The Brownies’ Book, January 1920, excerpts (text)
January, 1920
Image description: A young black girl is on the cover, smiling and standing on her tiptoes with her arms outstretched above her head. She wears a white dress, ballet shoes, a crown with flowers and a cape that’s tied to her wrists.
The Brownies’ Book. Published monthly and copyrighted by DuBois and Dill. Publishers at 2 West 13th Street, New York, N.Y. Conducted by W. E. Burghardt DuBois; Jessie Redmon Fausel, Literary Editor; Augustus Granville Dill, Business Manager
Vol. 1, January, 1920. No. 1
Contents
| Title | Page |
|---|---|
| Cover Picture, Photograph. By Battey | |
| Frontispiece-The Empress Zaouditou | 2 |
| Pumpkin Land, A story. Peggy Poe, Illustrated by Hilda Wilkinson | 3 |
| The Wishing Game. A poem. Annette Browne | 7 |
| The Origin of White Folks. A poem. *Annie Virginia Culbertson | 7 |
| A Boy Scout Troop of Philadelphia. A picture | 8 |
| Over the Ocean Wave. A Geography Story. Illustrated | 9 |
| Whole Duty of Children. A Poem. Reprinted from Robert Louis Stevenson. | 10 |
| Some Little Friends of Ours. Nine Pictures | 11 |
| The Judge | 12 |
| Waiting for Howard-Fisk Football Game. A picture. | 14 |
| The Jury | 15 |
| Celebrating Baby Week at Tuskegee. A picture. | 16-17 |
| The Ouija Board. A story. Edna May Harold.* | 18 |
| Playtime. “Hark, Hark, The Dogs Do Bark,” A Nursery Rhyme Dance by Carriebel B. Cole, with music by Farwell | 20 |
| Girls’ School in Abyssinia; Y.W.C.A. Girls in New York City Pictures | 22 |
| As the Crow Flies | 23 |
| The Grown-Ups’ Corner | 25 |
| Children In The Silent Protest Parade in New York City | 26 |
| Katy Ferguson. A True Story | 27 |
| Little People of the Month | 28 |
| After School. A Poem. Jessie Fauset. Drawings by Laura Wheeler | 30 |
| Gyp. A Fairy Story. A.T. Kilpatrick | 31 |
| The Boy’s Answer. A.U. Craig | 31 |
| Poems. Illustrated. Recruit, Georgia Douglass Johnson; The Tale of a Kitten, James Weldon Johnson: The Happy Quail, William T. Wallace; Singing, from Robert Louis Stevenson; Dedication, Jessie Fauset | 32 |
15 cents a copy. $1 and a half a year. Foreign subscriptions, 25 cents extra.
Renewals: The date of expiration of each subscription is printed on the wrapper. When the subscription is due a yellow renewal blank is enclosed.
Change of address: The address of a subscriber can be changed as often as desired. In ordering a change of address, both the old and new address must be given. Two weeks notice is required.
Manuscripts and drawings relating to colored children are desired. They must be accompanied by return postage. It found unavailable they will be returned.
Application pending for entry as second class matter at the Post Office at New York, N.Y. under the Act of March 3rd, 1879.
This is the Brownies’ Book
A Monthly Magazine for the Children of the Sun
Designed for all children, but especially for ours.
It aims to be a thing of Joy and Beauty, dealing in Happiness, Laughter and Emulation, and designed, especially for Kiddies from Six to Sixteen.
It will seek to teach Universal Love and Brotherhood for all little folk–black and brown and yellow and white.
Of course pictures, stories, letters from little ones, games and oh–everything!
One Dollar and a Half a Year
Fifteen cents a copy
W. E .B. DuBois, Editor A. G. Dill, Business Manager
Address: The Brownies’ Book 2 West 13th Street, New York, New York.
Little people of the month
A musician
Most boys and girls are frightened when they get up to “speak a piece” at the Sunday School concert. But Eugene Mars Martin would not be, because he has been used to facing audiences ever since he was very tiny. When he was not quite four years old, he played on his little violin in the auditorium of the Grand Central Palace, in New York. Since then he has studied at the Institute of Musical Art, in New York, and also under Edwin Coates for piano and Conrad C. Held for the violin. Last year he appeared in Aeolian Hall, one of the finest musical auditoriums in the country. That was his coming-out concert.
Hasn’t he had an interesting life in his 15 years? And best of all, he is the champion pitcher on the Neighborhood’s Baseball Team.
A shining example
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every child who reads the Brownies’ Book should have a record like that of Lucile Spence? She came from South Carolina to New York City and has lived there eight years. When she graduated from the grammar school, out of a class of 150, she received the gold medal for the highest average in general excellence. But this was only the beginning of Lucile’s career. She went to the Wadleigh High School and there in her second year, as a result of a fine composition, she became a member of the “Scribes,” a literary club, which usually receives only third and fourth year pupils. Later she became a member of the Arista, a club whose members Excel in scholarship and character, and also of a classical club, the Helennes. Lucile wrote a number of short stories, which were published in the Owl, the school magazine; then she wrote and helped produce the first play ever given in Wadleigh, which had a colored theme and was produced by colored students.
Throughout her whole high school life she held some class office and in her senior year was an officer of the General Organization, which governs Wadleigh. It is no wonder, then, that this girl on graduating last year received not only the John G. Wight Scholarship, for excellence in scholarship, character, and service to the school, but also the State Scholarship, which is awarded for highest standing in the Regent’s examination.
Image descriptions: Portraits of three young people: Eugene Mars Martin, a young Black boy in formal clothing holding a violin and bow; Lucile Spence, a seated young Black woman; Roderic Smith, a young Black boy sitting on a pony.
Lucille is now in Hunter College, getting ready to teach little readers of The Brownies’ Book.
A medalist
Imagine going to school for 13 years and never missing a single day! That is the record of Lucy Beatrice Miller when she graduated in 1918 from the Daytona, Fla. Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Youth. Besides, she has been such a good girl that she helped keep the other pupils good and for this she received the O’Neil Medal in 1916. Then, because she has always stood so well in her studies and has behaved herself so nicely, she received the Bethune Medal in 1918.
How many of you will have a similar record when you graduate?
A little businessman
Of course, Roderic is proud of his pony. But if the pony only knew, he would be proud of Broderic. For Roderic, think of it—is only 11 years old; yet he has been selling newspapers for four years! Every week, he sells fifty copies of the New York News, 5fifty of the Amsterdam News and twenty-five or thirty copies of the Chicago Defender. Sometimes he sells monthly magazines and in the summer he peddles refreshments.
He lived with his grandmother for a while and then he helped her with his earnings. Now he lives with his mother again, and this year he has bought his shoes and suit for school—for, of course he goes to school—he is in Grade 6 B-1. During the month of September, this past year, he was one of nine boys whose names appeared on the Honor Roll. Every Thursday morning he is an early bird reporting to the office of the New York News at five o’clock where he puts inserts in the papers until eight. Then he goes home, gets his breakfast, cleans up, and gets to school on time.
Don’t you think that the pony and New York City where Roderic lives, and all of us ought to be proud of him?
Vivian Juanita Long
This little girl, the only child of Abe M. and Amelia Long, left her parents forever August 15, 1919. She is not really dead, though—she is still living
“In that great cloister’s quiet and seclusion, By guardian angels led.”
Image descriptions: Portrait of the bust of a Black young woman, captioned, “Lucy Beatrice Miller.” Full-body portrait of a young Black girl, captioned, “The late Vivian Juanita Long”