Drawing a Dialogue, Episode 15: Jackie Ormes, Her Comics + the Black Press
Cathy G. Johnson
Artwork by e jackson.
Drawing a Dialogue is a podcast discussing comics in historical + educational contexts by Cathy G. Johnson + e remus jackson.
Episode 15: In this episode, Cathy + e create a biography for Jackie Ormes. Born in 1911, Ormes was a cartoonist, reporter, fashion designer and community organizer during an important century of American history. Cathy + e discuss the seminal role Ormes had in the black press during a pre-civil rights movement America, notably challenging derogatory caricatures of black women of the time.
Contact: drawingadialogue@gmail.com, Twitter
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Episode Citation:
Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist, Nancy Goldstein, 2008 - University of Michigan Press
Correction: The Ormes’ move to Salem, Ohio in 1937, a few months before the end of Jackie’s 12 month Torchy Brown series.
Drawing a Dialogue, Episode 12: History of Racism + Physiognomy in Cartooning - Link
Jackie Ormes - Biography.com
“Meet Jackie Ormes and Torchy Brown,” Jasmin K Williams, 2012 - New Amhurst News
“‘Shuh! Ain’t Nothin’ To It’: The Dynamics of Success in Jackie Ormes’s Torchy Brown” Edward Brunner, 2007 - MELUS
More information about the “Cotton Club” - Link
“Jackie Ormes: the first professional African American woman cartoonist,” Uchenna Edeh, 2017 - The Weekly Challenger
Various dates for historical events were sourced from Wikipedia and Infoplease: Link
“The Aesthetics of Environmental Equity in American Newspaper Strips,” Veronica Vold in Ecomedia, 2016 - Routledge
Jackie Ormes paper collection notes: Black Metropolis Research Consortium - Link
Q+A with Nancy Goldstein by the University of Michigan Press - PDF
What are we reading?
Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas - Link
Theme song by Downtown Boys