Irvine Garland Penn

Irvine Garland Penn (October 7, 1867 – July 22, 1930) was an American educator, journalist, and lay leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was the author of The Afro-American Press and Its Editors, published in 1891, and a coauthor with Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, and Ferdinand Lee Barnett of The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not in the World's Columbia Exposition in 1893. In the late 1890s, he became an officer in the Methodist Episcopal Church and played an important role advocating for the interests of African Americans in the church until his death.

Early life Irvine Garland Penn was born on October 7, 1867, in New Glasgow, Virginia. He moved to Lynchburg, Virginia at the age of 5. He entered the newspaper business before his senior year in high school, and finished high school some time later. He continued his education, eventually receiving a Master's degree from Rust College in 1890 and a doctorate from Wiley College in 1908.

Journalism In 1886, he was a correspondent for the Richmond Planet, the Knoxville Negro World, and the New York Age, and frequently wrote about African Americans. In 1886, he became editor of a small black paper called the Laborer. In 1887, he became teacher in Lynchburg. He was promoted to principal of the school in 1895.

His writing became well known and frequently took on civil rights and injustice faced by African Americans. He published a volume of biographies of African American newspaper editors and journalists, The Afro-American Press and Its Editors, in 1891. Two years later, he was the director and organizer for the African American exhibits at the 1895 Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition, and was important in the decision to put Booker T. Washington in a leading role, which partially launched Washington into the national spotlight. and he taught at Rust College. He also continued to write and published another book, The College of Life in 1902.

The ME Church combined the black and white boards of education in 1924, removing Penn from his position as secretary of the Board of Education for Negroes. Penn's work was severely criticized, although he remained a member of the combined board. He died of heart disease on July 22, 1930. There is some speculation that his death was related to injuries sustained while being thrown off a segregated train car in South Carolina.

Writings Books The Afro-American Press and Its Editors (1891) The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not in the World's Columbia Exposition (1893), co-authored coauthor with Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, and Ferdinand Lee Barnett The College of Life, or, Practical Self-Educator: A Manual of Self-Improvement for the Colored Race, Forming an Educational Emancipator and a Guide to Success, co-authored with Joseph R. Gay and Henry Davenport Northrop