until 1918. He developed the first weekly black sports section, serving as sports editor from 1918 to 1929. Young was also the first sportswriter to regularly cover sports at historically black colleges. He also served as managing editor of the Defender from 1929 to 1934, followed by a stint as managing editor of the Kansas City Call from 1934 to 1937. Young then returned to the Defender where he continued to write until his retirement in 1949, although he continued to produce his weekly column, "Fay Says" until his death. He helped organize the Negro National League in 1920, and served as statistician until the league disbanded in 1933. He also served as an official for the Illinois Athletic Commission, serving as a timekeeper at prizefights; he was also a former secretary of the Negro American League. Death Young died in 1957 of an intestinal obstruction at his home in Chicago shortly after receiving news that his sister Belva Overton had died in New York. Funeral services were held at Everybody's Church, a nondenominational church that he had helped establish at 60th Street and Wabash Avenue on the south side of Chicago. His pallbearers included Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, and John Sengstacke, owner and publisher of the Defender. He was buried at Mount Glenwood Cemetery in Thornton, Illinois. Legacy Considered the "Dean" of black sportswriters, Fay Young wrote about the African American influence on American sport. He supported Jack Johnson as he tried to return to boxing after serving his prison sentence, and was actively involved in promoting the inclusion of African Americans into professional sport during the early years of the twentieth century; he was also a staunch and unwavering supporter of black collegiate sports, as well as encouraging the involvement of African Americans in such sports as tennis, golf, and auto racing. Young influenced a whole generation of black sportswriters. One was A.S. (Doc) Young (no relation), who in a 1970 article in Ebony Magazine said, "I listened to Fay Young and learned a great deal from him." Another was Russ J. Cowans who succeeded him as sports editor at the Defender. The Frank A. Young Poultry Plant at Tennessee State University was named in his honor. References 1884 births 1957 deaths American male journalists Sportswriters from Illinois Deaths from bowel obstruction Writers from Chicago People from Williamsport, Pennsylvania Journalists from Pennsylvania Sportswriters from Pennsylvania