In February 1944, Harry McAlpin, a former Navy war correspondent and reporter for the National Negro Press Association and the Atlanta Daily World, received his requested credentials to attend an upcoming press conference with President Franklin Roosevelt.
As he waited with the other reporters to go into the Oval Office, he was approached by a the head of the White House Correspondents Association. At that moment, McAlpin was informed that his colleagues were annoyed that he received press credentials for the news conference. Urging him not to attend the press conference, the head of the WHCA added that other reporters would share their notes from the press conference with him later on. In addition, they would make him a member of the White House Press Correspondents Association.
Harry McAlpin ignored the warning and entered the Oval Office with the other reporters. At the end of the press conference, he approached President Roosevelt who was seated at his desk. Roosevelt shook McAlpin’s hand, and said, “Harry, I’m glad you are here.”
Three years later, the Negro Newspaper Publishers Association as well as some individual African-American news correspondents received accreditation from the Congressional Press Galleries and the State Department. Today, McAlpin's bravery has paved the way for Kristen Welker, Rachel Scott and a number of other Black White House correspondents. The White House Correspondents Association has also honored his life and legacy with a scholarship.
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