Frances Murphy Draper, CEO and Publisher The AFRO-American Newspapers
Like her maternal grandfather, Carl J. Murphy, Frances Murphy Draper’s career began by teaching foreign languages: he at Howard University and she in the classrooms of Baltimore City Public Schools. Similarly, she is now firmly planted as the 4th generation publisher of the family-owned business - the AFRO-American Newspapers (dba AFRO News) –since February 2018.
Known by the nickname “Toni”, Draper received a bachelor’s degree in Spanish language education from Morgan State University and was on the university’s Board of Regents for 25 years before stepping down as vice chair in 2020. She also holds master’s degrees in education (JHU), business administration (U of Baltimore), pastoral counseling (Loyola U of MD) and a doctorate in leadership from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.
Draper was elected first vice chair of the board of the National Newspaper Publishers Association in 2023 and is board chair of wordinblack.com—a digital start up public benefit corporation and news collaborative founded by ten of the country’s most iconic and legendary Black newspaper publishers (www.wordinblack.com).
A sought-after speaker and author of No Ordinary Hook-Up: The Courtship of Vashti Turley and Carl Murphy and co-author (along with Dr. Pamela Love) of Life Happens: But You Can Finish, her third book, Prayer and Pen, was released in January 2025.
Draper is a member of the Executive Alliance and the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She has received several honors including the Local Media Association’s (LMA) “Content and Audience Innovator of the Year”, the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNPA) “Publisher of the Year,” The Baltimore Museum of Industry’s “Industrialist of the Year”, one of the Baltimore Business Journal’s 2023 Power 10 CEOs and the State of Maryland’s 2024 “First Citizen” award. In addition, the Featherstone Foundation honored her with their Changemaker Award August 2024.
Draper retired as senior pastor of the Freedom Temple AME Zion Church, Baltimore, MD in 2022, after 20 years of faithful service. She and her husband of 50 years, Andre Draper, have four children, 12 grandchildren and one great granddaughter.