MPR’s Kate Williams reports on the funeral of prominent African American Cecil Newman, who passed away on February 8th, 1976. Newman was both a local civil rights leader, active in numerous organizations, and a longtime editor/publisher. Segment includes interviews and remembrances.

Newman moved to Minneapolis from Kansas City in 1922. He founded the Twin Cities Herald about 1927 and published the Timely Digest in 1932. In 1934, Newman became editor and publisher of the Minneapolis Spokesman and the St. Paul Recorder. In 1948, Newman became the first black president of the Minneapolis Urban League. He was also a member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a union that made major strides against segregation in the 1930s and 40s, before the modern Civil Rights Movement.