Originally published in the Oklahoma Eagle on July 24, 2024

James Osby Goodwin, an accomplished attorney who has dedicated his life’s work to preserving the legacy of America’s “Black Wall Street” as the owner of Tulsa’s only Black-owned newspaper, The Oklahoma Eagle, was awarded the H. Milt Phillips Award at the Oklahoma Press Association Convention in Oklahoma City on June 8. 

The award is the highest honor given by the Oklahoma Press Association. The OPA Board of Directors selects the recipient based on publishing a high-quality newspaper; contribution to the profession and the newspaper industry; years of service to the community, state, and nation in various volunteer activities; and strong love and dedication to the family. 

OPA President Sheila Gay, publisher of the Woodward News, presented the Phillips Award to Goodwin. He is the first Black person to receive the award in its 44-year history. 

The OPA noted that “Phillips was the kind of editor all editors should be. He was involved. He gave freely of his love and concern…” 

Phillips purchased the Seminole Producer in April 1946. Before beginning his newspaper career, he served as department adjutant of the Oklahoma American Legion and as editor of the Oklahoma Legionnaire. 

Phillips was active in the OPA, holding several offices, including that of president in 1954. He was a long-time member of the board of directors of the Oklahoma Historical Society. He was the moving force in the society’s efforts to microfilm all Oklahoma newspapers. 

‘Printer’s devil’ 

Goodwin began in journalism at six as a “printer’s devil” apprentice cleaning the shavings and ink around the Linotype machines at The Oklahoma Eagle. He has served in practically every role related to producing the newspaper on the editorial and business sides. 

The Goodwin family has owned the Eagle since 1936. Their 88-year ownership in the Tulsa media market trails only the Lorton family’s 96-year ownership of Tulsa World, which ended in 2013. The Eagle – which marked its centennial anniversary in 2022, is the 10th oldest Black-owned newspaper in America. 

Five generations of the Goodwin family have been part of the Eagle’s masthead, including the family patriarch James Henri Goodwin; his son, Edward Lawrence Goodwin Sr., and his wife, Jeanne B. Goodwin; and grandsons, the late Edward Lawrence Goodwin Jr., James, and the Rev. Robert Kerr Goodwin. James O. Goodwin and his sons, David Goodwin and Dr. Jerry Goodwin, are on the Eagle masthead today. 

‘To speak truth’ 

“I’m particularly concerned about saving journalism because we have people in power talking about the press being the enemy of the people,” Goodwin said in a video shown at the convention. “So the challenge today we all have as journalists is to be able to do what journalism was intended to do – at least one important feature of it – and that is to speak truth. 

“Freedom of the press is so important, and we must be involved to attack that need to be the underdog. It’s so important because we have so many people whose voices are not heard. 

“Our publication, our communication company, is dedicated to making sure that people who have no voice get a voice.” 

In the past three years, Goodwin has reorganized the newspaper operations. That resulted in hiring a new managing editor, Gary Lee, a creative director, Ross Johnson, and his sons, Jerry and David. The Eagle has won dozens of journalism awards from the OPA and the eight-state Great Plains Journalism Awards contest. 

This leadership team has created partnerships with several local, statewide, and national businesses and organizations, including Liberty Mutual Insurance, the Local Media Association, the Oklahoma Media Center, URL Media, the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Journalism & Mass Communication, the Google News Initiative and the Business for Good Foundation among others. The National Association of Black Journalists has also recognized the Eagle for journalism excellence. 

“James Goodwin’s guidance and inspiration as publisher has been vital in keeping the Eagle true to its mission,” Lee said. “The support of and collaboration with our partners is crucial to helping the Eagle amplify its reach throughout Oklahoma and nationwide.” 

‘Preserving Greenwood’ 

In the late 1970s, Goodwin laid the foundation to preserve Tulsa’s famous “Black Wall Street” with his initiative, the “Greenwood Market Community.” For two decades, he had the option to purchase all of Greenwood’s remaining vacant properties before negotiating an agreement with the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce – which was co-founded and incorporated by his father in 1938 – to gain control over owning and developing the district. 

Goodwin was born in Tulsa’s Greenwood community in 1939, the fourth of eight siblings. At nine years old, he became an amputee when he lost his right arm in a horseback riding accident that involved a train on the Katy Railroad. 

He attended George Washington Carver Middle School and Booker T. Washington High School before transferring to and graduating from Cathedral Boys High School in Springfield, Ill. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame (Class of 1961) and the University of Tulsa College of Law. During law school, Goodwin was appointed as a district court clerk, becoming the second Black appointment in the Tulsa County District Court justice system. 

Desegregating a hotel 

While still in law school, Goodwin married Vivian Palm, a childhood friend. In 1961, Jet magazine noted that the newlyweds and their “wedding guests set a precedent when they were served breakfast at the Hotel Tulsa, a Negro first.”  

He and Vivian, a former Eagle journalist who died in 2012, have five children, all of whom have worn many hats working in the family business. 

As an attorney, Goodwin specializes in civil rights and social justice. He was co-plaintiff against the State of Oklahoma, resulting in legislative reapportionment immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court declared a one-man vote rule. He initiated the first desegregation lawsuit in the City of Tulsa, resulting in school desegregation, and he was co-counsel in litigation resulting in Tulsa’s new city council form of government.  

He successfully challenged the constitutionality of a state statute and city ordinance regarding freedom of speech before the U. S. Supreme Court and Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. He was co-counsel in the matter of reparation for the survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. 

A lifetime of service 

Goodwin was named president and legal counsel of the Eagle in the early 1970s and has been its publisher and editor since 1979. During his tenure, he also served as co-publisher with his brothers before taking full ownership in 2014 following the death of his older brother, Edward. 

In 2003, Goodwin received the Lifetime Excellence Award from the Tulsa Health Department. THD named its East Regional Health Center and its main administrative office in Goodwin’s honor as the James O. Goodwin Health Center. He served 50 years on the Tulsa City County Board of Health, the first African American and longest-tenured member in the board’s history. 

He is also the first Tulsan to have three different mayors from both political parties dedicate an official day (1986, 2008, and 2018) that recognizes his lifetime contributions and civic commitment to his hometown. 

Goodwin has received many awards and Hall of Fame inductions, including the Tulsa Press Club Print Icon Award. Other accolades have included induction into the University of Tulsa College of Law Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame (along with his father and two brothers), the University of Tulsa Collins Business School of Hall of Fame; recipient of the Tulsa Association of Black Journalists Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Journalism; and recipient of the Oklahoma State University Paul and Louise Miller Endowment from the School of Journalism and Broadcasting. 

He has also received numerous awards for his editorial writing. 

Today, the Eagle remains vigilant on issues involving human rights, civic equality, economic enfranchisement, educational equity, and judicial reform.  

Goodwin said his career has benefited from the support of his four surviving siblings – JoAnn Goodwin Gilford, Jeanne Goodwin Arradondo, Susan Goodwin Jordan, and Robert K. Goodwin – a large circle of friends throughout Tulsa and statewide. 

Goodwin’s honor comes one year after Gary Lee, the Eagle’s managing editor, received the Ray Lokey Memorial Award for Excellence in Reporting from the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation, which “honors a writer whose published work exemplifies well-researched, responsible, and fact-driven journalism for the benefit of the community and newspaper industry.”  

Lee, a Creek Freedman, was the first African American and Eagle staff writer to receive the award named for third-generation publisher John Raiford “Ray” Lokey, who owned the Johnston County Capital-Democrat in Tishomingo from 1990 until he died in 2017.