biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1863–1929)
|
| biography:
| Publisher and banker, born in Laburnam, Virginia, USA. He left high school (1880) and taught until he and several others were dismissed for protesting in the Planet, a Richmond newspaper started by 13 former slaves, against the expected dismissal of several African-American principals (1884). He became editor and manager of the Planet, for which he organized the Planet Printing Co. After a creditor's suit and sale of the newspaper for $400 to a friend, the newspaper was turned over to Mitchell, who edited it until 1929, using it to attack the race question and making it one of the few successful African-American newspapers of its time. In 1890 he entered politics, becoming political boss of the African-American section of Richmond (Jackson Ward) and prominent in the Knights of Pythias (a parallel organization to the white one bearing the same name) and its related orders (1898–1929). Then, in a move about which there is considerable mystery, in 1899 or 1900 he abdicated his position among African-Americans and began supporting his white associates. In 1902 he founded Mechanics Savings Bank, which failed in 1922 resulting in criminal charges against him that were later dropped. In 1920 he ran for governor of Virginia on an all-black ticket and was defeated. |
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