working as a handyman between steady jobs. "It was with some old postcards and Civil War buttons," Eichelberger said during a recent interview. "I gave away and sold many of those things, but I kept this newspaper because this was amazing. It really was." Steve Doell, archivist for the Pittsburgh-based Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, said the newspaper holds a great deal of significance. He called it a "pretty remarkable" find. Doell said the only other copies of the newspaper, founded by Martin Delany, are housed in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. One is dated April 16, 1845 and the other Dec. 16, 1846. The newspaper was first published on Aug. 3, 1843 and closed in the spring of 1848. The newspaper contains no photos, only columns of type. It includes international news about bread riots in Europe and about "a national convention of colored freemen of the whole union to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, or elsewhere sometime in this year." Eichelberger said he can't afford proper preservation methods, so his copy of The Mystery is yellowed, wrinkled, torn at the fold and in extremely fragile condition. He keeps it folded in half, wrapped in a couple of layers of tissue paper and stuffed in a manila envelope. Still, Eichelberger said he is awed by his find. "Every year, when Black History Month comes around, I think about it," Eichelberger said. "I'd say this is a piece of Black history. Martin Delany must have been an intelligent man. He was ahead of his time." The Mystery
Pennsylvania Department: Newspapers Photo_of_The_Mystery,_16_December_1846. Martin Delany's "Mystery," issue of 16 December 1846. An abolitionist newspaper published in Pittsburgh. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh owns the only known surviving copy. ___________________________________ _________________________________________________________________