October 01, 2004 - Courier writer, his work honored - Historical marker for Frank Bolden

In a word, it was perfect.

Tony Tye, Post-Gazette Eric Springer greets Nancy Travis Bolden yesterday prior to a ceremony to dedicate a state historical marker for her late husband, Frank Bolden, one of the first accredited African-American war correspondents during World War II. The marker is on Centre Avenue in the Hill District. Click photo for larger image.

But the glory was all in the words -- warm, tidy little remembrances -- given back to the man who made them his life.

This was about Frank Bolden, legendary journalist and Pittsburgh historian. His life and work were celebrated in the Hill District yesterday morning by about 60 folks who gathered at the very spot where he built his legacy with the black press. Where the presses once rolled for the Pittsburgh Courier and where he once worked as an editor and reporter, Bolden was getting a state historical marker.

Bolden died in August 2003 at the age of 90.

Nancy Travis Bolden spoke about the man few people knew -- the one who raised prized pigeons as a child, the one who gave Gene Kelly tap lessons during a college show and the one who bred award-winning fox terriers.

Then there's the Frank Bolden of the history books -- the accomplished reporter for the Pittsburgh Courier whose stories in the 1930s and '40s stretched from Wylie Avenue to the black soldiers of World War II.

Bolden earned a national reputation by becoming one of the first two accredited black war correspondents.

In the sweat of Burma, he penned tales about the black engineering troops who died working on the Burma Road. He also covered the black soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division in Italy, debunking the claim that blacks would flee from combat.

He interviewed the famous: Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Madame Chang Kai-Shek.  His work the decision to desegregate the United States' armed forces. 

But Bolden was local. He interviewed the not-so-famous: preachers, neighborhood politicians and jitney drivers. And he frequented the Hill District's small music joints, which he called "upholstered sewers."  City Councilman Sala Udin had his own words for Bolden, whom he met many a night in the Crawford Grill, chomping on a fish sandwich.  "He would stop me and make me sit down and always have encouraging words," Udin recalled.

"You represent all black people in Pittsburgh. I expect you to carry [the responsibility] just as all those who came before you," Udin recalled Bolden saying. Then Bolden would add, he said, "Now, go on back up to the bar and finish your drink."

Bolden's marker is a few feet away from the one for Robert L. Vann, a founder and editor of the black newspaper. Both stand on Centre Avenue, at the Hill District site where the 94-year-old paper was published in its heyday.  It's appropriate because Bolden always underplayed his talent, crediting the Pittsburgh Courier for his success.  Though he didn't speak at the ceremony, Rod Doss, editor of the New Pittsburgh Courier, later had these words:

"I think Frank was able to give people a sense of the true legacy of the Courier. He had a long-standing record, as a journalist, as a historian. He could speak so eloquently that many people who never experienced, who never knew the impact the Courier had on the times, could know how it helped shape history as we know it today."  How fitting now, that when schoolchildren stroll through the Hill and come to the Bolden marker, they can stop and read all about him:

Words that Bolden would be familiar with. (By Ervin Dyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)