John Mitchell, Jr. (editor)
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John Mitchell, Jr. (July 11, 1863 to December 3, 1929) was a businessman, politician, and newspaper editor.
Mitchell was a civic leader and civil rights activist in Richmond, Virginia’s Jackson Ward community, a neighborhood of free African Americans and freed slaves which became known as the “Black Wall Street of America.”
He was a long-time editor of the Richmond Planet, an African American newspaper. He was also the founder and president of the Mechanics Savings Bank. In 1921, Mitchell ran unsuccessfully to become Governor of Virginia. He is the subject of an extensive exhibit at the Library of Virginia.
In 1895, Mitchell organized a successful boycott of Richmond’s segregated trolleys.
He is buried in an unmarked grave in Richmond’s Evergreen Cemetery.
