Jarius Anthony Josey was born to parents Anthony and Patience Josey on January 6, 1876, in Augusta, Georgia. Josey enrolled in Atlanta University for college in the early 1900s. While a student, he co-edited the Atlanta Independent springing his roots with media. In 1905, after his graduation, he married Chestena M. Carmichael, and they moved to Madison, Wisconsin. There he enrolled in law school. Although William Noland is listed as the first African American to enroll in the University of Wisconsin’s law school in 1875, Josey’s enrollment in 1910 makes him one of the earliest African Americans to study law at the beforementioned university. Along with his wife Chestena, Josey helped found Mount Zion Baptist Church in 1915, where he later served as chairman of its board of trustees.  Yet, it is Josey’s contributions to the press that solidified his reputation in the state. With a listing of his family’s apartment on Henry Street in Madison as the office, Josey along with L.J. Quisely, Z. P. Smith, and George DeReef partnered to launch the Wisconsin Weekly Blade on June 8, 1916. Josey would     eventually become the sole editor. Josey merged his Wisconsin Weekly Blade with the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Enterprise in 1916 to form the Wisconsin Enterprise-Blade. In 1925 he moved operations to Milwaukee where he continued publishing, taking residence 471 N 7^th St. in the Bronzeville community.  Josey used his editorial platform to challenge racial stereotypes, segregation, and discrimination. He created articles to address issues directly impacting the African American communities of Madison and Milwaukee while also connecting those with activities in cities throughout the entire country. His thorough work and commitment to address complicated phenomena led Josey to be elected as senior vice-president of the National Negro Press in 1928. He would continue to lead the Wisconsin Enterprise-Blade for nearly three decades until it closed in 1944.  Although the Blade’s run had ended, Josey continued to serve his community in a multitude of ways. Known as “The First Mayor of Black Milwaukee,” he created a real estate agency that catered to potential homeowners of color. Josey served as advisor to multiple youth groups that would eventually anchor the Northside YMCA. He also lobbied to enable the hiring of the first African American teachers in Milwaukee, beginning in 1931. His influence and commitment to the community was such that in 1945 he was unofficially elected the “mayor of Bronzeville,” recognizing his leadership both in and beyond the neighborhood where Josey had taken residence.  Upon Josey’s death in 1957, he was given funerals in both Madison and Milwaukee as a testament of his contributions throughout Wisconsin. In 1998 the Milwaukee Press Club, the oldest press club in the United States, inducted Josey into its Hall of Fame, making Josey the first member of the black press to receive this honor. In 2004, Clayborn Benson, director of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society, proposed that one of the city’s first new subdivision developments be named in Josey’s honor. Milwaukee approved, and today the Josey Heights subdivision bears the name in recognition of the esteemed contributions of J. Anthony Josey.

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“In a way, her work as a reporter was just a reflection of Woods' greater role in the community, helping people network and be connected with each other,” said Milwaukee Courier publisher Faithe Colas. "She was, in my mind, the first African-American society woman….We hold her dear as the first lady of the black press.”

Mattiebelle Woods lived in Milwaukee for nearly her entire life since 1905, when, at the age of three, she moved with her family to Wisconsin. Her parents, Ira and Anniebelle Woods, relocated from Louisville, Kentucky, to Milwaukee, where members of Annabelle’s family trained horses for the Hansberg family. According to the African American National Biography, after Annabelle Woods secured employment at the Astor Hotel, she was able to introduce Mattiebelle to the "exclusive world of the wealthy German American community, allowing her to learn German." Mattiebelle established connections that she later used in her community activism.

Woods attended West Division High School, where she became immersed in Milwaukee’s Black community. After working at various jobs in the city, by the 1940s, her community involvement had led her to reporting for the Black press. In 1963, Woods joined the Milwaukee Courier, a newspaper focused on the African American community. Based at her location of 1933-A North 7th Street, Woods would go on to write for the Chicago Defender, the Milwaukee Defender, the Milwaukee Star, the Milwaukee Globe newspapers, and as a freelancer for the national magazines Ebony and Jet. Woods began a column called “Partyline” in the Milwaukee edition of the Chicago Defender, which she would write continuously for the next five decades. She highlighted the groups and social clubs in Bronzeville, as well as other locations.

Woods used her social connections to the benefit of the community. According to community leader Ruben Harpole, Woods used her resources to obtain the first funds for the Milwaukee Urban League. She founded and directed the Ms. Bronze Milwaukee pageant in 1955, and in 1970, she founded the Miss Black Teen Wisconsin contest, among many ways she sought to create new opportunities and promote self-confidence among young people. Dr. Clayborn Benson, director of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society, said in a tribute, "She made things happen in the African-American community." When civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Milwaukee, he stayed as a guest at Woods’ house.

Woods was a dedicated activist, and she remained active in politics. She managed the successful campaign of Leroy Simmons, who in 1945 was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly. Simmons was the first African American to reach that office since the 1907-1909 term when Lucian H. Palmer had been the first-ever African American member of the state assembly. Woods also aided the campaign of Representative Isaac Coggs, helping to launch the dynasty family whose members have held many offices in Milwaukee politics. Following the 1972 election of Monroe Swan, in a racially charged 6th District Democratic primary race for the Wisconsin State Senate, Woods was quoted as saying it “is just the beginning…we are getting more and more politically conscious and active” referring to the black community’s continued movement into state politics.

Woods was an active member of St. Mark AME Church, and she has been honored by the NAACP, Milwaukee Press Club, and the Urban League. Milwaukee mayor John Norquist proclaimed "Mattiebelle Woods Day" on her 98th birthday. Marking her 95th birthday, House Representative Tom Barrett read a tribute to Mattiebelle Woods published in the Congressional Record, as he did for her 100th and 102d birthdays. In 2004 after she had turned 102, Jet magazine devoted a multi-page feature article to her life and work. It described a legendary scene when she had been invited earlier that year by the executive producer of “Showtime at the Apollo” to appear on the televised show: “The former dance instructor brought down the house by doing the electric slide. At one point, she dropped low and touched the floor. That episode is still being aired.”

Before she passed in 2005, Woods was believed to be the oldest working reporter in the United States, and the oldest voting poll worker in Milwaukee at that time. Jerrel Jones, then the president and chief executive officer for Courier Communications, which publishes the Milwaukee Courier, verified that she wrote her last column the week of her death “In a way, her work as a reporter was just a reflection of Woods' greater role in the community, helping people network and be connected with each other,” said Milwaukee Courier publisher Faithe Colas. "She was, in my mind, the first African-American society woman…To think that you could be a society reporter and a black woman, that was absolutely amazing. We hold her dear as the first lady of the black press.”

Although the construction of the North-South Freeway I-43 and urban renewal policies severely disrupted the Bronzeville geographical neighborhood, the life of Mattiebelle Woods serves to drive the notion that the Bronzeville community was more than the land and buildings within its borders. The resiliency of the community members was seen even after the demolition of Bronzeville’s geographical base. Mattiebelle Woods loved her community, and the community loved her.

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