There was a time in America when news about African-American life wasn't considered fit to print.

It would have been difficult for the exclusively white media of a century ago to have imagined a President Barack Obama, or golfer Tiger Woods or the death of an entertainer like Michael Jackson dominating the news the way it did in the last year. But times have changed and the Pittsburgh Courier helped change them.

Last week, the Pittsburgh Courier, which became the New Pittsburgh Courier in 1965 after emerging from a bankruptcy that briefly shut it down, achieved its 100th anniversary. The name "The Pittsburgh Courier" has actually been around since 1907 when Edward Nathaniel Harleston, a security guard at H.J. Heinz Co., created a one-sheet to publish his non-journalistic observations.

In 1910, African-American lawyer Robert Vann became its publisher, incorporated The Pittsburgh Courier and turned it into a legitimate newspaper that had a nationwide circulation within a few years. Under Vann's direction, The Pittsburgh Courier became the nation's leading black newspaper. It was equal parts advocacy journalism and straight news about notable and ordinary African-Americans.

In the 1940s, The Pittsburgh Courier spearheaded the "Double V" campaign that promoted victory against fascism abroad and the end of lynching at home. The paper used its 14 national editions and 400,000 circulation to promote racial integration when it was still considered a social experiment. In the 1960s, the paper fell on hard times. It was eventually reorganized and today it publishes weekly. The New Pittsburgh Courier continues to follow the vision charted for it by Robert Vann.

Times may have changed, but the Courier's mission to chronicle African-American life remains the same.

Cartoonist Rob Rogers does "Rob's Rough," an early look at his work and his creative process, exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.