Birthday Memorial Tribute at the Grave of Alexander Manly

Alexander (or Alex) Lightfoot Manly ( May 13, 1866– October 5, 1944) was an newspaper owner and editor who lived in Wilmongton, North Caolina.

With his brother, Frank G. Manly, as co-owner, he published the Daily Record, the state’s only daily African-American newspaper and possibly the nation’s only black-owned daily newspaper. At the time, the port of Wilmington had 10,000 residents and was the state’s largest city; its population was majority black, with a rising middle class.

In August 1898 Manly published a controversial editorial objecting to stereotypes of black men as rapists of white women. He had earlier responded to a Rebecca Latimer Felton in Georgia who wrote about African-American males having relationships with white women. At the time, white Democrats were inflaming racial tensions and promoting white supremacy in a bid to regain power in the state legislature.

When biracial fusionist candidates were elected to Wilmington’s mayor and council, a secret committee of Democrats conducted the only successful coup d’état in United States history, now known as the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898, and overturned the city government. They also ran the Manly brothers out of town, threatening their lives; a large mob destroyed the printing press and burned down the newspaper offices; out of control, it also attacked black neighborhoods, killing an estimated 30-100 people and destroying much of what freedmen had built in the city.

The Manly brothers were among the 2,100 blacks who permanently moved out of Wilmington after the riot, resulting in its becoming a majority-white city. The brothers moved briefly to Washington, D.C

Alex married Caroline Sadgwar at his house. He and his wife then moved to Philadelphia, where they then raised a family. Alex Manly remained politically active, co-founding The Armstrong Association, a precursor to the National Urban League, and was a member of the African-American newspaper council.

The Manlys had two sons born in Philadelphia: Milo and Lewin. The former became an activist and fought for black property rights in Wilmington; he later became executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

Alex Manly’s son, Milo, married Mary Gilbert, who was one of the original founders of Jack and Jill of America’s Inc. As such, Milo was one of the first Jack and Jill dads with their dughter, Patsy (Patricia) as one of the very first Jills of the organization.