Posted May 23, 2008 to Education News | Section Home | Print

Vivian Edmonds, Carolina Times Publisher, Black Press Trailblazer, Dead at 80

By Cash Michaels

Special to the NNPA from the Carolinian

DURHAM, N.C.(NNPA) - She was the first African-American inducted into the NC Journalism Hall of Fame alongside such journalistic greats like legendary anchorman David Brinkley, and Thomas C. Jervay Sr., founder/publisher of NNPA member The Wilmington Journal.

This pioneering Black woman held literally every position at The Carolina Times, the Durham Black newspaper her father, Louis Austin, founded in 1922, ultimately becoming its publisher in 1971.

And when she finally turned the state's oldest Black newspaper officially over to her son, Kenneth, in 2002, Vivian Austin Edmonds blazed an historic trail for other African-American journalists to follow.

Six years after her retirement, Ms. Edmonds died May 11 at NC Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill.

She was 80 years old.

"My mother was dedicated to the Black Press, and the service that this newspaper provided for our community," Kenneth Edmonds, Ms. Edmonds son and successor, told The Carolinian of Raleigh.

A Durham native, Ms. Edmonds was revered in the Bull City community for always reflecting the pulse of the people, and the tenor of the times in both The Carolina Times' coverage of major events like the 60s civil rights movement, and its piercing editorials in the battle for equal rights for African-Americans.

A graduate of Hillside High School in 1944, and North Carolina Central University four years later, young Vivian Austin worked exhaustively with her father to publish the Times for several years before finally returning to NCCU to earn her masters degree in guidance and counseling.

Continuing to work at the Times part-time, Vivian Austin Edmonds devoted 12 years to serving as a guidance counselor for the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City school system.

In 1971, after the death of her father, publisher Louis Austin, Vivian Edmonds took over the helm as publisher full-time.

Beyond being inducted into the NC Journalism Hall of Fame in 1988 (her father was inducted posthumously in 2006) and having a scholarship fund in her name at the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Ms. Edmonds has also been honored with the Living Legacy Award from Shaw University, and the Durham YWCA's Women of Achievement program's Outstanding Woman Award. Ms. Edmonds has also been recognized for her work and community service by the Boy Scouts of America, the Durham Chapter of Squaws, Iota Phi Lambda Sorority Inc. and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

She was also a member of the NC Black Publishers Association.

A memorial service in honor of Vivian Austin Edmonds was held Friday, May 16 at St. Joseph's AME Church in Durham. A graveside service was held May 17.