Publisher of The Carolina Times dies, possibly marking the end of the historic paper

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Kenneth Edmonds, the publisher of The Carolina Times, died Saturday, possibly signaling the end of a historic newspaper that has been informing and advocating for African Americans in Durham and North Carolina for nearly a century.

Edmonds was 66.

Edmonds, of Durham, was the grandson of Louis E. Austin.

Austin purchased a publication in 1927 and transformed it into The Carolina Times, which became one of the most powerful voices for black North Carolina during a time of intense racial segregation, The News & Observer has reported.

Austin, an activist and community leader, died in 1971 and other family members took over the paper that he used as a mouthpiece of the civil rights struggle.

The Carolina Times was the most important African-American newspaper in North Carolina, and it was often distributed across the state and to the rest of the South, said Jerry Gershenhorn, a professor of history at North Carolina Central University who wrote the book “Louis Austin and The Carolina Times.”

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