In 1919, William C. Linton became the founding editor and publisher of the paper. Linton unexpectedly fell ill and died in March 1922 after which Joseph Dandridge Bibb took over. The paper's "Don't SpendMoney Where You Can't Work" campaign advocated for the boycott of white-run businesses with racially discriminatoryhiring practices, and the campaign led to over 15,000 Chicago blacks securing jobs. The newspaper was The Chicago Defender's contemporary and rival. Within a year of its launch, The Whip had a circulation of 65,000. 185,000 copies of The Defender were in circulation at the time. The Whip survived until 1939.