An African American children’s magazine
One hundred years ago today … The Brownies’ Book was a monthly magazine by African American writers and artists, for African American children, or as the magazine put it: “for children of the sun … designed for all children, but especially for ours.”
The Brownies’ Book, Feb 1920, p 1-3. Library of Congress.
The magazine, edited by its founders W.E.B. Du Bois, Jessie Redmon Fauset, and Augustus Granville Dill, began its run in January 1920 and lasted just under two years. It was a counterpart to The Crisis and was published at the same address, 2 West 13th Street; previously The Crisis had put out an annual children’s issue.
The Brownies’ Book, Feb 1920, p 5-7. Library of Congress.
The February issue of The Brownies’ Book included a fairytale, written by Bertie Lee Hall, about a girl named Esther, whose “skin was brown and [whose] hair was a mess of black curls.” The grasshoppers and crickets in the story (drawn by “H.W.”) bear some resemblance to a jazz band.