heinz food plant. at first it was mostly an outlet for his poems and personal writings. to look for financial backers, and in 1910, he approached a lawyer to incorporate the paper. the lawyer was robert l. vann. >> robert vann was an extraordinary man, came from a very poor background, had to struggle to educate himself but was able to become a lawyer. he finished college, became a lawyer, and also became very quickly attuned to the importance of politics and understanding the nexus of which politics and communications fit together. >> narrator: the courier began to evolve into a true newspaper beyond the ambitions of its founder, edward nathaniel harleston. he left the courier in 1913. the board chose robert l. vann to be the new editor. in the 1920s, the courier began publishing articles by leading writers and thinkers with various opinions on major issues, people like george s. schuyler, who was one of the important creative writers of the harlem renaissance, wrote a regular column for the courier. >> vann paid a very, very little amount to the people who were writing