The Weekly Challenger newspaper has documented the history of St. Petersburg, Florida's African-American community since the paper was established by Cleveland Johnson Jr. in 1967. In March 2013, an agreement between the USFSP Poynter Library and the Johnson family allowed the library to become the home for existing issues of The Weekly Challenger. Since that time, the library and newspaper have worked in partnership to create the Weekly Challenger Newspaper Digital Archive.

Links to The Weekly Challenger archive and additional resources:

• Weekly Challenger Chronology & Tampa Bay African-American History Research Guide
• A recording of Ethel Johnson's memories of St. Petersburg.
• A short film created for The Weekly Challenger's 50th Anniversary celebration.
• Highlights from The Weekly Challenger's 50th anniversary event.

Not all of the older newspapers are in our holdings. Please note that there is a six-month delay before recent issues are added to the archive.