Dorothy R. Leavell elected president of National Newspaper Publishers Association

Dorothy R Leavell, publisher of the Chicago Crusader and Gary (IN) Crusader Newspapers, recently was elected president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) during the association's national convention in Oklahoma City, OK.

The NNPA represents more than 200 Black newspapers across the U.S. and Virgin Islands with a combined readership of more than 15 minion.

Mrs. Leavell said, "The NNPA will remain fully in the forefront of the continuing struggle for Black rights. We intend to work closely with the NAACP, the National Urban League, Operation PUSH, the National Rainbow Coalition and other major, national organizations to make sure that the concerns of Black people, across the country are properly articulated."

A native of Pine Bluff, AR, she began her career at the Chicago Crusader in 1961, serving first as office manager and she assumed ownership of the Chicago and Gary Crusader Newspapers in 1968 following the death of her first husband, Balm L. Leavell Jr.