Ebony (magazine)

==History==
===1945–1969===
''Ebony'' was founded by John H. Johnson in 1945. The magazine was named by Johnson's wife, Eunice Walker Johnson, thinking of the dark wood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hevesi |first1=Dennis |title=Eunice Johnson Dies at 93; Gave Ebony Its Name |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/business/media/10johnson.html |work=The New York Times |date=9 January 2010 }}</ref> The magazine was patterned after the format of [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Click |first1=J.W. |title=Comparison of Editorial Content of Ebony Magazine, 1967 and 1974 |journal=Journalism Quarterly |date=December 1975 |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=716–720 |doi=10.1177/107769907505200416 |s2cid=145071337 }}</ref> ''Ebony'' published its first issue on November 1, 1945, with an initial press run of 25,000 copies that sold out completely.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-H-Johnson|title=John H. Johnson {{!}} American publisher|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref> ''Ebony''<nowiki/>'s earlier content focused on African-American sports and entertainment figures, but eventually began including black achievers and celebrities of many different professions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ebony-American-magazine|title=Ebony {{!}} American magazine|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref>
[[File:Blanche-j-lawrence ebony February 1949.png|thumb|Blanche J. Lawrence, "Atom Scientists", ''Ebony'' magazine, September 1949]]
Editors stated in the first issue: <blockquote><p>We like to look at the zesty side of life. Sure, you can get all hot and bothered about the race question (and don't think we don't), but not enough is said about all the swell things we Negroes can do and will accomplish. Ebony will try to mirror the happier side of Negro life – the positive, everyday achievements from Harlem to Hollywood. But when we talk about race as the No. 1 problem of America, we'll talk turkey.<ref name=NYTS>{{cite news |last1=Shipp |first1=E. R. |title=Ebony, 40, Viewed as More Than a Magazine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/06/us/ebony-40-viewed-as-more-than-a-magazine.html |work=The New York Times |date=6 December 1985 }}</ref></p></blockquote>

During the 1960s, the magazine increasingly covered the [[civil rights movement]]. Articles were published about political events happening all over the U.S. where activists protested racial violence and advocated for increasing social mobility for African Americans across the diaspora. Also published was content about the [[Black Power movement]]. In 1965, executive editor [[Lerone Bennett Jr.]] wrote a recurring column entitled "Black Power", which featured an in-depth profile of [[Stokely Carmichael]] in 1966.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=West |first1=James |title=Power is 100 years old: Lerone Bennett Jr., Ebony magazine and the roots of black power |journal=The Sixties |date=2 July 2016 |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=165–188 |doi=10.1080/17541328.2016.1241601 |s2cid=151966947 }}</ref> ''Ebony'' also commemorated historical events that contributed to black citizenship and freedom such as the September 1963 issue that honored the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/ebony-magazine/|title=Ebony Magazine • BlackPast|last=Glasrud|first=Bruce|date=September 18, 2007|website=BlackPast|language=en-US|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref>

===1969–1985===
''Ebony''<nowiki/>'s design and content began to shift in the late–1960s and early–1970s. A new level of competition for subscribers and readers began during the 1970s. Due to the emergence of new African-American oriented magazines such as ''[[Essence (magazine)|Essence]],'' ''Ebony'' began to cover more political activism and achievements in the 1970s. The magazine's February 1971 cover featured 13 black congressmen and women. ''Ebony'' highlighted the black professionals serving in [[Jimmy Carter]]'s administration in the March 1977 issue.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=Mia L. |title='I Dig You, Chocolate City': Ebony and Sepia Magazines' Coverage of Black Political Progress, 1971–1977 |journal=Journal of African American Studies |date=December 2015 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=398–409 |doi=10.1007/s12111-015-9309-x |s2cid=152126803 }}</ref>

===1985–2005===
The magazine reached unprecedented levels of popularity, with marketers estimating that ''Ebony'' reached over 40% of the African-American adults in the United States during the 1980s, a feat unmatched by any other general–interest magazine at the time.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Staples |first1=Brent |title=The Radical Blackness of Ebony Magazine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/11/opinion/ebony-jet-magazine.html |work=The New York Times |date=11 August 2019 }}</ref> Beginning in the mid-1970s, advertisers created customized ads for the magazine which featured African-American models using their products.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pollay |first1=Richard W. |last2=Lee |first2=Jung S. |last3=Carter-Whitney |first3=David |title=Separate, but Not Equal: Racial Segmentation in Cigarette Advertising |journal=Journal of Advertising |date=March 1992 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=45–57 |doi=10.1080/00913367.1992.10673359 }}</ref> In 1985, ''Ebony Man'', a monthly men's magazine was created, printing the first issue in September 1985.<ref name="sat" /> By ''Ebony'''s 40th anniversary in November 1985, it had a circulation of 1.7 million.<ref name=NYTS/>

===2005–present===
In December 2008, [[Google]] announced that it was scanning back issues for [[Google Book Search]]. As of that date, all issues from November 1959 to December 2008 were made available for free.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/search-and-find-magazines-on-google.html|title=Search and find magazines on Google Book Search|author=Dave Foulser|date=December 9, 2008|access-date=January 3, 2009}}</ref> In 2010, the [[Johnson Publishing Company]] sold its historic building at 820 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago's loop to [[Columbia College Chicago]]. The same year, ''Ebony'' was redesigned to update its longtime brand. In the past, the magazine was persistently upbeat, much like its postwar contemporary ''Life'' magazine. However, in the 21st century, ''Ebony'' featured more controversial content.

The November 2011 cover featured a pregnant [[Nia Long]], reminiscent of the iconic image of actress [[Demi Moore]] portrayed naked while pregnant on a major magazine cover two decades before. Some of ''Ebony''′s more conservative readers objected to the cover, stating it was inappropriate to feature an unwed, pregnant woman on the cover. The cover made national headlines in ''[[US Weekly]]'' and in a five-minute segment on [[CNN]]. More recent issues questioned whether President Obama was still right for black America and whether [[biracial]] Americans need more acknowledgment in today's society. In 2018, ''Ebony'''s publishing schedule was changed from being published monthly to a double issue published once each month. On May 24, 2019, Clear View Group suspended the print edition of the magazine, with the Spring 2019 issue the last to be printed.<ref name=YGY>Yvonne de Salle, [https://www.tinshingle.com/blog/ebony-magazine-in-flux-reportedly-burns-writers-huge-photo-archive-in-play "Ebony Magazine In Flux – Print Magazine Folds, Digital Seems To Continue"], ''Tin Shingle'', July 8, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.</ref>

In March 2021, the magazine relaunched in digital format.<ref>''Business Insider'', [https://www.businessinsider.com/eden-bridgeman-ebony-jet-magazine-relaunch-interview-2021-3  Eden Bridgeman Talks EBONY and JET relaunch], Interview, March 8, 2021</ref><ref>''The Root'', [https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/rebirth-of-an-icon-ebony-magazine-set-to-digitally-rel-1846381821 'Rebirth of an Icon': Ebony Magazine Set to Digitally Relaunch Today, No Plans for Print Just Yet], March 1, 2021</ref>