Herb Frazier papers

Herb Frazier, an African American journalist based in the Lowcountry, has reported and edited for various newspapers in South Carolina and elsewhere since 1972. Frazier has been active in professional journalism associations and in minority journalism education initiatives.

Herbert Lee Frazier, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, was born November 7, 1950. Frazier attended the C. A. Brown High School in downtown Charleston and later graduated, in 1969, from William T. Sampson High school at the United States Naval Base in Guatanamo Bay, Cuba. He then attended Allen University from 1969 to 1970. He also attended the University of South Carolina from 1970 to 1972 and again in 1984. In 1983, he completed the selective Editing Program for Minority Journalists. Frazier was a Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan from 1992 to 1993.

Herb Frazier's professional career began in May 1972 at The News and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, where he worked on obituaries, reporting, and photography. Nearing the end of that year, he joined The State, where he was responsible for police reporting and general assignments. In 1974, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he reported for the Times Picayune. In 1975, he returned to Columbia, South Carolina to work for The State, reporting on rural South Carolina. In 1979, Frazier was appointed to a one-person bureau covering Newberry, South Carolina, and the surrounding counties. With his promotion to assistant news editor in 1982, Frazier became the first African American to cross management lines at The State.

Leaving The State in 1984, Frazier then edited for The Dallas Times Herald in Dallas, Texas and The York Observer in York County, South Carolina. In 1988, he returned to Charleston and briefly copy edited for the News and Courier, which later merged with the Evening Post to become the Post and Courier. At the Post and Courier, Frazier was promoted to senior writer, a position he held until 2006. In this position, his primary focus was higher education, but he reported on a number of major events and special assignments and chaired a committee on improving coverage of racial minorities and women.

Throughout his career, Frazier has been active in various professional associations and education initiatives for minority journalism. He was the founding president of the South Carolina Coastal Association of Black Journalists, a regional chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. He founded and directed summer high school journalism workshops at local institutions as well as nationwide.

Frazier has been honored for his reporting and role in the profession. He was named the 1990 Journalist of the Year in South Carolina by the South Carolina Press Association, and was the first African American to receive this honor. In 1994, he was named to the Hall of Fame for Region IV of the National Association of Black Journalists.

After leaving the Post and Courier, Frazier was a media workshop speaker for the United States Department of State, where he spoke in Sierra Leone, Zambia, Ghana, Guyana, and Suriname. As of 2010, Frazier is a contract speech writer and editor for the United States Agency for International Development and freelances.

Frazier has been active in the Charleston community, serving as a board member for both the Lowcountry Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Avery Institute for African American History and Culture.

Frazier has three daughters, Angela Frazier Thomas, Amanda Frazier, and Adrienne Frazier. He is married to the Adrienne Troy-Frazier, formerly of Chicago, Ill.

May 1972 - December 1972

Reporter, The News and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina)

January 1973 - April 1974

Reporter, The State (Columbia, South Carolina)

April 1974 - September 1975

Reporter, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana)

September 1975 - January 1979

General Assignments Reporter, The State (Columbia, South Carolina)

January 1979 - January 1983

Bureau Chief, The State (Columbia, South Carolina)

January 1983 - February 1984

Reporter/Editor Trainee, The State (Columbia, South Carolina)

February 1984 - April 1985

Assistant News Editor, The State (Columbia, South Carolina)

April 1985 - July 1985

Copy Editor, The Dallas Times Herald (Dallas, Texas)

July 1985 - September 1986

Assistant Night City Editor, The Dallas Times Herald (Dallas, Texas)

September 1986 - March 1988

Editor, The York Observer (a tri-weekly edition of The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina)

March 1988 - October 1988

Copy Editor, The News and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina) [later The Post and Courier]

October 1, 1991

The News and Courier and The Evening Post merged to form The Post and Courier.

October 1988 - July 2006

Senior Writer, The Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina)

June 2006 - September 2009

Media Workshop Speaker, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Information Programs in the Office of Global Issues and Communication: Freetown, Sierra Leone (June 2006); Lusaka, Zambia (September to October 2007); Accra, Ghana (August 2008); and Guyana and Suriname (September 2009)

December 2008 - Present (2010)

Contract Speech Writer and Editor, United States Agency for International Development

July 2006 - Present (2010)

Freelance Writer, Public Relations Consultant, and Writing Coach

Nov. 2010 - Present (2012)

Marketing and Public Relations Manager, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (Charleston, South Carolina)