ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Rochester newspaper that highlighted issues and accomplishments in the Black community during some of the city’s most turbulent times is now available online. The Frederick Douglass Voice was published from the 1930s to the 1990s. The long-running process to digitize the historic papers is now finished.

Elizabeth Alecki has her hands on some important history. Newspapers that help tell the stories of Rochester’s African American community.

“The collection we have is quite large,” said Alecki, RMSC director of collections. “These newspapers are a very vital resource.”

For 63 years, Howard W. Coles was editor and publisher of The Frederick Douglass Voice, at the time Rochester’s longest-running Black newspaper. The first issue was printed in 1933.

“He was really lifting the voices of Black and African American people in the Rochester community,” said Alecki. “I find it very interesting because this is a community of voices that are underserved.

RMSC acquired the entire Coles collection from Joan Howard, his daughter.  She donated it to the museum, which has now digitized all 63 years of the paper, which ran until 1996. Coles Died in 2013, at the age of 93.

“My father had an illustrious career,” said Howard. “And he never got the respect I thought he should have gotten.”

Howard set out to change that. She says her father was more than just the publisher and editor of The Frederick Douglass Voice. He was a social activist who worked in banking and real estate — helping people in Rochester’s Black community to buy homes while sharing their positive stories and addressing important issues in the community.

“I was determined to keep his memory alive and all the things that he did for the advancement of people everywhere,” she said. “Not just Black people, but the world, really.”

Coles also worked in local radio and was the first president of Rochester’s chapter of the NAACP.

“Douglass was 19th century. Coles was 20th century,” said Howard. “If they had both been now, the world wouldn't be ready. It couldn't handle it.”

In the past, people had to carefully comb through decades-old copies to research history or genealogy. Today, the Frederick Douglass Voice is available to anyone, online.

“We are the holder of his legacy through the collection,” said Alecki.