The Pittsburgh Courier was one of the leading black papers in the USA by the 1930s, under the inspired editorship of Robert Lee Vann. By 1938 the Courier had a nationwide circulation of 250,000 and by 1947 it was 357,000. Good Negro League baseball players like Josh Gibson were drawn to the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Greys because of the Courier's sports reporting and nationwide reach.

Vann probably contributed more to the political realignment of black people from the Republican Party to the Depression era Democratic Party than any other person, by having the Courier support it. Vann said "My friends, go home and turn Lincoln's picture to the wall."