Before he could spell his own name, Stan R. Hale was folding newspapers in his grandfather’s living room — a child born into a Black press legacy that would outlast Henry Street, segregation, and even his own punk rock detours.

Roanoke, VA

Author: Roanoke Rambler Staff

Published: 5:07 AM EST May 13, 2026

Edited: 5:07 AM EST May 13, 2026

The Roanoke Tribune's 87th Anniversary

Stan R. Hale’s earliest memories growing up in Roanoke, VA, include folding Roanoke Tribune newspapers with his mother, Claudia Whitworth, and grandfather. His grandfather, Tribune founder Rev. F.E. Alexander, who ran for city council in the 60s, sold the Roanoke Tribune to his mother in the 1970s. Stan Hale, 72, describes his work at the longest-running Black newspaper in America, as “not so much a duty but a life calling.” He declared with gratitude and determination, “it’s my life!” Hale chose to work with his family rather than enlist in the Navy and at one point he shifted his focus as a musician singing and playing bass in a punk rock band in the 70s and 80s and cheerfully refers to himself as a “man born with a job.” 

Founded by Rev. Alexander in 1939, the original office of The Roanoke Tribune was located on the historic Henry Street (aka the “Yard”) – a Black business district in northwest which was bulldozed in the late 1970s to much controversy.  Rev. Alexander was a pioneer in publishing. Anti-literacy laws were enacted in Southern slave states between 1740 and 1834.  The confident community leader established a newspaper nearly 100 years following an era that prohibited enslaved people from learning to read and restricted their ability to read to prevent an organized slave rebellion.  (America is the only country known to have had anti-literacy laws). Stan, who has an archived collection of newspapers from the 1940s, says The Roanoke Tribune created a two-part series on the “Yard” prior to its demolition.   Claudia A. Whitworth, like her father, was also an ambitious trailblazer.  Rather than allowing the newspaper to fold following the Henry Street demolition, she purchased the paper and relocated its headquarters to a former library on Melrose Avenue. 

Hale works at the office alongside his 98-year-old mother, sister/office manager, Eva Shaw-Gill, and a team he calls, “uplifting, well-focused people with stamina and grace.” He leaves the office late most evenings because he embraces the position he holds with a deep sense of pride.  “I feel people,” he explained.  “I feel people as God’s art.”  With people as works of art and the city of Roanoke as the canvas, Hale has spent a lifetime loving and writing about people.  Those who know Stan know he commonly addresses people referring to them as “baby” and “sugar.” Why?  Hale says with a smile, “it’s a tactic I use to remind myself that people are precious.” Like the people he writes about and writes for, Hale is precious himself. His deep sense of gratitude sets him apart and fuels him.  When he received an award from TAP recently, he opened his remarks saying, “I am the most grateful man on the planet.” History also sets him apart. “Considering my age and what I’m connected with, I am Black history,” he declared with humility and assurance. While The Roanoke Tribune is founded by, rooted in, and designed for the Black community, the newspaper’s readers, fans, and colleagues come from all walks of life.  Understanding that we all come from diverse backgrounds and political persuasions, Stan says, “you gotta try to love folks despite your assessment of them.” “We have chronicled the lives of Blacks,” Hale says with the brightest smile. “I don’t want to sound too proud,” the legend remarked, “but I am!”  As he, his family and his team continue to tell the stories of Black people in Roanoke (and America), he describes the current state of Black America and says with a hint of sadness but not hopelessness, “we’re all in trouble on the plantation now.” His sadness turned to joy when he recalled the election of President Barack Obama. “The whole world rejoiced when Obama won,” he said. “Now the whole world is in mourning.”  At a time in American history when the world is what Hale calls, “too vicious,” his goal is to “continue the paper’s focus on positive news—which we need now more than ever.” He writes so others can feel what he feels—and see what he sees.  For example, when he covered the installation of Hollins College President, Dr. Mary Hinton, or Richmond Vincent, the president of Goodwill Industries or Sherman Lea, Sr.’s mayoral terms, he took readers along with him. As one Roanoke Tribune subscriber told him, “The way you write, you don’t have to go to the event.” Hale takes you there.  He also takes readers along the sometimes-bitter journey of the current landscape of America. Last year in the Tribune’s 86th Anniversary Supplement, “Together We Shall Overcome,” local advocates Myrna Fuentes, Dan Callaghan, Rev. David Jones,  Lloyd Hackley and others authored feature articles as: “In Defiance of Empire,” “We Shall Overcome,” “The Crisis We Face,” and others which laid the foundation for the paper’s fearless and earnest efforts to continue uplifting the community, speaking truth and working for justice, equality and what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the “beloved community.” 

As the historic Roanoke Tribune prepares to celebrate 87 years of bringing positive news, inspiration, and love to the Roanoke Valley and all of America, we salute the three generations of a family behind this valuable community resource — and the newspaper itself. May The Roanoke Tribune continue to make history and chronicle history. “You live your life, so you try to make God proud—mainly", Hale said with a sense of accomplishment and gratitude. "The Roanoke Tribune is not only a paper for justice but also a legacy of justice."

Happy 87th Anniversary Roanoke Tribune! Thank you for making your mark on the Roanoke Valley and our hearts!