Chuck Stone

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Chuck Stone (born July 21, 1924) is a former Tuskegee Airman, a American newspaper editor, columnist, and professor of journalism. In the 1940s, he was the first African-American undergraduate in several decades at Wesleyan University, graduating in the class of 1948. He was the first president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ, 1975-1977). According to his brief biography on the NABJ site, "Because of his reputation for integrity, he became a trusted middleman between Philadelphia police and murder suspects, more than 75 of whom "surrendered" to Stone rather than to the cops." [1]

Born in Hartford, Connecticut.

As an editor at Harlem's New York Age, the Washington, D.C. Afro-American and the Chicago Daily Defender he was strongly associated with the Civil Rights and Black Power movements; he also served three years as a special assistant and speechwriter for Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. when that Harlem, New York City U.S. Congress was chairing the House Education and Labor Committee; he was later (1972-1991) a columnist for The Philadelphia Daily News.

He taught journalism at the University of Delaware for several years [2]; He then became Walter Spearman Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he retired in 2005.

In August 2004, NABJ inducted him into their Hall of Fame.

Stone is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans. He is the father of Charles Stone III a director of movies such as Drumline, Mr. 3000, and Paid In Full.