Jessie Redmon Fauset
Encyclopedia
Jessie Redmon Fauset was an American
editor, poet, essayist and novelist.
Fauset was most known for being the editor of the NAACP magazine the Crisis. She also was the editor and co-author for the African American children magazine called Brownies' Book. She studied closely the teachings and beliefs of W.E.B Dubois and considered him to be her mentor. Fauset was known as one of the most intelligent women novelist of the Harlem Renaissance
, earning her the name “the midwife”. In her lifetime she wrote four Black novels and several other poems and short stories.
. Fauset later received her Master’s degree in French from the University of Pennsylvania
.
in Washington DC. While teaching she spent her summers in Paris studying at la Sorbonne. In 1919 Fauset quit teaching and became the literary editor for the Crisis alongside W.E.B. Du Bois until 1926. The two also were the co-authors of Browies Book. Fauset became very intrigued with the writings of famous authors like Countee Cullen
, Langston Hughes
, Nella Larsen and Claude Mckay
and introduced them in her magazine. Jessie became a member of the NCAAP in represented the in the Pan African Congress
in 1921. After her congress speech Delta Sigma Theta Sorority made her an honorary member. Her first novel There is Confusion was published and 1924; she later published three more after that.
• “Rondeau.” Crisis. April 1912: 252.
• “La Vie C’est La Vie.” Crisis. July 1922: 124.
• “‘Courage!’ He Said.” Crisis. November 1929: 378
• “My House and a Glimpse of My Life Therein.” Crisis. July 1914: 143-145.
• “Double Trouble.” Crisis. August 1923: 155-159; September 1923: 205-209.
• “What Europe Thought of the Pan-African Congress.” Crisis. December 1921: 60-69.
Joseph J. Feeny “Jessie Fauset of The crisis: Novelist, Feminist, Centenarian.” (1983)
Vashti Crutcher Lewis “Mulatto Hegemony in the Novels of Jessie Redmon Fauset” (1992)
Henry Louis Gates Jr, Nellie McKay, "The Norton Anthology of African American Literature", (2004)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
editor, poet, essayist and novelist.
Fauset was most known for being the editor of the NAACP magazine the Crisis. She also was the editor and co-author for the African American children magazine called Brownies' Book. She studied closely the teachings and beliefs of W.E.B Dubois and considered him to be her mentor. Fauset was known as one of the most intelligent women novelist of the Harlem Renaissance
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
, earning her the name “the midwife”. In her lifetime she wrote four Black novels and several other poems and short stories.
Biography
Faucet was born on April 27, 1882 in Camden County New Jersey. She was the daughter of African Methodist Episcopal Redmon Fauset and Annie Seamon Fauset. Jessie’s mother died when she was a child, causing her father to remarry and have a bigger family. As a result of the big family, Jessie grew up in poverty. She attended high school in Philadelphia. She wanted to study at Bryn Mawr College but they circumvented the issue of admitting a black student by finding her a scholarship for another university and so she continued her education at Cornell. She graduated from Cornell University in 1905 with a degree in classical languages. It was speculated that she was the first black woman in the Phi Beta Kappa SocietyPhi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
. Fauset later received her Master’s degree in French from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
.
Career
Post-graduation Jessie became a teacher at Dunbar High SchoolDunbar High School
Dunbar High School can refer to:* Dunbar High School , listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Alabama* Dunbar High School — Chicago, Illinois...
in Washington DC. While teaching she spent her summers in Paris studying at la Sorbonne. In 1919 Fauset quit teaching and became the literary editor for the Crisis alongside W.E.B. Du Bois until 1926. The two also were the co-authors of Browies Book. Fauset became very intrigued with the writings of famous authors like Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen was an American poet who was popular during the Harlem Renaissance.- Biography :Cullen was an American poet and a leading figure with Langston Hughes in the Harlem Renaissance. This 1920s artistic movement produced the first large body of work in the United States written by African...
, Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, Nella Larsen and Claude Mckay
Claude McKay
Claude McKay was a Jamaican-American writer and poet. He was a seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance and wrote three novels: Home to Harlem , a best-seller which won the Harmon Gold Award for Literature, Banjo , and Banana Bottom...
and introduced them in her magazine. Jessie became a member of the NCAAP in represented the in the Pan African Congress
Pan African Congress
Pan African Congress can refer to:* Pan-African Congress, a series of five meetings held between 1919 and 1945* Pan Africanist Congress, the South African political party...
in 1921. After her congress speech Delta Sigma Theta Sorority made her an honorary member. Her first novel There is Confusion was published and 1924; she later published three more after that.
Personal life
Fauset married insurance broker Herbert Harris in 1929 at the age of 47. Harris later died in 1958. She then moved back to Philadelphia with her stepbrother. Jessie Fauset Redmon died on April 30, 1961 from heart disease.Literary works
All of Faucets novels were the stories of the African American middle class she tought was badly represented in Southern writer T. S. Stribling's novel "Birthright". Her first novel There is Confusion is the love the story of a wealthy African American woman who falls in love with a medical student and dreams of being a dancer but is held back because of her race. Published in 1923, her second novel Plum Bun is about an African American woman who desires to be an artist; and decides to do so by passing as white and rejecting her family and friends. The story ends with her embracing her race and finding true love with a black man. In 1931 she published her third novel Chinaberry Tree. Inspired by a Greek tragedy, it is another story studying the problematic of 'passing' by giving voice to an African American woman who can be seen as white. She "passes" for white in her everyday life and convinces her oldest children to do the same. The youngest child was too dark to pass which eventually leads him to commit suicide. Her last novel Comedy, a study of the tension between drama and narration, was published in 1933.Poems
• “Rondeau.” Crisis. April 1912: 252.
• “La Vie C’est La Vie.” Crisis. July 1922: 124.
• “‘Courage!’ He Said.” Crisis. November 1929: 378
Short Stories
• “Emmy.” Crisis. December 1912: 79-87; January 1913: 134-142.• “My House and a Glimpse of My Life Therein.” Crisis. July 1914: 143-145.
• “Double Trouble.” Crisis. August 1923: 155-159; September 1923: 205-209.
Essays
• “Impressions of the Second Pan-African Congress.” Crisis. November 1921: 12-18.• “What Europe Thought of the Pan-African Congress.” Crisis. December 1921: 60-69.
Excerpt
The complex of color……every colored man feels it sooner or later. It gets in the way of his dreams, of his education, of his marriage, of the rearing of his children. The time comes when he thinks, “I might just as well fall back; there’s no pushing on. A colored man just can’t make any headway in this awful country.” Of course it’s a fallacy. And a fellow sticks it out he finally gets passed it, but not before it has worked considerable confusion in his life. To have the ordinary job of living is bad enough, but to add to it all the thousand and one difficulties which follow simply in the train of being colored---well, all I’ve got to say, Silvia, is we’re some wonderful people to live through it all and keep our sanity. There is ConfusionCritiques of work
Most of Faucets writings were initially received very well by African Americans. They felt like she presented African Americans in a positive way. Even though some critics felt that her characters weren’t “black enough”, believing that there was too much racial mixing, other felt that Fauset’s novels shed a light on important issues in the African American community. Her novels mainly focused on the success and ambition of a whole generation of African Americans.General commentary essays
Abby Arthur Johnson “Literary Midwife: Jessie Redmon Fauset and the Harlem Renaissance.” (1978)Joseph J. Feeny “Jessie Fauset of The crisis: Novelist, Feminist, Centenarian.” (1983)
Vashti Crutcher Lewis “Mulatto Hegemony in the Novels of Jessie Redmon Fauset” (1992)
Henry Louis Gates Jr, Nellie McKay, "The Norton Anthology of African American Literature", (2004)
Novels
- There Is Confusion (novel, 19241924 in literatureThe year 1924 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Ford Madox Ford publishes the first book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928.-New books:*Michael Arlen - The Green Hat...
) (about an upper middle class African American family in Pennsylvania, later New York City, and its circle of friends, one of whom passes for white until radicalized; ISBN 1-5555-3066-4) - Plum Bun: A Novel Without a MoralPlum BunPlum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral is a novel by Jessie Redmon Fauset first published in 1928. Written by an African American woman who, during the 1920s, was for many years the literary editor of The Crisis, it is often seen as an important contribution to the movement that has come to be known as...
(novel, 19281928 in literatureThe year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....
) (a further study of the passingPassing (racial identity)Racial passing refers to a person classified as a member of one racial group attempting to be accepted as a member of a different racial group...
phenomenon; ISBN 0-8070-0919-9) - The Chinaberry Tree: A Novel of American Life (novel, 19311931 in literatureThe year 1931 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Cherokee playwright Lynn Riggs' play Green Grow the Lilacs premiers. It would later be adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein as Oklahoma!....
) (set in a small New Jersey town; ISBN 1-55553-207-1) - Comedy, American Style (novel, 19331933 in literatureThe year 1933 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 17 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.* James Joyce's Ulysses is allowed into United States.-New books:...
)
Quotes
- "The Complex of color...every colored man feels it sooner or later. It gets in the way of his dreams, of his education, of his marriage, of the rearing of his children." -