1837 - Newspaperman, Elijah Lovejoy Killed Defending His Anti-Slavery Press

On November 7, 1837, Elijah Parish Lovejoy, an abolitionist journalist and newspaper editor, was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois.

Who Was Elijah Lovejoy?

• A Presbyterian minister, journalist, and outspoken abolitionist.
• He published The St. Louis Observer, an anti-slavery newspaper.
• After facing violent threats in Missouri, he moved his press across the river to Alton, Illinois, where he continued his abolitionist writings.

His Death & Legacy

• On the night of November 7, a mob attacked the warehouse where his printing press was stored.
• Lovejoy and his supporters attempted to defend the press but were overpowered.
• He was shot and killed, and the mob destroyed the press, throwing it into the Mississippi River.
• His murder became a rallying cry for the abolitionist movement, and he was later recognized as a martyr for freedom of the press and anti-slavery activism.

Lovejoy’s legacy lives on as a symbol of press freedom, abolition, and resistance against oppression.