JOHN J. OLIVER, SR. '34

Inducted: October 31, 2003

John J. Oliver Sr., a native of Brazil, Ind., was a Rector scholar at DePauw University, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry. He joined the staff of the AFRO-American newspaper following his graduation in 1934. The AFRO was a Baltimore-based news chain founded in 1892 by Oliver’s grandfather, and is the second oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in this country, with circulation in many cities along the East Coast.

For most of his career, Oliver was the director of production. He managed the paper’s conversion from "hot type" to "cold type" and computer production. In 1976 he became the president of the AFRO, a position he held until his retirement in 1983. He was known as "the glue that held the paper together," and he helped shepherd the paper through the civil-rights movement and the critical post-segregation period.

Oliver was among those responsible for the Afro-American being able to publish news of interest to blacks, particularly at a time in when other newspapers in the United States gave little attention to their interests. He was determined to perfect the weekly newspaper production process to create a product that the readership would respond to, and look forward to
reading each week.

One of Oliver’s mentors while a student at DePauw was the great Percy L. Julian ‘20. He was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 1988, and received an honorary degree from the University in 1989. Receiving the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame award in 1988 at right.

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