BRASCHER, NAHUM DANIEL (24 May 1880-14 January 1945), a prominent AFRICAN AMERICAN journalist, educator, and community leader, active in Cleveland during the early decades of the twentieth century. Born in Richmond, Indiana, on May 24, 1880, Brascher completed his high school education in Connersville, Indiana, and then finished a business administration course at Meredith Business College, a commercial college in Zanesville, Ohio. He came to Cleveland at the turn of the twentieth century as part of a large migratory wave of African Americans, especially young men and women, in search of brighter horizons. In 1902, he co-founded and served as the principal of the Brascher-Ellis School, a private commercial institute on Brownell (East 14th) Street. On March 23, 1903, Brascher and his close friends, WELCOME T. BLUE and THOMAS W. FLEMING, founded the CLEVELAND JOURNAL, a black weekly newspaper "devoted to the best interests of the Afro-American." Serving as the Journal's editor and manager during its nine-year run, he articulated the concerns and interests of the younger generation of black Clevelanders, many of them recent migrants like him; championed the creation of race-based institutions, such as a "colored" YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (YMCA) facility; and touted the race leadership of Booker T. Washington, the nationally renowned principal of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Actively involved in local Republican Party politics, Brascher served on the executive committee of the Attucks Republican Club, founded in 1907, together with Fleming and Blue. During Fleming's first term on the CITY COUNCIL from 1909 until 1911, he secured a patronage position as a city storekeeper. He also worked as publicity manager for the Cleveland Realty, Housing, and Investment Company, which was founded in 1917 by prominent blacks Clevelanders to alleviate the severe housing shortage confronting blacks. During his time in Cleveland, Brascher served as the superintendent of the CORY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Sunday School.
Brascher moved to Chicago with his family in 1918 and embarked on a (second) successful career in journalism and public relations. In 1919, he joined Claude A. Barnett, a prominent black businessman, in founding the Associated Negro Press (ANP), a national and international news service that disseminated general and features news stories to affiliated African-American newspapers throughout the nation. Brascher served as editor-in-chief of the ANP while also contributing editorials to the Chicago Defender. As a pioneer in the field of interracial public relations during the 1930s, Brascher promoted national and local businesses, including U.S. STEEL, L. Fish Furniture Company, and Schulze Baking Company, among African Americans.
Brascher was married to Helen O. Bouldon, a teacher in the Cleveland public school system, from 1911 until her death in 1943 and they had two children together: Helen Olive and Nahum Daniel Jr.