Jackie Ormes is known as the first African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 woman cartoonist

Cartoonist

A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

. (Note. In 1998, Gale's Contemporary Authors Online listed her death date as January 2, 1986, citing the Chicago Tribune, January 4, 1986, as its source.)
Jackie Ormes was born Zelda Mavin Jackson in Monongahela

Monongahela, Pennsylvania

Monongahela, colloquially called "Mon City," is a Third Class City in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area, located approximately south of the city proper. The population was 4,761 at the 2000 census...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Ormes started in journalism as a proofreader for the Pittsburgh Courier

Pittsburgh Courier

The Pittsburgh Courier was an American newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which was published from 1907 to 1965. Once the country's most widely circulated Black newspaper, the legacy and influence of the Pittsburgh Courier is unparalleled.A pillar of the Black Press, it rose...

, a weekly African American newspaper

African American newspapers

African American newspapers are those newspapers in the United States that seek readers primarily of African American descent. These newspapers came into existence in 1827 when Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-American periodical called Freedom's Journal...

 that came out every Saturday. Her 1937-38 Courier comic strip, Torchy Brown in "Dixie to Harlem", starring Torchy Brown, was a humorous depiction of a Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 teen who found fame and fortune singing and dancing in the Cotton Club

Cotton Club

The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem, New York City that operated during Prohibition that included jazz music. While the club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, such as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, Count Basie, Bessie Smith,...

.

Ormes moved to Chicago in 1942, and soon began writing occasional articles and, briefly, a social column for the Chicago Defender

Chicago Defender

The Chicago Defender is a Chicago based newspaper founded in 1905 by an African American for primarily African American readers.In just three years from 1919–1922 the Defender also attracted the writing talents of Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks....

, one of the nation's leading black newspapers, a weekly at that time.