J.B. Bass

A native of Jefferson City, Missouri, Joseph B. Bass taught school for seven years before embarking on a career as an journeyman printer and newspaperman, working in Topeka, Kan. from 1896 to 1905; Helena, Montana, 1905 to 1911; then to San Francisco for a year, and from there to Los Angeles, where he started working for Charlotta A. Spears, the owner and publisher of the "California Eagle." In August 1914, they married, and for the next twenty years they made the "California Eagle" one of the premier African-American newspapers in the United States. Active in many causes designed for the uplift of the Black community as well as political activity. After his death, his wife carried on for the next thirty-five years. In 1952, she ran for Vice President on the Progressive Party ticket, the first Black woman to run for national office.