Dorothy R. Leavell, Editor and Publisher of the Chicago Newspaper Group (Chicago and Gary Crusader Newspapers), Friday, October 7th, was “shocked and honored” upon receiving an award from the Illinois Press Association during a dinner sponsored by the Cook County Suburban Publishers, Inc.
She was invited to attend the 84th anniversary party of the Cook County Suburban Publishers, Inc, at the Drake Hotel in Oak Brook, IL. She had put the paper to bed early Thursday morning.
Leavell was caught completely off guard when it was announced she was presented the 2022 Distinguished Service Award “in recognition for your years of service to the newspaper industry.” The look of surprise was captured on Leavell’s face as Illinois Speaker of the House Emanuel “Chris” Welch eloquently extolled the accomplishments of Leavell and the Crusader.
Speaker Welch had captured the total attention of the attendees, one person in attendance remarked you could have heard a pin drop.
As the applause filled the room, Leavell’s first reaction was to hug IPA Board Chairman Sue Walker. She has worked with Walker, vice chairman of the Illinois Press Association and chairman of the Illinois Press Association Board of Directors over the past year. She then proceeded to the podium.
The award was presented to Leavell by Bruce Sagan, former owner of the Hyde Park Herald, and Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch.
Dorothy R. Leavell is a pioneer in publishing and an icon in the Black Press.
Leavell, in 1961, came to Chicago for the summer and was hired at the Chicago Crusader. After graduating in 1962 from Merrill High School, she returned to Chicago and was rehired by the Crusader’s Publisher Balm L. Leavell, Jr. She ascended from a clerk to Office Manager and in 1964 she was promoted to Business Manager.
In the meantime, Leavell married Balm Leavell and had two children, Antonio and Genice Leavell.
Her first husband, Balm L. Leavell, Jr., founded the Chicago Crusader in 1940 at the Ida B. Wells housing project.
In 1968 when her husband died, she took over both the Chicago and Gary newspapers as editor and publisher. In 1976, Leavell married John L. Smith, who is very protective of his wife who is his soul mate. Smith, a printer by trade, joined Leavell as General Manager of the Crusader Newspapers shortly after they married. He also helped her raise her two children and a niece and nephew, Sharon, and Leonard Gonder.
Leavell has racked up several prestigious awards and journalism successes including being elected president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) in June of 1995 for a two-year term and re-elected in June of 1997 which ended in 1999. On June 23, 2017, Leavell was elected Chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) for the third time.
In June 2006, Leavell was elected Chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation. The Foundation oversees the philanthropic arm of the Association. As Chairman of the NNPA Foundation, she headed up a committee to pardon the Wilmington Ten, which was accomplished by the Governor of North Carolina, pardoning the Wilmington Ten in December 2013.
Leavell’s most recent awards include being an inductee of Governors State University’s Black Hall of Fame in June of 2022. A recipient of both the Ida B. Wells Legacy Award and the Katie Hall Public Service Award in April 2019. In November 2018, the Chicago Urban League presented Leavell with its Lester H. McKeever, Jr. Individual Service Award at the Golden Fellowship Gala. In September 2021 the Urban League of Northwest Indiana honored her with the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.
But her elections and awards didn’t stop there. According to the HistoryMakers, Leavell, known for her philanthropic and civic contributions, was honored as NNPA’s Publisher of the Year in 1989, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, State of Indiana’s “Attorney General for a Day” on June 9, 2000, the Winnie Mandela Endurance with Dignity Award, Nation of Islam Distinguished Service Award, Operation PUSH Family Affair Awarded by the National Association of Black Media Women.
Durrell Garth, publisher of the Citizen Newspapers, is president of the Cook County Suburban Publishers, Inc. and Sue Walker is Assistant Secretary of the organization as well as the chairman of the Illinois Press Association Board of Directors. Walker was the dinner chairman.
