As an all-around newspaper man,—that is, in all that pertains to the conducting, preparing, printing, and publishing of a newspaper, we pronounce him America's greatest Afro-American journalist. There are men, perhaps, who, in certain specific fields, may equal or surpass him; but there is not one who has begun to get near him in the possession of all the forces that go to make up the newspaper man of the very first class.
Mr. Cooper is a remarkable and striking character. One is taken with his affableness in a short time after meeting him, for he is always pleasant and agreeable. He believes in system and order, and transacts business with a dispatch, known only of the shrewdest business characters. A glance at his editorial desk reveals the kind of man who sits upon the bench. He has been, and is to-day, a great but careful reader. A profound classical student, he is also a master of the English language, and perhaps the best grammarian of the negro press. As a writer, he is pointed, terse, clear. As a talker, he draws from a well-stored mind, and is always interesting and instructive. In politics, he is independent; as some one has put it, a negrowump, placing his race above his party.
In closing a sketch of our subject in The New York Age, W. Allison Sweeney, his friend and neighbor, very eloquently says: "For my part, I am glad that Edward Elder Cooper belongs to the negro race. His glory shall be my glory; his achievements, my achievements. A personal friend that is forgotten now. Such as he, belongs to the whole race, not to the clique, or to the few. He is not coming; he is here. Let us arise and go to him."
