Mr. Brown kept up the high order of editorial work attained by Mr. Campbell. By these two gentlemen the standard was fixed, and the foundation laid for a more glorious service in the time of absolute freedom.
This brings us to 1868, when Rev. Benjamin T. Tanner took the editorial chair, which he occupied for sixteen years, during which time he made The Recorder an assured publication, giving it that distinction and prominence which it well deserved under his management.
In 1870, after Rev. Tanner had had control of The Recorder only two years, a man of eminence and high intellectual ability speaks thus of him and his paper: "As editor of The Recorder, he has written many witty, pithy, and brilliant sentiments. There is a tinge of opulent fancy running through his editorials, which always refreshes one. The wide reputation of his journal, outside of his own denomination, is probably the best test of his ability as a newspaper conductor." This can be said of his whole career.
Upon the establishment of a church magazine in 1884, Rev. Tanner was chosen editor, whereupon he resigned the editorship of The Recorder, when Rev. Dr. Lee was chosen as his successor.
As is known, Dr. Lee is one of the greatest Afro-American writers upon the continent of America, and with entire satisfaction to his race and his church he fills the responsible editorial chair of The Recorder. He is one of those who had to toil by the sweat of his brow for an education.
It is highly interesting to think of Dr. Lee as once having been the stable-man upon the Wilberforce University grounds, and of his return, after a few years, to be its President. The divine injunction that the first shall be last and the last shall be first, is fully illustrated in this case.
There is nothing harsh about Editor Lee's productions. He is rather an easy, mellifluous writer, and fully conversant
