SEPIA

A P P R O V E D :

/f, C. M a j o r P r o f e s s o r

M i n o r P r o f e s s o r

D i r e c t o r of the D e p a r t m e n t of J o u r n a l i s m

D e i n of the G r a d u a t e S c h o o l

P o n d e r , J a n a c e P o p e , Sep ia . M a s t e r of A r t s ( J o u r n a l i s m ) ,

May, 19'73, 126 p p . , 9 pho tog raphs , b ib l iog raphy , 10 t i t l e s .

T h i s s tudy of Sepia magaz ine was r e s e a r c h e d a s a h i s t o r i c a l

p r o j e c t in o r d e r to t r a c e the p r o g r e s s of a twen ty - f i ve -yea r -o ld N e g r o

pub l ica t ion begun a s a s e n s a t i o n a l news shee t and expanded to a p i c -

t o r a l , e n t e r t a i n i n g m a g a z i n e a i m e d at the m i d d l e - c l a s s b l ack .

T h e s tudy shows how Sepia has s u r v i v e d in sp i te of i ts

s t r o n g e s t c o m p e t i t o r Ebony, and how it r o s e f r o m a m e d i o c r e p u b l i c a -

t ion to a h ighe r qua l i ty pub l ica t ion .

S o u r c e s of data included two m a j o r p r i m a r y s o u r c e s : M r .

George Lev i t an , p u b l i s h e r of Sep ia , and M r s . Ade l l e J a c k s o n M a r t i n ,

e x - m a n a g i n g ed i to r of Sep ia . Other i n t e r v i e w s w e r e conducted with

m e m b e r s of the e d i t o r i a l b o a r d of Sep ia , a s we l l as wi th the a r t and

p roduc t ion s t a f f . In addi t ion to the i n t e r v i e w s , b a c k cop ies of Sepia

an<^ N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , the f o r e r u n n e r to Sep ia , w e r e u s e d to

ana lyze the f o r m u l a fo l lowed in e a c h decade of S e p i a ' s l i f e .

T h e t h e s i s is o r g a n i z e d ch rono log ica l ly s ince each decade was

c l e a r l y def ined a s to S e p i a ' s j o u r n a l i s t i c p r o g r e s s . The f i r s t c h a p t e r

?,

i n t r o d u c e s the r e a d e r to S e p i a ' s e a r l i e s t beginnings and t a k e s M m

into C h a p t e r H, which is a de ta i l ed s tudy of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s .

C h a p t e r III i s a b i o g r a p h i c a l ske t ch of George Lev i tan , pub-

l i s h e r of Sep ia . C h a p t e r IV begins wi th the a c t u a l a n a l y s i s of content

of Sepia du r ing 1950-1959 and is t i t l ed "Decade of C h a n g e . " It

d e s c r i b e s the s e n s a t i o n a l f o r m u l a u s e d du r ing th i s decade and how the

pub l ica t ion g r a d u a l l y changed to a n e w s - e n t e r t a i n m e n t o rgan .

C h a p t e r V, t i t l ed "The 1960's and Coming of A g e , " d i s c u s s e s

the s aga of John Howard Gr i f f i n , a whi te j o u r n a l i s t who t r a v e l e d the

p r e j u d i c e d roads of the Deep South a s a N e g r o , an event which e a r n e d

Sepia j o u r n a l i s t i c a c c l a i m .

C h a p t e r VI conc ludes the s tudy with sugges t ions tha t Sepia

move t o w a r d s the e v e r growing m i d d l e - c l a s s N e g r o whom it now

r e a c h e s m o r e than any o the r N e g r o publ ica t ion ; tha t the publ ica t ion , in

o r d e r to p r o g r e s s , m u s t m a k e add i t iona l no tab le con t r ibu t ions to the

N e g r o r a c e s u c h a s the John Howard Gr i f f in ep i sode ; tha t the m a g a z i n e

m u s t cont inue to upg rade i ts t e c h n i c a l p roduc t ion ; and tha t it m u s t

a c q u i r e a b e t t e r g r a d e of a d v e r t i s i n g . The conc lus ion a l s o notes

George L e v i t a n ' s obvious i m p a c t on the publ ica t ion , and s u g g e s t s tha t

L e v i t a n ' s poss ib l e dec i s i on to s e l l would d r a s t i c a l l y a l t e r the p u b l i c a -

t i on .

SEPIA

THESIS

P r e s e n t e d to the Gradua te Counci l of the

N o r t h T e x a s Sta te U n i v e r s i t y in P a r t i a l

F u l f i l l m e n t of the R e q u i r e m e n t s

F o r the D e g r e e of

MASTER O F ARTS

By

J a n a c e P o p e P o n d e r , B .A ,

Denton, T e x a s

May, 1973

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

STAMP COVER AS FOLLOWS:

To BINDERY

> LIB • ISB

RETURN TO:

Name S Phone*

• Do not trim • Rub attached • Match • Pocket Binder • Portfolio • Strip back cover

• Strip • Rebind • Recover • Recase • Pocket • Mend

Color

•

:lesf P i c t u r e s

• HSS • SP PSAI • SSS NOT BOUND: • Paper • Margin • Other RETURNED FOR: • Portfolio • Other

P a g e

1

4

39

58

86

BIBLIOGRAPHY

108

115

125

i n

C H A P T E R I

I N T R O D U C T I O N

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s w a s a p u b l i c a t i o n b e g u n in A u g u s t , 1946,

b y a half b l a c k a n d half w h i t e m a n n a m e d H o r a c e J . B l a c k w e l l . W i t h

l i t t l e knowledge of j o u r n a l i s m or b u s i n e s s , B l a c k w e l l h a d a n i d e a t o

p u b l i s h a m a g a z i n e " j u s t f o r the N e g r o . " He. w a s t i r e d of the h i g h e r

c l a s s m a g a z i n e s s u c h a s E b o n y o r Look , w h i c h he c o n s i d e r e d t oo f a r

a b o v e h is p e o p l e .

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , c o n t a i n i n g i n t e r e s t i n g h i g h l i g h t s of t h e

N e g r o c o m m u n i t y , w a s f i r s t a n e w s m a g a z i n e . H o w e v e r , B l a c k w e l l

l a t e r f o u n d t h a t t h i s s o r t of p u b l i c a t i o n would, not s e l l . C o n s e q u e n t l y ,

he c h a n g e d t h e f o r m u l a t o c o n s i s t of t r u e s t o r i e s abou t the N e g r o . In

o r d e r to m a i n t a i n the a u t h e n t i c i t y of the s t o r i e s , no c o p y r e a d i n g w a s

?

a l l o w e d . T h e r e f o r e , w h e n B l a c k w e l l d i ed in 1946', the m a g a z i n e

w a s f a r f r o m b e i n g a q u a l i t y p u b l i c a t i o n .

G e o r g e L e v i t a n , w e a l t h y , w h i t e , and J e w i s h , bough t t h e

World M e s s e n g e r P u b l i s h i n g C o m p a n y in 1951 a n d p r o c e e d e d to m a k e

t h e m a g a z i n e one of t h e n a t i o n ' s b e t t e r N e g r o p u b l i c a t i o n s u n d e r the

new n a m e S e p i a ,

Unt i l 1.960, Sep ia w a s a m e d i o c r e pub l i ca t ion w i th l i t t l e

d i r e c t i o n . In I960 , a m a n n a m e d John H o w a r d G r i f f i n , a wh i t e c o n -

t r i b u t o r f o r Sep ia a t the t i m e , wen t on a lone ly j o u r n e y in to t he d e e p

South d i s g u i s e d a s a b l a c k m a n t h r o u g h the u s e of m e d i c a t i o n . T h e

t r i p p r o d u c e d a s e r i e s of s t o r i e s by G r i f f i n f o r S e p i a , and a l s o t h e

book t i t l e d B l a c k Like M e . T h e s e r i e s w a s w r i t t e n b e f o r e the book

and m a r k e d S e p i a ' s swing t o w a r d the t op .

S e m a ' s s t r u g g l e s w e r e no e a s i e r t h a n the N e g r o e s ' s t r u g g l e .

A l w a y s f i gh t i ng to r a i s e i t s e l f , Sep ia wen t f r o m a t r u e - s t o r y type

m a g a z i n e to an o r g a n of t o t a l e n t e r t a i n m e n t to a w e l l - v a r i e d p u b l i -

c a t i o n f o r the b l a c k r a c e . E x p e r i m e n t a t i o n , c o u r a g e , and a s t r o n g

hand h e l p e d Sep ia to f ind i t se l f in the j o u r n a l i s t i c w o r l d .

T h i s t h e s i s c o n c e r n s the d e v e l o p m e n t of Sep ia f r o m i t s

b i r t h to i t s m a t u r i t y in the 1970 ' s , i t s c h a n g e s o v e r a t w e n t y - f i v e

y e a r p e r i o d in f o r m u l a and c o n t e n t , i t s l e a d e r s h i p t h r o u g h o u t t he

y e a r s , i t s p l ace in the b l a c k m a n ' s w o r l d , and i ts f u t u r e .

T h e t h e s i s d e l v e s into the a u d i e n c e to w h i c h Sep ia a p p e a l s ,

and shows how Sep ia t r i e s to r e a c h t he m i d d l e - c l a s s N e g r o , a unique

e f f o r t in b l a c k j o u r n a l i s m . T h e s tudy f u r t h e r s h o w s the r e l e v a n c e

of N e g r o j o u r n a l i s m , a s u b j e c t w h e r e e x t e n s i v e r e s e a r c h is j u s t

b e g i n n i n g .

- 3

I n t e r v i e w s w e r e conducted with George Levitan, publ isher . ,

at Good Publishing Company in Fort Worth, T e x a s , and with other

e m p l o y e e s du r ing a t h r e e - w e e k p e r i o d beginning on June 9, 1972, a r d

ending on July 5, 1972.

P l a n t o b s e r v a t i o n began on June 9, 1972, wi th one w e e k spent ,

in e a c h d e p a r t m e n t f r o m noon unt i l s ix in the evening . A f t e r the in i t i a l

o b s e r v a t i o n p e r i o d was c o m p l e t e d , a s e r i e s of i n t e r v i e w s w a s c o n -

ducted to ga the r i n f o r m a t i o n about the v a r i o u s i s s u e s of Sep ia .

I n f o r m a t i o n f o r a n a l y s i s of content w a s obtained f r o m s t a c k s

of old Sep ia s s t o r e d in supply rooms a t Good Pub l i sh ing . One of the

d r a w b a c k s involved in r e s e a r c h i n g the topic was the lack of n u m e r o u s

back cop ies of Sep ia . Only a s s u m p t i o n s could be made c o n c e r n i n g

the m i s s i n g i s s u e s , s ince v e r y few key people could r e m e m b e r s p e c i -

f i c s about individual i s s u e s .

Sepia r o s e f r o m a t h i r d - r a t e publ icat ion to a h i g h l y - r e g a r d e d

pub l ica t ion . Th i s s tudy s e e k s to show how the m a g a z i n e is s ign i f i can t

in the o v e r a l l deve lopmen t of N e g r o j o u r n a l i s m .

CHAPTER II

NEGRO ACHIEVEMENTS,

1946-1951

Dur ing the middle 1940 's , N e g r o e s had moved s lowly a long

the road of r ebe l l i ous s t rugg le in t h e i r a t t e m p t to f ind a p lace in

d e m o c r a t i c , whi te A m e r i c a . T h e i r s t r u g g l e , l ike t hose of m o s t

m i n o r i t y g r o u p s , had been long and with l i t t le r e w a r d . T o r n by p r e j u -

dice and poor b a c k g r o u n d , the N e g r o man. had l i t t le to o f f e r soc i e ty

which of ten lef t h i m p r i d e l e s s and b r o k e n .

H o r a c e J e f f e r s o n B lackwe l l , a N e g r o man who grew up a s a

wh i t e , a t t ended white schools , and l ived with his whi te g r a n d f a t h e r , *

w a s r e p u l s e d at the N e g r o ' s p l ace in the Uni ted S t a t e s . E v e r y w h e r e

he t u r n e d he saw m i s t r e a t e d N e g r o e s who s e l d o m r a i s e d a hand to

defend t h e m s e l v e s .

1 S t a t e m e n t and g e n e r a l i n f o r m a t i o n by Ade l l e J a c k s o n M a r -

t in , l o n g - t i m e s e c r e t a r y and e x - m a n a g i n g ed i to r to I-I. J . B l a c k w e l l ' s publ ica t ion N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s , Ju ly 24, 1972. It m u s t be noted tha t du r ing B l a c k w e l l ' s e d i t o r s h i p , Adel le J a c k s cm r e m a r r i e d , c h a n g i n g h e r l a s t n a m e to M a r t i n . She wil l be r e f e r r e d to th roughout the p a p e r a s M a r t i n . Throughou t the r e m a i n d e r of t h i s c h a p t e r h e r s t a t e m e n t s a r e quoted and d i s c u s s e d without f u r t h e r f o o t -noted a t t r i b u t i o n s .

*

Blackwe l l , when old enough to make it on his own, le f t t he

whi te r a c e to b e c o m e a N e g r o .

"He e n t e r e d a b l ack w o r l d in m o r e ways than one. He was

b i t t e r , but he r e a l i z e d r evenge on whi tes would do l i t t le good. That's}

when he dec ided to publ i sh s o m e kind of m a g a z i n e , " sa id M r s .

M a r t i n .

B lackwe l l , b o r n out of wedlock in P r a t t County (Kansas) , ^

Augus t 23, 1893, to a whi te f a t h e r and a b l ack m o t h e r , s a i d ,

" N e g r o e s need a f o r m of e x p r e s s i o n w h e r e a t l e a s t they can say what 3

they f e e l . " He f e l t s t r o n g l y about the N e g r o e s ' l o n g - t i m e s u p p r e s s i o n

and wan ted to s e e t h e m grow f r o m a s t i f l ing pos i t ion to a s t r o n g posi-s

t ion a m o n g m e n .

His d r e a m w a s t o publ i sh a pape r w h e r e N e g r o e s could t e l l

t h e i r s t o r y "in t h e i r l anguage . " A f t e r he began h is publ ica t ion ,

one pol icy s tood : no c o r r e c t i o n s on t r u e s t o r y m a t e r i a l . "If the

s t o r y w a s in t h i rd g r a d e language , t h a t ' s wha t M r . B lackwel l wan ted .

Some of the w r i t e r s h a d n ' t e v e r been to schoo l and the s t o r i e s

2 " H o r a c e J . B l a c k w e l l , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , IV (May,

1950), 17. It m u s t be noted that P r a t t County is not in T e x a s . F r o m i n f o r m a t i o n gained th rough the S h e r i f f ' s o f f i ce , D a l l a s , T e x a s , the only P r a t t County l i s t ed in the County D i r e c t o r y is in K a n s a s .

3 M a r t i n , i n t e r v i e w .

6

s h o w e d i t ; b u t , n o m a t t e r how c r u d e , t hey s t a y e d , " e x p l a i n e d

M r s . M a r t i n .

B l a c k w e l l b e c a m e i n t e r e s t e d in p u b l i s h i n g a p a p e r through. &.

u s e d c l o t h i n g s t o r e he owned w h e r e he a l s o s o l d N e g r o newspapers*

" H i s s i d e l i n e d e v e l o p e d in to h i s m a i n l i n e , " s a i d M r s . M a r t i n ,

He w a n t e d t o m a k e m o n e y f r o m h i s v e n t u r e in j o u r n a l i s m ,

bu t he a l s o had a d e s i r e to do s o m e t h i n g f o r h i s r a c e w h i c h , by the ag©

of t w e n t y - t h r e e , he had d e c i d e d w a s to be h i s only r a c e , f r o m t h a t

po in t d i s c l a i m i n g h i s h a l f - w h i t e h e r i t a g e .

" I t w a s h a r d f o r h i m to be b l a c k b e c a u s e he d i d n ' t have on©

b l a c k f e a t u r e , " s a i d M r s . M a r t i n . In s e l l i n g c l o t h e s he h a d m e t

peop l e who w e r e w i l l i n g t o h e l p h i m s t a r t a N e g r o p u b l i c a t i o n a n d

who o f t en g a v e h i m a d v i c e .

In 1944, w o r k i n g out of a d i l a p i d a t e d s t o r e r o o m a t 1200

E a s t T e n t h S t r e e t , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s , B l a c k w e l l and h i s f o u r t h

w i f e , E l i z a b e t h B l a c k w e l l , b e g a n T h e W o r l d M e s s e n g e r P u b l i s h i n g

C o m p a n y . T h e y put out the f i r s t p u b l i c a t i o n , T h e W o r l d ' s

4 M e s s e n g e r , s o m e t i m e in M a r c h .

4 T h e e x a c t da t e is no t known. H o w e v e r , E d n a L a c y T u r n e r ,

e m p l o y e e u n d e r B l a c k w e l l and p r e s e n t l y S e p i a ' s m a n a g i n g e d i t o r , a n d A d e l l e J a c k s o n M a r t i n , bo th f e l t M a r c h w a s the d a t e of t h e f i r s t m a g a z i n e . No W o r l d ' s M e s s e n g e r s c a n be l o c a t e d . N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , J u l y , 1950, r e p e a t s 1944 a s t h e b e g i n n i n g of the m a g a -z ine p u b l i s h i n g h o u s e in a n a d v e r t i s e m e n t on p a g e 4 2 .

"Mr . B lackwel l s e l e c t e d that, n a m ? b e c a u s e he wan ted t o

de l i ve r a m e s s a g e to the w o r l d , " sa id Mr®« M a r t i n , The m e s s a g e

w a s to be : H e r e i s the N e g r o - - l i k e it or not, i t is the t r u t h .

In Augus t , 1946, B lackwel l , not. s a t i s f i e d with The W o r l d ' s

M e s s e n g e r , dec ided to edi t a " c l a s s i e r " m a g a z i n e de s igned to reach,

the m o r e educa ted s e g m e n t of the Neg ro r a q t , In addi t ion to T h e

W o r l d ' s M e s s e n g e r , b a s i c a l l y a t r u e s t o r y m a g a s i n e , he launched

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , a news m a g a z i n e ,

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s w a s des igned to t e l l the news of N e g r o e s

a r o u n d the w o r l d and of t h e i r a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s , " M r , B lackwel l

a lways sa id they m a y not have ach ieved much in c o m p a r i s o n , but

w e ' l l t e l l the w o r l d what l i t t le they have d o n e , " sa id M r s . M a r t i n .

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , a seven teen-^by 'e leven pulp tab lo id ,

b e g a n as a qual i ty news magaz ine conta in ing e d i t o r i a l s , news

c o l u m n s , po l i t i ca l a n a l y s i s , a Who ' s Who sec t ion f r o m each s t a t e ,

a c h i e v e m e n t t r u e s t o r i e s f r o m the c o m m o n m a n , and a c h i e v e m e n t

t r u e s t o r i e s f r o m f a m o u s m e n , m u s i c i a n s , d o c t o r s , l a w y e r s , and

s o c i e t y w o m e n . And dur ing 1947 and 1948, the magaz ine a l s o c o n -

t a ined many p i c t u r e s .

C o n t e n t

T h e b a s i c p r o b l e m of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s w a s t h a t it d id not

s e l l . B l a c k w e l l , t hough a g a i n s t l o w e r i n g the s t a n d a r d s of the m a g a -

z i n e , d e c i d e d to do s o "unt i l the c i r c u l a t i o n c o m e s u p , " e x p l a i n e d

M r s . Mar t i n . ,

A c o m p a r i s o n of c o n t e n t r e v e a l s the c h a n g e . In the e a r l i e s t

s u r v i v i n g copy of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , t h e J u n e , 1947 i s s u e , t h e

i n s i d e c o v e r w a s t h e e d i t o r i a l p a g e . T h e two e d i t o r i a l s , t i t l e d

"Advanced E d u c a t i o n " and " R e g e n t s f o r U n i v e r s i t y of T e x a s f o r

N e g r o e s M e t in S e s s i o n f o r the F i r s t T i m e , " f e l l u n d e r the h e a d i n g

" a n i n d e p e n d e n t w r i t e r s u p p o r t i n g w h a t he b e l i e v e s to be r i g h t a n d

o p p o s i n g w h a t he b e l i e v e s t o b e w r o n g , r e g a r d l e s s of r a c e , c r e e d , o r

c o l o r . " T h i s h e a d i n g w a s c o n t i n u e d in N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s u n t i l t h e

e d i t o r i a l s e c t i o n w a s d r o p p e d in D e c e m b e r , 1947.

T h e e d i t o r i a l s , t hough s h o r t - l i v e d , w e r e c l e a r , c o n c i s e ,

a n d in f a i r j o u r n a l i s t i c f o r m . U n d e r "Advanced E d u c a t i o n " in t h e J u n e ,

1947 i s s u e , N i c h o l a s P . F r a n c i s w r o t e :

Whi l e on the s u b j e c t of h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n i t i s w o r t h w h i l e to m e n t i o n t h a t a s h o r t t i m e a g o P r i n c e -ton U n i v e r s i t y a w a r d e d a d i p l o m a to i t s f i r s t N e g r o g r a d u a t e in n e a r l y a h u n d r e d y e a r s . T h e young m a n w a s B e n j a m i n C h a v e s of N o r t h C a r o l i n a . T h i s w a s s p o n s o r e d by a g r o u p of wh i t e s t u d e n t s upon a b e t w h e t h e r a N e g r o cou ld s t a n d the r i g o r s of h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n . T h i s m e a n s t h a t t h e young m a n had t o have c o m p l e t e s e l f - c o n t r o l and had to d i s r e g a r d s o m e c i r c u m s t a n c e s .

9

In Augus t , 1947, an e d i t o r i a l en t i t l ed "An Unwanted

Dis t inc t ion" p r a i s e d the f a c t tha t a N e g r o m a n , A r t h u r A d a m s , had

been given the dea th s e n t e n c e f o r k i l l ing ano the r N e g r o . I t r e a d ,

" B e c a u s e of the a p p a r e n t i n d i f f e r e n c e to N e g r o e s m u r d e r i n g

N e g r o e s , kni fe wie ld ing k i l l e r s and p i s to l packing b u l l i e s , r a n a m u c k

in F o r t W o r t h , s l a s h i n g and shoot ing on the s l i g h t e s t p r e t e x t , wound-

ing, m a i m i n g and ki l l ing . "

News content du r ing the f i r s t y e a r of the pub l i ca t ion ' s l i fe

was a t a high peak , ma in ly w r i t t e n by c o n t r i b u t o r s wi th s o m e p i eces

done by the s m a l l s taff of t h r e e , B lackwel l , M r s . M a r t i n , and M r s .

L a V e r n e T i m m o n s . Howeve r , b y - l i n e s w e r e not u s u a l except on

r e g u l a r co lumns and t r u e s t o r i e s .

Among news s t o r i e s in June , 1947 w e r e the s t o r i e s of " T h e

E l e c t r o c u t i o n of Wil l ie F r a n c i s , May 3, 1946, When the Cha i r Fa i l ed" ;

" B r o o k l y n : A Town Governed E n t i r e l y by N e g r o e s " ; "Joe Louis

Ready to Quit Unless He F i g h t s Soon"; ' S u g a r Ray Robinson E y e s

Middle Weight C r o w n " ; " P r e s i d e n t T r u m a n D e m a n d s S h a r p P r i c e

R e d u c t i o n s " ; " W a i t e r s in T a x Muddle" ; " N e g r o U n i v e r s i t y D i r e c t o r s

Approved" ; "4H N e g r o Club W o r k e r s May Be B a r r e d Again . " Two

news c o l u m n s , "Reviewing the News" and "Spo r t s in S p o t s , "

a p p e a r e d in the Augus t , 1947 i s s u e . Ano the r news co lumn to a p p e a r

f r e q u e n t l y but not r e g u l a r l y was "News of the Month. "

10 i

5

On the b a c k page of the 1947 i s s u e s , news s t o r i e s s i m i l a r

to f r o n t - p a g e news in 1,972 a p p e a r e d unde r the head ing of " A m e r i c a ' s

G r e a t e s t N e g r o P i c t o r a l Magaz ine , A Med ium f o r Repor t ing N e g r o

A c c o m p l i s h m e n t s . "

The lead f o r s t o r y one on the b a c k c o v e r of J u n e , 194-7

r e a d s , " T e x a s Ci ty . - Dea th took s c o r e s of l ives and many h u n d r e d s

w e r e i n j u r e d and le f t h o m e l e s s as g r e a t p e r i l h i t s N e g r o e s and M e x i -

cans the h a r d e s t . " Under th is s t o r y w a s a s i x - i n c h s t o r y and p i c t u r e

of M. C. L i t t l e john , the N e g r o p h o t o g r a p h e r who went to T e x a s Ci ty

to t ake p i c t u r e s of the d i s a s t e r .

News c o v e r a g e cont inued th rough 1947 but even by the A u g u s t ,

1947 i s s u e , m o r e co lumns and t r u e s t o r i e s a p p e a r e d with l e s s i n t e n s e

news c o v e r a g e . A f t e r D e c e m b e r , 1947, the magaz ine d ropped

" S u m m a r y of the N e w s " and e n l a r g e d a co lumn t i t l ed " T h e U n d e r -

c o v e r R e p o r t e r s " f o r s o c i e t y g o s s i p and o ther t idb i t s in the N e g r o

c o m m u n i t y .

In F e b r u a r y , 1948 i s s u e , news included i t e m s such a s ' T h e

N a t i o n ' s Only N e g r o Owned and O p e r a t e d R e c o r d p l a n t , " "An Eye

5 It m u s t b e noted tha t only two i s s u e s pub l i shed dur ing

1947 s u r v i v e , t h o s e i s s u e s be ing the June and Augus t c o p i e s . In c o l u m n s no ted , both i s s u e s r a n a l l men t ioned .

11

W i t n e s s Account of the M i s s o u r i P a c i f i c W r e c k , " and " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s Goes to Col lege . " Howeve r , the b a c k c o v e r of

F e b r u a r y , 1948's i s s u e s t i l l r e s e m b l e d a news page conta in ing such

s t o r i e s as "Colored Gi r l s Lead F r e e d o m T r a i n Line in M o n t g o m e r y ,

A l a b a m a " ; "Help Our P o o r Ins t ead of E u r o p e " ; and " N e g r o G r i d d e r s

P l a y Whi tes in T e x a s , " St i l l , the news was dwindling and the back

page a t t h i s point included t h r e e a d v e r t i s e m e n t s and e igh teen inches

of "The M a t r i m o n i a l C o l u m n , " des igned f o r t hose "who want to m a r r y

and want to f ind the kind of m a n o r w o m a n you wan t . "

By May, 1948 the only news co lumn lef t was "Reviewing the

N e w s , " and it had d imin i shed to e d i t o r i a l c o m m e n t in twen ty -e igh t

co lumn inches and was p laced b e s i d e "The M a t r i m o n i a l Co lumn" and

a d v e r t i s e m e n t s f o r M a d a m X, Love Me P e r f u m e , and Grow H a i r

T r e a t m e n t s .

In Augus t , 1948 "Reviewing the N e w s " w a s phased out c o m -

p le te ly and t r u e s t o r i e s domina ted with a few a r t i c l e s of p r o m i n e n t

N e g r o e s . T i m e l y news events w e r e only ment ioned in co lumns and

in l e t t e r s in "We the P e o p l e S p e a k , " a co lumn " r e s e r v e d f o r t h o s e

who wi sh to s p e a k t h e i r own mind and own opinion on any s u b j e c t

they s e e f i t . "

12

T r u e S t o r i e s

By 1948, t r u e s t o r i e s w e r e domina t ing the conten t , b e c a u s e

Blackwel l saw that th is type of s t o r y would s e l l and though it w a s no t

the type of s t o r i e s he o r ig ina l ly d e s i r e d , they did give the N e g r o a

m e d i u m f o r e x p r e s s i o n and showed the N e g r o public the e x p e r i e n c e s

of t h e i r r a c e .

"He chose to t e l l the t r u e s t o r y of the N e g r o th rough the

6

N e g r o . " The a c h i e v e m e n t s t o r i e s w e r e to t e l l the N e g r o he could b e

some th ing ; he could do some th ing , j u s t as o t h e r s had even though the

b a r r i e r s might s e e m i n s u r m o u n t a b l e .

B lackwe l l , s t i l l want ing the N e g r o r e a d e r to r e l a t e wi th

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , a l lowed no copy r e a d i n g . "He wanted the N e g r o

r e a d e r to know beyond a doubt that the m a t e r i a l they r e a d w a s t r u e ;

so , no changes w e r e made in the o r ig ina l copy. Th i s made the m a g a -

zine f a i r l y c r u d e , but made our job a lot e a s i e r b e c a u s e we j u s t typed

it a s i t s tood . I n s t e a d of a j o u r n a l i s m job, i t w a s a s e c r e t a r i a l job, "

s a id M r s . M a r t i n .

A s a consequence of th i s pol icy , i s s u e s edi ted unde r B l a c k -

we l l con ta ined many g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s and s e r v e d the p u r p o s e of

^S ta t emen t by Edna K. Lacy T u r n e r , employee of H . J . B l a c k -we l l and now a leading ed i t o r of Sep ia , N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s s u c c e s s o r , Ju ly 20, 1972, a t Good Pub l i sh ing o f f i c e s , 1220 Ha rd ing S t r e e t , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s , in p u b l i s h e r George L e v i t a n ' s o f f i ce .

13

c a u s i n g wh i t e s to s a y "what o ther type of l ife s t o r y could one expec t

7

f r o m a N e g r o ? u

Howeve r , as c r u d e a s this content m a y have s e e m e d , i t

s e r v e d a n o t h e r p u r p o s e of p o r t r a y i n g the s t i f l ing s i tua t ion of t h e N e g r o

in A m e r i c a , a l though the m a g a z i n e was not pub l i shed a s a p r o t e s t

p a p e r . The t r u e s t o r i e s , h o w e v e r , w e r e a p r o t e s t a g a i n s t w h i t e

A m e r i c a . The e x p e r i e n c e s r e l a t ed in Neg ro A c h i e v e m e n t s to ld

hones t l y and without p r ide the s e l f - d e g r a d a t i o n , the s e l f - h u m i l i a t i o n ,

and the dehuman iza t ion N e g r o e s of th is p e r i o d s u f f e r e d .

Mack C. Nance , in a l e t t e r to the ed i to r unde r "We the

Peop le Speak" s a i d , "[The] N e g r o P r e s s - J u s t a s an X - r a y , e x p o s e s

i r r e g u l a r i t i e s within the body, so does the N e g r o P r e s s expose the

m e n t a l and m o r a l w e a k n e s s of i ts r e a d e r s (the Negro ) in o the r

w o r d s , the p r e s s is a m e d i u m by which the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of a r 8

people m a y b e fectually i n t e r p r e d e d [ s i c ] . "

A n o t h e r r e a d e r in a l e t t e r to the ed i t o r w r o t e :

To many r e a d e r s t h e s e s t o r i e s a r e m o r e than j u s t e n t e r t a i n m e n t . They s e r v e to give needed s t r e n g t h to c a r r y on. When we r e a d of o the r people having s u f f e r e d and e n d u r e d much m o r e than we , o u r s e l v e s have been ca l l ed upon to e n d u r e , and they s t i l l p o s s e s s

1950), 15.

7 "We the P e o p l e S p e a k , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , IV (Apr i l ,

8 Ib id . ( M a r c h , 1950), 16.

14

the f o r t i t u d e and the ambi t ion to b e c o m e b e t t e r c i t i -zens , then we too c a n e n d e a v o r to r e c t i f y our m i3pen t l i v e s - - o r a t l e a s t t r y and use the r e m a i n i n g t i m e l e f t to us f o r b e t t e r and w o r t h i e r purposes , .

I ' m p roud of the f a c t that M r . B lackwel l c a t e r s to the e n t i r e N e g r o r a c e , no s o c i a l d i s c r i m i n a t i o n * thanks to his t r u e C h r i s t i a n i t y .

The kind of t r u e s t o r y r e a d by t h e s e skep t i c s and h y p o c r i t e s a r e t h o s e w r i t t e n by whi te a u t h o r s and pub l i shed by whi te e d i t o r s . The l i f e , love, and r o m a n c e p o r t r a y e d in the whi te p e o p l e ' s magaz ine a r e not even a d r e a m to us . . .

While the N e g r o is buying and r ead ing t h e s e whi te pub l i ca t ions , the whi te e d i t o r s wi l l not a c c e p t s t o r i e s w r i t t e n by the N e g r o un l e s s i t ' s of the r e f i n e d type , , .

R e f i n e m e n t ! . . . How many of the 1 4 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 N e g r o e s in A m e r i c a a r e b l e s s e d wi th the kind of e n v i r o n -men t to be of the r e f i n e d c h a r a c t e r ? . , . The u n d e r -p r i v i l e g e d c l a s s e s of r e a d e r s and c o n t r i b u t o r s should s t r i v e to hold on to the only t r u e s t o r y m a g a z i n e s we a r e l ike ly to have . O t h e r w i s e we a r e s u r e to be an o b s c u r e people s o f a r a s the l i t e r a r y wor ld is c o n c e r n e d - -u n l e s s we s h a l l be so f o r t u n a t e a s to m a k e the " c r i m e h e a d l i n e s .

T h r o u g h c o m m e n t s of th is kind, N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s can I I ! ! • • • • u r n • J ' M H I L g j » „ II L.». . *111 imvwxa UI'IIUUAMHIUIIU*

be s e e n a s r e f l e c t i n g t r u t h of the r a c e even though the t r u t h w a s not

p r e t t y o r r e f i n e d like whi te j o u r n a l i s m of the s a m e p e r i o d .

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s made appea l s to the g e n e r a l N e g r o

publ ic to w r i t e t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e s f o r publ ica t ion and encou raged s u c -

c e s s f u l N e g r o e s to send in t h e i r l ife s t o r i e s . The type of a p p e a l u sed

w a s :

9 Ib id . (Apr i l , 1950), 15.

15 'J

HAVE YOU ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING IN L I F E ? The p u b l i s h e r s of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s want to know you. Send us your s t o r y cf your s u c c e s s a long with your p i c -t u r e and p i c t u r e s of what you have a c h i e v e d . Le t us t e l l i t to the w o r l d t h rough N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s . We want our young gene ra t ion to be i n s p i r e d by what you have done. Send p i c t u r e s of your b u s i n e s s , your h o m e , a u t o m o b i l e , e t c . We wi l l publ i sh your s t o r y F R E E . You can use 2 , 0 0 0 w o r d s . Send good p i c t u r e s . We wi l l r e t u r n t h e m . If you c a n ' t w r i t e your s t o r y , get s o m e one to do i t , o r send us the f a c t s and we wi l l do i t .

(Not ice: We don ' t buy th is kind of s t o r i e s [sic]) .

Th i s type of a p p e a l w o r k e d and t r u e s t o r i e s cons t i t u t ed about

75 p e r cent of the m a g a z i n e content f r o m 1949 unt i l a change of f o r m a t

in 1952. T r u e s t o r i e s o r ig ina l ly so l i c i t ed w e r e those about p r o m i n e n t

people , a l though even in Neg ro A c h i e v e m e n t s ' f i r s t y e a r , the e v e r y d a y

man found r o o m f o r h is s t o r y .

Among the t r u e s t o r i e s in the Augus t , 1947 i s s u e w e r e "Why

I M a r r i e d a N e g r o " by M r s . J a m e s Lee M i l e s , "I Was Kidnapped a t

Six Y e a r s Old by the Man I M a r r i e d , " by B e s s i e E . C o a t s , and " T h e

W a n d e r e r ' s T r a i l , A P r i s o n e r ' s S t o r y " by Lu the r A . Hi l l .

Th i s type of s t o r y , c o n t r a s t e d wi th a c h i e v e m e n t s t o r i e s , d i f -

f e r e d in tone , but both types of t r u e s t o r i e s he lped v e r i f y the n a m e -

pla te of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s which r e a d : A Magaz ine f o r E v e r y b o d y ,

^ " H a v e You A c c o m p l i s h e d Anything in Li fe , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , II ( F e b r u a r y , 1949), 31.

16

F e a t u r i n g a l l T r u e N e g r o S t o r i e s , Cons i s t ing of N e g r o A c c o m p l i s h -

11

m e n t s , Love , R o m a n c e .

T r u e s t o r i e s included many phase s of N e g r o l i fe , s o m e

r epu t ab l e a s p e c t s and s o m e not so r e p u t a b l e . F o r i n s t ance , the .

F e b r u a r y , 1949 i s s u e f e a t u r e d as s t o r y one "Love P l a y e d a D a n g e r -

ous P a r t in My H e a r t , " a s t o r y about an unwed m o t h e r j i l t ed by h e r

l o v e r . On the fol lowing page is a s t o r y , "Mus t We C o n t i n u e , " t e l l -

ing about a young b l a c k w o m a n ' s s t r u g g l e in a white w o r l d packed wi th

p r e j u d i c e . "Mus t We Cont inue" t e l l s the downfa l l s of s o m e N e g r o e s

and w a y s to i m p r o v e . "The t e r m ' that [ s ic ] j u s t l ike a N e g r o or

(Nigger ) ' should not be used by us any l o n g e r . How can we a s k the

whi te m a n not to use a c e r t a i n p h r a s e , when it has b e c o m e p a r t of the

N e g r o h i m s e l f , " a s k e d the w r i t e r .

Some of the t r u e s t o r i e s w e r e r e l ig ious c o n f e s s i o n s t o r i e s

t e l l ing how the w r i t e r of the s t o r y had s inned and been s a v e d . F o r 12 13

i n s t a n c e , " F o r g i v e Us Our D e b t s , " "My E x p e r i e n c e in L i f e , "

^ N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s N a m e p l a t e was c a r r i e d a s noted unt i l 1952 when it changed to The P r o g r e s s of the N e g r o P e o p l e .

12 Bet ty J e a n C l a r k , " F o r g i v e Us O u r D e b t s , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s , II ( F e b r u a r y , 1949), 2 .

13 Dore tha T u c k e r , "My E x p e r i e n c e in Li fe , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s ( D e c e m b e r , 1948), p. 3.

17 &

14

" P r a y e r Changes T h i n g s , " ' "God Spoke to Me, and God Leads Me

Now, " ^ "The Lord Will Make a Way, " "You Cannot Beat the 1 7 1 8

C r o s s , " "Bless ings of Our H e r i t a g e , " and "What Will I Be 19

Doing When Jesus C o m e s , " a r e examples of this type of s to ry .

In la te r i s sues of the 1950's, the s to r i e s became more r a c y ,

often containing r e f e r e n c e s to sex . Although Blackwell died in

December , 1949, the fo l l owing y e a r ' s magazine was indiscern ib le

f r o m those edited while he was a l ive . No f o r m a t or content change

can be seen . Although the f o r m a t Blackwell es tab l i shed cannot coin-

cide wel l with the magaz ine ' s name, Negro Achievements , the f o r m a t

of t r ue s t o r i e s s tayed and inc reased in number and intensi ty .

1 4 D e l o r e s W y n n e , " P r a y e r C h a n g e s T h i n g s , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s ( M a r c h , 1949), p . 1.

^ E v a n g e l i s t H a t t i e K i n g , "God Spoke to M e , and God L e a d s Me N o w , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , IV ( M a r c h , 1950), 9.

l 6 Ess i e B . R o b e r t s , " T h e L o r d W i l l M a k e a W a y , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s ( M a r c h , 1951), p . 3 .

1 7 Bob Mitchel l , "You Cannot Beat the C r o s s , " Negro Achievements (April , 1948), p. 3.

1 8 F r a n c i s A. Alston, "Bless ings of Our Her i tage , " Negro Achievements , II (August, 1948), 2.

1 9 E r m a M c G o w a n T i s d a l e , " W h a t W i l l I Be Doing W h e n J e s u s C o m e s , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s ( O c t o b e r , 1950), p . 9.

18

Such s t o r i e s a s "I Was M i s u s e d , " "A C h i n e s e Woman T r i e d

t o Buy Me f r o m My Wi fe , " 'My A d v e n t u r e of Skid Row, " and " T h e

W o r l d Don ' t Owe Me a Th ing , " a l l a p p e a r e d in the May, 1950 i s s u e ;

the only a c h i e v e m e n t s t o r y w a s "An I n v e n t o r ' s L i f e . "

O the r s t o r i e s , not to be c o n s i d e r e d a c h i e v e m e n t s of the r a c e

20 w e r e " M o t h e r l e s s and F a t h e r l e s s C h i l d , " "My C r a v e Was M a r r i e d

Men, "How I Went A s t r a y , " B o r n to Be B a d , " ^ " B e c a u s e I

24 2 Loved Him S o , " " " P r o d u c t of a Broken Home , " ~ " C h e a p Love Can

26 27 C o s t a High P r i c e , " "My Broken L i f e , " "Love T h a t

20 M i l d r e d Langs ton , " M o t h e r l e s s and F a t h e r l e s s C h i l d , "

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s (October , 1949), p . 3 .

21 Louise F o r t , "My C r a v e Was M a r r i e d M e n , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s (October , 1949), p. 7 .

22 M r s . O s c a r Ne l l T a y l o r , "How J. Went A s t r a y , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s (July , 1949), p . 1.

? 3 Eddie H a r r i s , " B o r n to Be B a d , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s

(August , 1950), p. 7. 7 A

Helen Gaff in , " B e c a u s e I Loved Him S o , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s (August , 1950), p . 3.

25 E a r l Dixon, " P r o d u c t of a B r o k e n H o m e , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s ( D e c e m b e r , 1950), p . 5.

?6 Sus ie A n d e r s o n , " C h e a p Love Can Cos t a High P r i c e , "

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s ( D e c e m b e r , 1950), p . 1. 27

Lou i se Grayson , "My B r o k e n L i f e , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s (July , 1950), p . 1.

19

28 V a n i s h e s L e a v e s an Aching H e a r t , " and "My M a r r i a g e

29 F a i l e d . "

" L i k e many o the r people , B lackwe l l had h e a r d s e x would

s e l l and he d idn ' t e v e r c o n s i d e r the n a m e of the m a g a z i n e . He j u s t

put in w h a t e v e r c a m e in and w h a t e v e r he thought would m a k e o u r

30 people buy . "

T h e c i r c u l a t i o n did go b a c k up in 1948 a f t e r the m a g a z i n e

3 1

changed f r o m a news m a g a z i n e to a g e n e r a l l ight r ead ing m a g a z i n e ,

but B lackwe l l n e v e r t r i e d to change the content b a c k to n e w s . "He

thought wi th the c i r c u l a t i o n up, he could i m p r o v e the magaz ine and

s e l l even m o r e , " sa id M r s . M a r t i n . By i m p r o v e m e n t , B lackwe l l

w a s th inking in t e r m s of plant f a c i l i t i e s and not copy.

T r u e s t o r i e s in N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s p o r t r a y e d the l i fe of

t he N e g r o a r d e n t l y , but they did not n e c e s s a r i l y show the b e s t s ide of

the N e g r o . F o r th i s r e a s o n , the m a g a z i n e cannot be c o n s i d e r e d a

c r u s a d e r f o r the b lack m a n excep t in a m o s t sub t l e s e n s e .

28 P i e s Dabney, J r . , "Love Tha t Van i shes Leaves a B r o k e n

H e a r t , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s (May, 1951), p . 1.

29 Lueol l ie J o n e s , "My M a r r i a g e F a i l e d , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s , IV (March , 1950), 1.

30 . ^ T u r n e r , i n t e r v i e w .

31 C i r c u l a t i o n f i g u r e s a r e not s t a t ed in the magaz ine showing

the r i s e . Howeve r , Edna K. Lacy T u r n e r sa id the r i s e was ev ident to h e r in 1948 b e c a u s e she w o r k e d in sh ipping . A l s o , Ade l l e J a c k s o n M a r t i n r e c a l l s B lackwe l l exa l t ing over the r i s e a f t e r the f o r m a t w a s changed .

20

E x c e r p t s f r o m a v a r i e t y of t r u e s t o r i e s s e l e c t e d a t r a n d o m

a r e a s fo l l ows :

I d idn ' t get a chance to go to s choo l as much a s m y s i s t e r s did b e c a u s e I had to s t ay out and h e l p ray f a t h e r w o r k one or two days a week . I would p a s s in a l l m y g r a d e s but would m i s s too many days to p a s s tha t y e a r . . . . But I did get to the 8th g r a d e . ^

I was r a i s e d on a f a r m : h a r d w o r k , h a l f - p r i c e , and a lways pushed a round by M r . and M r s . J e s s i e C r a b b . I guess I w a s about s even when m y f a t h e r and his b r o t h e r dec ided to wa lk to F l o r i d a to f ind b e t t e r w o r k , and w a s to send b a c k f o r u s . . . . I cou ldn ' t go to s choo l b e c a u s e i t was cold and I d idn ' t have anyth ing to w e a r . . . s o we s t ayed h o m e . My poor g r a n d m o t h e r and m o t h e r would go out and b r i n g s t r a w f o r b r o o m s and s e l l it in o r d e r to get food f o r us . . . t hey would w a s h f o r people and s w e e p y a r d s .

Daddy was s t i l l w o r k i n g us in the cot ton f i e ld s and whea t f i e l d s o r hoeing c o r n . J u s t any kind of w o r k . He wouldn ' t w o r k u n l e s s it was some th ing we could he lp h i m do. ^

My b r o t h e r s beg in to be m e a n to m e . But I have a lways loved m y s i s t e r and b r o t h e r s a l i t t l e m o r e than t hey did m e . They had it bad ca l l ing m e Red, I d idn ' t l ike the n a m e even though I a m a l i t t le l i gh te r than they a r e . ^

^2 F l e m i n g F r a z i e r , "The Wrong Kind of L i f e , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s (March , 1951), p . 1. 33

Mat t ie J o n e s , "Wil l I E v e r Have a Happy Home , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s (March , 1951), p . 1.

34 L e n o r a W a r d , " I ' l l N e v e r F o r g e t , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s

( N o v e m b e r , 1950), p . 3.

^ O s c a r Ne l l T a y l o r , "How I Went A s t r a y , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s (Ju ly , 1949), p . 1.

21

Now once aga in I m u s t wage my r e s e r v a t i o n a g a i n s t the r a t e I he ld : cook. If I m u s t , b e c a u s e of c o l o r , hold down m e s s j obs , I won ' t any longer give any o r d e r s * So knowing the pena l ty , I b r o k e f ive r u l e s . ^

His dad would te l l h i m about me picking cot ton wi th o the r m e n , and he would whip me with a r o p e . Wel l th ings got w o r s e and w o r s e . My husband would t ake my money and he wou ldn ' t give it b a c k to m e . I cou ldn ' t do a th ing but c r y . I d idn ' t have no people a r o u n d m e to s p e a k a good w o r d f o r m e . Wel l he got w h e r e he would s t ay out a l l night with o the r w o m e n . ^

Two months l a t e r she found out she was going to have a baby . She and H a r r i e got m a r r i e d . J i m a s k e d me to m a r r y h i m . I told h i m I would th ink it o v e r . J i m was too dul l f o r me but I wouldn ' t le t h i m know i t b e c a u s e I knew he love me and if I m a r r i e d h i m he would move to the c i ty . I d idn ' t love h i m at a l l . I j u s t wanted to leave the coun t ry .

R e g u l a r Columns

Al though t r u e s t o r i e s occupied a good d e a l of s p a c e in N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s , r e g u l a r f e a t u r e s on a v a r i e t y of s u b j e c t s a p p e a r e d f o r

the N e g r o r e a d e r .

In the beginning i s s u e s of 1947 "News of D i f f e r e n t C h u r c h e s , "

" T h e o r y of M u s i c , " "What the Heavenly P l a n e t s T e l l f o r Y o u , "

"Rev iewing the N e w s , " "News of the M o n t h , " " T h e P a s t , P r e s e n t ,

and F u t u r e , " "Spor t s in S p o t s , " and " M a t r i m o n i a l Co lumn" w e r e

r e g u l a r c o l u m n s . The June , 1947 i s s u e f e a t u r e d an a d v e r t i s e m e n t

3 8 M a r y Dean , "Disappo in ted in L o v e , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s (July , 1950), p . 5.

f o r the beginning of two new c o l u m n s . T h e y w e r e "We the P e o p l e

Speak" and "The U n d e r c o v e r R e p o r t e r s . "

A l s o a p p e a r i n g in the Augus t , 1947 i s s u e was "Swinging in the

B r e e z e , 1 ' a co lumn to cont inue many y e a r s by r e g u l a r c o n t r i b u t o r

Dave C l a r k . Added in May, 1948 w a s "Spinning the R e c o r d s , " a l s o

by C l a r k .

In 1948 a new co lumn , " H e r e , T h e r e , and E v e r y w h e r e , "

w a s inc luded , w r i t t e n by H e r m a n W. C l a r k of San F r a n c i s c o , C a l i -

f o r n i a .

"Spor t s in Spo t s " and " T h e o r y of M u s i c " w e r e d ropped in

the F e b r u a r y , 1948 i s s u e and w e r e n e v e r r e - e n t e r e d . Howeve r , l a t e r

1948 cop ies which p rev i ewed coming a r t i c l e s ment ioned news in s p o r t s

39

and a two-page sec t ion en t i t led ' T h e a t r i c a l s and M u s i c " which

c o v e r e d m u s i c and t h e a t e r happenings a m o n g N e g r o e s .

By A p r i l , 1948 the magaz ine had a c q u i r e d a v e h e m e n t w r i t e r

f o r the N e g r o p e r s o n a l l y and f o r the Neg ro in soc i e ty . Mack C.

Nance of N o g a l e s , A r i z o n a , made his f i i rst a p p e a r a n c e in N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s unde r the t i t l e " S c r a t c h e s " which eventua l ly changed

to ' O b s e r v a t i o n s , " a r e g u l a r c o l u m n .

• ^ N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , I (May, 1948), F r o n t Cove r Index.

<2 iL*

Anothe r co lumn added in the 1948 i s s u e w a s " F o r Ladies;

40

Only,1 1 by Leo la, which p r a g m a t i c a l l y adv i sed women on e t i q u e t t e ,

s t y l e , and the l a t e s t g o s s i p about town. " F o r Lad ies Only" w a s to

lead N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s 1 i n t roduc t ion of many co lumns p r a c t i c a l f o r

N e g r o e s .

"A Hint to Young Men and Young Women" a p p e a r e d i n

Augus t , 1948, w r i t t e n by Ade l l e J a c k s o n M a r t i n who was l a t e r t o

b e c o m e ed i to r of the publ ica t ion .

Edna K. Lacy , p r e s e n t l y a leading ed i t o r of N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s ' s u c c e s s o r Sepia , began in N o v e m b e r , 1948,wri t ing

a r e g u l a r co lumn wi th no spec i f i c n a m e but r a t h e r with a head l ine

d e s c r i b i n g the topic of the c o l u m n . H e r f i r s t two co lumns w e r e about

r e s t a u r a n t s : the job of w a i t e r s and w a i t r e s s e s and of c u s t o m e r s

f r e q u e n t i n g publ ic ea t ing p l a c e s . O v e r a l l , co lumns exce l l ed o the r

m a t e r i a l in the publ ica t ion . G r a m m a r and s u b j e c t m a t t e r w e r e above

the l eve l of o ther w r i t i n g .

" B r o o k l e t s by B r o o k s , " a co lumn to cont inue s e v e r a l y e a r s

and w r i t t e n by George W. B r o o k s of Sea t t l e , Washing ton , was added

40 " F o r Lad ies O n l y , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s (Apr i l , 1948),

p . 32. Leo la , out of San F r a n c i s c o , n e v e r s igned h e r l a s t n a m e . S ince a s taff box was nonex i s t en t on N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , the l a s t n a m e is not to be found. Since it was a c o n t r i b u t o r ' s co lumn , none of the r e m a i n i n g o r ig ina l staff m e m b e r s r e m e m b e r .

24

in F e b r u a r y , 1949, and Mack C. Nance put h i s co lumn under t h e

r e g u l a r n a m e of "Observa t ions ' " at the s a m e tim©v

Of a l l the co lumns w r i t t e n , showing the m o s t f i r e w a s the

one by N a n c e , who i s unknown and f o r g o t t e n by su rv iv ing staff m e m -

b e r s . Only his co lumn could be ca l l ed a f i g h t e r or c r u s a d e r f o r

the N e g r o .

F o r i n s t a n c e , in D e c e m b e r , 1948 Nance r a v e s about the id iocy

of the b l a c k r a c e be ing l u r e d into s m a l l s a t i s f a c t i o n s by the whi te

r a c e . He w r o t e :

The A m e r i c a n N e g r o , p r i o r to and s ince a q u e s -t ionab le e m a n c i p a t i o n , has leaned (with an i n h e r e n t and a m o r b i d s c r u p u l o s i t y , p r o c e e d i n g f r o m i g n o r a n c e , e m o t i o n a l i s m , and e n i g m a t i c s ) so heavi ly [s ic ] upon an i m a g i n a r y "good t i m e " and gala f e s t i v i t i e s , a f t e r dea th , tha t he has f o r g o t t e n his m a t e r i a l self and tha t of p o s t e r i t y . While p r o g r e s s i v e r a c e s a r e paving the rough highways of l ife f o r the babes yet unborn , the " p e t i t e " b r a i n e d N e g r o , unde r the s u i c i d a l in f lu -ence of an a n e s t h e t i c , s a y s , "let p o s t e r i t y go to he l l and get by a s I did" and c o m f o r t s h imse l f by a v i s i o n -a r y a s p e c t of " m a n s i o n s in the s k y , " golden s l i p p e r s , long WHITE r o b e , f r e e gin and honey, a l l to be en joyed a f t e r dea th . This is ch i l d i sh and f a r f r o m p l e a s -ing to GOD. F o r th i s we (the Negro ) s u f f e r the agony of deep humi l i a t i on .

Our s i n i s t e r minded b r o t h e r , the whi te r a c e s (en m a s s e ) have p roven to be c r a f t y p s y c h o l o g i s t s , in tha t they have been v e r y s u c c e s s f u l ins t i l l ing in the

41 Ade l l e J a c k s o n M a r t i n s t a t e d she thought he m a d e r e g u l a r

con t r ibu t ions f r o m a p e n i t e n t i a r y but was not s u r e . O the r s u r v i v i n g o r i g i n a l staff m e m b e r s r e m e m b e r e d nothing a t a l l , not even his n a m e . N o g a l e s , A r i z o n a , has no r e c o r d of his b i r t h o r dea th .

25

con fused , emot iona l and s tupid minds of the N e g r o , j u s t out of s l a v e r y ; a con tamina t ing " v i r u s " a dead ly seda -t i ve , m e a n t t o p e r m a n e n t l y t r a n q u i l i z e h i m into a s t a t e of m o r b i d s a t i s f a c t i o n , even in d i r e h u m i l i t y .

Raging a g a i n s t a d v e r t i s e m e n t s in N e g r o pub l i ca t ions , Nance

w r i t e s in "We the Peop le Speak" of M a r c h , 1950:

T h e p r e s s i s an i n s t r u m e n t of the people . It is the N e g r o who s u p p o r t s the N e g r o p r e s s . We , qui te n a t u r -a l ly , looks [s ic ] f o r . expec t s and a r e en t i t led a c o n -s t r u c t i v e , educa t iona l and a p roduc t ive s e r v i c e r a t h e r than a p e r i o d i c a l invi ta t ion to "gi t whi te ove rn igh t " b l a c k no m o r e , kink no m o r e , c o n j u r a t i o n and voodoois t i c p r e p a r a t i o n s .

O t h e r c o l u m n s , ma in ly l ight w r i t i n g , w e r e to e n t e r t a i n o r

a d v i s e and not to p r e a c h or r age about i n j u s t i c e s . In Ade l le J a c k s o n ' s

1948 C h r i s t m a s co lumn, she a d v i s e s : " L e a r n to c o n t r o l your emo t ion ,

avoid a r g u m e n t s , i t ' s only the s tupid who a r g u e , an in te l l igent p e r s o n

r e a s o n s th ings o u t , "

Mus ic c o l u m n s , f l o u r i s h i n g by M a r c h , 1949 expe l led such

g o s s i p a s : "Look who ' s h e r e . I t ' s T a m p a Red, The S ta te S t r e e t

King of the Blues and he w i l l s l a y you wi th two v e r y f ine b lue tunes

done only as the M a y o r of Sta te S t r e e t can do t h e m . "

O t h e r i t e m s of the s a m e co lumn inc luded :

The movie cap i to l was loaded wi th Ce lebs inc lud -ing Bi l ly E c k s t e i n , Duke El l ing ton , Louis J o r d a n , Ne l l i e L u t c h e r , and H e r b J e f f e r i e s who is doing it up big a t the Toddle House , while H o r a c e H e n d e r s o n and h is band is the f e a t u r e a t the Mil l ion Dol la r T h e a t r e wi th Roy Mil ton and h is band toppin ' a t the E lks on C e n t r a l Avenue .

26

As the magazine aged, it became an in s t rumen t f o r e n t e r -

ta inment and for providing the Negro r ace with a publication to which

they could unders tand and r e l a t e .

According to ex-managing edi tor M r s . Mar t in , "We w e r e n ' t

compet i t ion to anyone . . . couldn't hold a candle to Ebony who was

using color and everything e l se . But our magazine sold. It r ea l ly

appealed to what the Negro knew and could unders tand. Ebony was

a d r e a m w o r l d . "

Negro Achievements : S to r i e s , A r t i c l e s , P i c t u r e s

Achievement a r t i c l e s were mainly about s inge r s or m u s i -

cians such as Tiny D a v i s , 4 2 M r . Be-Bop, 4 3 That Mirac le Man Duke

44 Ell ington, Gospel Singer Mill icent F o l w e r , 4 5 and Lena H o m e . 4 6

However, a l so common in achievement s t o r i e s w e r e bus i -

ness men, church men, and community men. F o r ins tance , in the

42 "Tiny Davis Sings, N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s . i l (Februarv.

1949), 16.

43 " M r . Be-Bop, " Negro Achievements (March, 1949),

p. 32.

44 That Mirac le Man Duke Ell ington, " Negro Achievements

(April , 1948), p. 18.

45 "Gospel Singer Mill icent Fowle r , " Negro Achievements

(August, 1947), p. 21. "

46 "Lena H o m e Now, " Negro Achievements (May, 1950).

p. 41.

27

D e c e m b e r , 1948 i s s u e the f i r s t N e g r o t r a f f i c o f f i c e r in T u l s a was.

hono red wi th a capt ion r e a d i n g , " L i k e m o s t s o u t h e r n c i t i e s , T u l s a

d o e s n ' t p a r t i c u l a r l y l ike f o r N e g r o o f f i c e r s to a r r e s t w h i t e s , but in.

M r . W h i t e ' s [ s ic ] c a s e , if a whi te m o t o r i s t s p e e d s on T u l s a ' s

n o r t h s i d e , and is caught by O f f i c e r Whi te , he is a r r e s t e d . "

O t h e r a c h i e v e m e n t s t o r i e s inc luded the " J u n i o r Cho i r of

New Be the l Bap t i s t C h u r c h , " who r e c e i v e d s p a c e on the back i n s ide

c o v e r of the M a r c h , 1949 issuer a s did the " D r a m a t i c C l a s s of t he

C a l i f o r n i a Labor C l a s s . " The b a c k c o v e r gave a b e a u t i c i a n and a

s o c i a l w o r k e r s p a c e wi th p i c t u r e s a s N e g r o e s wi th a c h i e v e m e n t s .

Noted a l s o in v a r i o u s i s s u e s w e r e such s t o r i e s a s " J a c k i e E o b i n s o n

47 Souven i r V e n d e r s , " Ol ive r E d w a r d s a s "Windy Ci ty Disc

48 49 J o c k e y , " " T h e Na t iona l M o r t u a r y F r a t e r n i t y , " and " G i r l Goes

50 to Co l l ege . "

47 " J a c k i e Eobinson Souven i r V e n d e r s , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s

(July , 1950), p . 33.

48 "Windy City Disc J o c k e y , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , IV

( M a r c h , 1950), 21.

49 " T h e Na t iona l M o r t u a r y F r a t e r n i t y , " N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s (October , 1949), p . 30.

50 " G i r l Goes to C o l l e g e , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s ( N o v e m b e r ,

1949), p. 32.

28

C o m m u n i t y a c t i v i t i e s , wedd ings , a n n i v e r s a r i e s of ten f i l l e d

the pages a s notable a c h i e v e m e n t s .

T h e W o r l d ' s M e s s e n g e r P u b l i s h i n g Company was f e a t u r e d in

the m a g a z i n e when it moved to i ts new loca t ion . The a r t i c l e to ld

C 1 of The Wor ld M e s s e n g e r ' s hopes f o r beginning t h r e e o ther m a g a z i n e s .

When Blackwel l began to o rgan i ze a N e g r o B a s e b a l l L e a g u e ,

a l a r g e s p r e a d was done on the mee t i ngs and p r o g r e s s of the v a r i o u s

52 c o m m i t t e e s .

A c h i e v e m e n t a r t i c l e s and p i c t u r e s i n t e r s p e r s e d throughout

the magaz ine " l i f t ed the N e g r o - ~ s o to s p e a k — w h i c h i s wha t M r .

B lackwe l l fu l ly in tended to do. "

F o r m a t and Des ign

F r o m N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s ' beginning unt i l p robably A p r i l ,

54

1949, the m a g a z i n e w a s 17 X 11 i n c h e s , p r i n t e d on pulp p a p e r . It

r e s e m b l e d a t ab lo id n e w s p a p e r . In May, 1948 the c o v e r was changed

to s l i c k p a p e r , giving the publ ica t ion m o r e of a magaz ine look.

51 "Slowly a Rea l i ty , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , II ( F e b r u a r y ,

1949), 32 -33 .

5 ^ I b i d . , p . 13.

53 T u r n e r , i n t e r v i e w .

54 M a r c h and Ju ly , 1949 copies w e r e found but i n t e r v e n i n g

cop ies cannot be loca t ed .

29

Ins ide des ign inc luded f o u r 2 - 1 / 2 inch co lumns a r r a n g e d wi th

co lumn r u l e s . Body type was a p p r o x i m a t e l y 9-poin t Bodoni and head-

l ine type w a s mixed Roman and Gothic , d i f f e r e n t weights and pos tures ,

V a r i t y p e r s w e r e u s e d ma in ly to s e t the type . Of f se t p r in t ing w a s the

only method u s e d .

The f o r m a t w a s n e w s p a p e r s ty le th roughout with v e r y l i t t l e

des ign u s e d . T w o - p a g e s p r e a d s w e r e not u s e d no r w e r e o ther m a g a -

zine des ign t e c h n i q u e s . E a c h page was t r e a t e d a s a s e p a r a t e un i t .

The f i r s t twelve pages usua l ly con ta ined the beginnings o£

s ix t r u e s t o r i e s . Mos t t r u e s t o r i e s w e r e cont inued to the b a c k of the

m a g a z i n e . The only obvious layout p r a c t i c e which p r e v a i l e d w a s the

p l a c e m e n t of the a u t h o r ' s p i c t u r e (the r e a d e r m u s t a s s u m e it is the

au tho r s ince no cut l ine is given) to the r igh t of the headl ine a t the top.

Columns w e r e u sua l l y boxed wi th v a r i o u s types of b o r d e r s

and a d v e r t i s e m e n t s w e r e boxed with pla in l ine b o r d e r s .

P i c t u r e s , a s we l l as a d s , w e r e f i t t ed w h e r e v e r r o o m e x i s t e d ,

wi th s e e m i n g l y l i t t le o r d e r or o rgan iza t ion involved . Howeve r , m a n y

p i c t u r e s w e r e used wi th a c h i e v e m e n t a r t i c l e s and news s t o r i e s which

kept the t i t l e of " p i c t o r a l " magaz ine t r u e . L a r g e p i c t u r e s occupied

t h r e e co lumns by s ix inches which w a s not an unusua l ly l a r g e d i sp l ay .

Some pages had only one co lumn of copy, wi th the r e s t of the page

be ing p i c t u r e s .

30

M a r c h , 1949 is the l a t e s t l a r g e - s i z e m a g a z i n e a v a i l a b l e .

T h e next i s s u e in Ju ly , 1949 had b e e n r e d u c e d in s i z e to 8 - 1 / 2 X 11

i n c h e s , g l o s s y c o v e r , pulp p a p e r and a t h r e e - c o l u m n f o r m a t . T h e

m a g a z i n e a l s o changed f r o m t h i r t y - t w o pages to f o r t y - e i g h t p a g e s . I t

took on the look of a s t a n d a r d magaz ine a t th i s point . Howeve r ,

a c c o r d i n g to M r s . M a r t i n , the change w a s not made to i m p r o v e looks

but r a t h e r to hal t compla in t s f r o m r e a d e r s , d i s t r i b u t o r s and the W o r l d

M e s s e n g e r p r i n t e r s who sa id the l a r g e s i z e w a s too h a r d to handle and

d i s p l a y .

Content did not change wi th the s i z e change , but m o r e t w o -

page s p r e a d s with p i c t u r e s w e r e u s e d and co lumns w e r e d i sp layed to

t h e i r b e s t advan tage on the t h r e e - c o l u m n page .

The c o v e r , f r o m i t s beg inn ing , had used two c o l o r s , but on

the s m a l l e r s i z e , the c o l o r s a p p e a r e d b r i g h t e r and the p i c t u r e s ,

u sua l ly head s h o t s , w e r e m o r e t yp i ca l of the c o \ e r g i r l look.

Dropped with the change in s i z e was the c o v e r ' s index,

" A p p e a r i n g in Th i s I s s u e " and "Appea r ing in the (Next Month)

I s s u e , " which usua l ly r a n in two 4 by 4 s q u a r e b locks a t the b o t t o m of

the c o v e r .

Incons i s t en t c o v e r m a t e r i a l would f e a t u r e e i t h e r a N e g r o

s i n g e r , m u s i c i a n , s t a r , the au thor of one of the t r u e s t o r i e s , o r

s o m e t i m e s a p r e t t y N e g r o w o m a n , f e a t u r e d a s " O u r Cove r G i r l . "

31

A d v e r t i s e m e n t s and P o l i c i e s

Qual i ty a d v e r t i s e m e n t s w e r e not the ru le a t N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s ; h o w e v e r , a d v e r t i s e m e n t s w e r e s i m i l a r to t h o s e s e e n

s t i l l in many N e g r o publ ica t ions which a d v e r t i s e f o r t u n e t e l l e r s and

sk in b l e a c h .

F u l l - p a g e ads w e r e not to be found unt i l t he m a g a z i n e changed

owners in Ju ly , 1951. The n o r m a l s i z e ad was one co lumn .inch by

two i n c h e s .

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s p r o m o t e d i t se l f t h rough a d v e r t i s i n g

f i l l e r s which e n c o u r a g e d s u b s c r i p t i o n s , s t o r i e s , and people to apply

f o r a g e n t ' s pos i t i ons . A l s o , s p a c e w a s p rov ided f o r N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s to give no t i ces to t h e i r r e a d e r s on p a r t i c u l a r p o l i c i e s .

F o r i n s t a n c e , one no t i ce to r e a d e r s r e a d :

N O T I C E - - T 0 t h o s e who a r e send ing in s t o r i e s f o r our pub l i ca t ions : Your p i c t u r e m u s t a c c o m p a n y the s t o r y , and don ' t s e n d us any l i t t le b i t of old f aded p i c -t u r e s . If you do, we wi l l send t h e m r igh t s t r a i g h t b a c k . We w o n ' t a c c e p t the s t o r y or the p i c t u r e e i t h e r . We m u s t have good p i c t u r e s .

No pol icy e x i s t e d f o r the type of a d v e r t i s e m e n t s to go in to

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s . Howeve r , if t he s taff r e c e i v e d any m a t e r i a l

d e t r i m e n t a l to the b l a c k r a c e , it was de l e t ed . No e f f o r t was m a d e to

de le t e poor qua l i ty ads f o r b l a c k s .

c c Neg ro A c h i e v e m e n t s (November , 1949), p . 45 .

32

"We d i d n ' t r e a l l y d e p e n d on a d v e r t i s i n g t oo m u c h f o r r e v e n u e .

T h e r e j u s t w a s n ' t a s y s t e m , " s a i d M r s . M a r t i n .

R e g u l a r a d v e r t i s e r s f r o m 1947 t o .1950 w e r e F i e mining s ' s

S u p e r i o r B e a u t y A i d s , L o a d s t o n e s f o r L u c k , M e e t y o u r F r i e n d s a t

A m e r i c a ' s B e s t C o l o r e d C o r r e s p o n d e n c e C l u b , High J o h n ; T h e

C o n q u e r o r ' s Roo t f o r Good L u c k , F r a n k l i n ' s Skin B l e a c h , B a k e r ' s

F u n e r a l H o m e , C h r i s t i a n C o l o r e d L e a g u e , a n d C o l o r e d P r o p e r t y f o r

S a l e . O t h e r a d v e r t i s e m e n t s s p a s m o d i c a l l y a p p e a r e d and d i s a p p e a r e d

w i t h o c c a s i o n a l a d v e r t i s e m e n t s f o r l o c a l p l a c e s of b u s i n e s s .

A n a d v e r t i s i n g r a t e c a r d ^ l i s t e d t h e f o l l o w i n g c h a r t f o r i t s

r e a d e r s :

P a g e 1 T i m e 3 T i m e s 6 T i m e s 12 T i m e s

1 $ 5 0 . 00 $ 4 5 . 0 0 $ 4 0 . 0 0 $ 3 6 . 4 5

2 / 3 3 6 . 3 1 u>

• o o 2 9 . 70 2 6 . 7 3

1 / 3 1 9 . 9 7 17. 97 16. 17 14. 55

1 / 6 1 0 . 9 9 9 . 9 0 8. 91 8. 02

O t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n g iven on the c h a r t w a s : $ . 70 p e r l i ne l e s s

t h a n o n e - s i x t h p a g e ; c o v e r p r i c e s r a n g e d f r o m $ 80 to $ 58 w i t h t w o

c o l o r s b e i n g t h e p u b l i s h e r ' s c h o i c e . A g e n c y c o m m i s s i o n s t a t e d on

56 " A d v e r t i s i n g R a t e C a r d , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s (July,

1950), p. 4 8 .

33

the c h a r t was 15 p e r cent to r e c o g n i z e d a d v e r t i s i n g a g e n c i e s , 2 p e r

cent d i scoun t in. t e n days .

C i r c u l a t i o n s t a t e d on the r a t e c a r d w a s 15 ,000 .

Expans ion and I n d e b t e d n e s s

B lackwe l l , d i scon ten t wi th the T h o m a s and M o r r o w P r i n t i n g

plant on W e s t L a n c a s t e r in F o r t W o r t h , dec ided he could put up his

p r o f i t s and i m p r o v e the magaz ine a t the s a m e t i m e if he p r i n t e d t he

magaz ine h i m s e l f .

"He had a l l the b l u e p r i n t s and two l o t s , " sa id Ade l le J a c k s o n

M a r t i n , and in 1948, he c o m p l e t e d the bui ld ing wi th s t i l l f u r t h e r hopes

of expanding. He m o r t g a g e d the e n t i r e p lace to buy m o r e equ ipmen t

in e a r l y 1949.

The D e c e m b e r , 1948 i s s u e c a r r i e d f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e the new

a d d r e s s , 1216 Hard ing S t r e e t , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s , and the Februi-*

a r y , 1949 copy d i sp layed on page 32 and on the b a c k c o v e r the s t o r y

and the p i c t u r e s of " T h e W o r l d ' s M e s s e n g e r P u b l i s h i n g C o m p a n y ' s

$ 75, 000 P r i n t i n g P l a n t (Is) Slowly but S u r e l y B e c o m i n g a Rea l i t y . "

The f i r s t copy of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s t o be p r i n t e d by the new equ ip -

men t was the M a r c h , 1949 i s s u e . The F e b r u a r y , 1949 i s s u e r e p o r t e d ,

" T h e plant w i l l be equipped wi th t h r e e f ine s t a t i o n s , tha t r e q u i r e s f i ve

34

g i r l s to o p e r a t e : one e l e c t r i c power c u t t e r , and many o ther equipments-

f o r p la te making . 1 1

Blackwe l l , f in icky about his expens ive new p lan t , s e t r u l e s

that l a s t e d even a f t e r the n e w n e s s was gone. F o r i n s t a n c e , no high

hee l s w e r e a l lowed on the t i l e f l o o r s and anyone who s l a m m e d a d o o r

w a s u s u a l l y r e p r i m a n d e d h a r s h l y . The ce i l ing f a n s , qui te a c o n v e n -

i e n c e in 1948, w e r e to be t u r n e d on only by Blackwel l , who eventua l ly

s h a r e d th i s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y wi th Adel le J a c k s o n M a r t i n .

Dur ing the p r o c e s s of e n l a r g i n g , B lackwe l l h i r e d Edna K.

Lacy , who was p laced in sh ipping and Lula P e a r l Woodfork and Geneva

Benn, who a l s o w o r k e d in sh ipping. Lou i se W r i g h t w a s h i r e d and

b e c a m e one of B l a c k w e l l ' s " f a v o r i t e s " which " m a d e it d i f f i cu l t on

e v e r y o n e , " exp la ined M r s . M a r t i n . B lackwel l , "not a lways a f a i r

p e r s o n , " could make work ing unp lea san t when he chose p e t s . A l s o ,

a c c o r d i n g to M r s . M a r t i n , the added f i n a n c i a l s t r a i n w o r e heav i ly on

B l a c k w e l l ' s hea l th and he n e v e r a c t ed l ike the s a m e p e r s o n a f t e r the

m o v e .

The p r in t ing shop h i r e d t h r e e m e n , M a r v i n T h o m p s o n , O.W.

Owsley , and Don A n d e r s o n , and once a month b i n d e r y g i r l s w e r e

ca l l ed in to put the m a g a z i n e t o g e t h e r .

B lackwe l l fu l ly in tended to e n l a r g e and publ i sh t h r e e o the r

m a g a z i n e s b e s i d e s The W o r l d M e s s e n g e r and N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s :

35

Another magazine wi l l be known as I n t e r r a c i a l R o m a n c e s . Th i s magaz ine will depict and d i sp lay p i c -t u r e s and s t o r i e s of l i b e r a l - m i n d e d white women and m e n . T h e s e types of people have kept t h e i r s e c r e t r o m a n c e s hidden f o r y e a r s , and now they wi l l t e l l t he i r own s t o r y in t he i r own way; of t h e i r r e l a t i onsh ip wi th d i f f e r e n t r a c e s of people . Th i s magaz ine wi l l h i t the news s tands about A p r i l 1.

The company wi l l publ ish ano ther magaz ine known a s N e g r o e s in C r i m e . The pu rpose of publ ishing th is type of magaz ine is to i m p r e s s upon our younger g e n e r a -t ion that c r i m e doesn ' t pay. The company wi l l a l s o publ i sh a s ix teen page tab lo id n e w s p a p e r that w i l l be known as The Texas Sta te News . ^^

The only magaz ine to m a t e r i a l i z e was I n t e r r a c i a l Romances

and it l ived fo r only one i s s u e . "Tha t magaz ine hi t newss t ands in the

South and it c aused a r io t and a burn ing in M i s s i s s i p p i so bad we had

to d iscont inue i t , " sa id M r s . M a r t i n . The o ther magaz ines w e r e

" too much" f o r Blackwel l to under take because his hea l th was fa i l ing

a s his r e spons ib i l i t y was growing.

In N o v e m b e r , 1949, Blackwel l wro te a t r u e s t o r y en t i t led

58 " Y e s , I A m Going to D i e . "

I a m a v ic t im of c a n c e r , that d r eaded d i s e a s e , c a n -c e r .

I have some other plans that I had longed to b r i n g t o r ea l i t y fo r the bene f i t of my r a c e b e f o r e I round out m y c a r e e r .

t i *7

"Slowly a Real i ty , " Negro A c h i e v e m e n t s , II ( F e b r u a r y , 1949), 32.

H . J . Blackwel l , " Y e s , I A m Going to D i e , " N e g r o Ach ievemen t s (November , 1949), p. 1.

36

B lac W e l l s t a t e d in the s a m e a r t i c l e h is two g r e a t a c c o m -

p l i s h m e n t s a s founding The W o r l d ' s M e s s e n g e r and N e g r o Achievements , ,

" A m e r i c a ' s two f a m o u s m a g a z i n e s " and a s buying the lot a t T w e l f t h

and Hard ing and bui ld ing the " t h i r t y - f i v e thousand do l l a r pub l i sh ing

h o u s e . " He w r o t e :

I went heav i ly into debt and bought s i x t y - f i v e t h o u -s a n d d o l l a r s w o r t h of the l a t e s t type of m a c h i n e r y and equipped the bui ld ing wi th the p r o p e r equ ipmen t to ge t out our own m a g a z i n e s .

B lackwel l s a id a "whi te c o n c e r n " p r in t ing h i s m a g a z i n e w a s

a t t e m p t i n g to gain c o n t r o l by d i s c o u r a g i n g h i m to t ake on h is own

p r i n t i n g , " c l a i m i n g tha t I w a s t ak ing on a h e a d a c h e . " The p r i n t e r s

o v e r c h a r g e d h i m , c a u s e d h is F e b r u a r y i s s u e to be de layed (which

even tua l ly c a u s e d h i m to sk ip the A p r i l i s s u e ) , and he w a s " d e t e r -

59

mined to get a loose f r o m tha t s t r a n g l e hold they had on m e . "

Owing his p r i n t e r s $ 6, 385, B lackwe l l went to the h o s p i t a l

f o r f o r t y - f i v e days when " t h e s e u n g r a t e f u l p r i n t e r s s o r t [ s ic ] t h i s

chance to s t r i k e m e a blow; t hey t r i e d t h e i r d a r n d e s t to th row m e u- n 6 0

into r e c e i v e r s h i p . "

B l a c k w e l l ' s c l a i m was that the p r i n t e r s wan ted the p lant in

r e c e i v e r s h i p so they could b e c o m e t r u s t e e s .

59 Ib id .

6°-.. Ib id .

37

It w a s n ' t t h e i r money they wan ted s o b a d . If i t had been they would have w a i t e d unt i l I got out of t h e hosp i t a l ; a f t e r I had pa id t h e m $ 4 0 , 000 du r ing 1948.

They thought they w e r e f a m i l i a r enough wi th the-two publ ica t ions to p r i n t t h e m , and t h a t would have been a g r a v e m i s t a k e , b e c a u s e t h e r e is not a whi te man in t h e Uni ted S ta t e s who can publ i sh a N e g r o m a g a z i n e . ^ *

Dur ing th is t i m e , a R . L , H o s e a , f o r m e r v i c e - p r e s i d e n t of

the T r i n i t y S ta te Bank of F o r t W o r t h , a i d e d B lackwe l l by p lanning a

c o u r s e of ac t ion , paying c r e d i t o r s and i n c o r p o r a t i n g T h e W o r l d ' s

M e s s e n g e r Company . B lackwel l exp la ined in h is s t o r y :

He s e t up a bookkeeping s y s t e m tha t w a s v e r y s i m p l e and taught a g i r l f o r two m o n t h s and a half how to k e e p t h e m .

I a m b u r d e n e d wi th f e a r - - w h a t w i l l b e c o m e of m y b u s i n e s s a f t e r my dea th? Wil l i t go into the hands of whi te owne r sh ip ; the b u s i n e s s tha t I have w o r k e d s o h a r d to bui ld up , and have a l m o s t pa id wi th m y l i fe to s e e it g row, o r w i l l it r e m a i n in the hands of my p e o -p le . 6 2

B l a c k w e l l a s k e d f o r c o n t r i b u t o r s to save the m a g a z i n e " s o tha t it w i l l

6 3

r e m a i n wi th in the r a c e and live on, and on, and on. "

B lackwel l , s t a t ing his one g r e a t f e a r aga in , s a y s , " T h i a

is the l a s t th ing in the w o r l d we want to do, that is to s e l l to

^ * Ib id . , p . 26 .

^ I b i d . , p . 27 .

k^lbid . , p . 28 .

38

b

w h i t e s , tha t is what we a r e f ight ing f o r new, i s to s a v e i t

64 f o r the R a c e . "

B lackwe l l d ied on D e c e m b e r 15, 1949, a t 7:30 p . m . , one

65

month a f t e r his s t o r y was p r i n t e d .

He w a s f i f t y - s i x y e a r s old and he l e f t h is wi fe E l i z a b e t h ,

t h i r t y - n i n e , in c h a r g e of h is a f f a i r s , w i t h h i s l a s t w i s h be ing tha t N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s r e m a i n in the hands of b l a c k s .

M r s . B lackwel l knew v e r y l i t t le about the b u s i n e s s and had

l i t t l e b u s i n e s s knowledge . "She kept it in the ho le . She d idn ' t pay

t a x e s and a l l the e m p l o y e e s had to r u s h to the bank with t h e i r p a y -

c h e c k s , " exp la ined M r s . M a r t i n .

T o f u r t h e r c o m p l i c a t e m a t t e r s , M r s . B lackwe l l a c q u i r e d a

b o y f r i e n d who occupied m o s t of h e r t i m e , l eav ing h e r l i t t le t i m e to

w o r r y about pub l i ca t ions . Al though M r s . B lackwe l l w a s able to k e e p

the m a g a z i n e ope ra t i ng , it was not a long- l ived e n d e a v o r .

M r s . M a r t i n went in s e a r c h of s o m e o n e to s ave N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s , which w a s deeply in debt .

64 ° Ib id .

65 " H . J . B l a c k w e l l , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s (May, 1950),

p . 9.

CHAPTER i n

SEARCH FOR NEW OWNERSHIP

F ind ing an owner f o r the defunc t N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s p r o v e d

no e a s y t a s k . I t w a s r e a d y to go into the hands of the Bank of C o m -

m e r c e , * wh ich had the m o r t g a g e on the bu i ld ing .

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s had b e c o m e c r u d e in i t s f ive y e a r s of

l i f e , and th is c r u d e n e s s was not a s e l l i ng point . I t w a s not the t ype

of publ ica t ion the " a v e r a g e " m a n would want . Buying the pub l ica t ion

would m e a n an i n v e s t m e n t r e q u i r i n g work , b e c a u s e N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s needed change in con ten t , layout , and a d v e r t i s i n g in

o r d e r to r a i s e the c i r c u l a t i o n .

A s the b l a c k man b e c a m e m o r e l i b e r a t e d and m o r e educa t ed ,

he r o s e above the s t a n d a r d s N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s had s e t . The e l e v a -

t ion of N e g r o e s w a s slow b e c a u s e of h a m p e r i n g a t t i tudes in wh i t e

c o m m u n i t i e s , but e leva t ion w a s happening . Slowly, N e g r o e s w e r e

outgrowing the pub l ica t ion .

S t a t e m e n t by George Levi tan , p u b l i s h e r of Sepia Pub l i sh ing Company , 1220 Hard ing St . , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s , June 9, 1972. A second in t e rv iew wi th Levi tan took p lace on June 22, 1972. T h r o u g h -out the r e m a i n d e r of th is c h a p t e r , his s t a t e m e n t s a t t h e s e i n t e r v i e w s a r e quoted and d i s c u s s e d without f u r t h e r footnoted a t t r i b u t i o n .

39

40 s>

A p r o g r e s s i v e black with much money and a gambling ins t inct

would have the bes t qual i f ica t ions . However , Adelle Jackson Mar t in

found quickly that a man with such c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s was diff icul t to

locate . "I went to every b lack l eader I knew, but they jus t wouldn' t

2

chance it,11 sa id M r s , Mar t in .

She approached The Exce l s io r Insurance Company and a l m o s t

convinced the company off ic ials that the magazine could be improved

and make money. "But as soon as they found out Blackwell had lef t

the company in the charge of his wife , they w e r e not willing to invest

or buy, " M r s . Mar t in commented .

M r s . Mar t in decided that perhaps the s e a r c h was hope less ;

"I jus t wasn ' t t ry ing to be hero ic and save Negro Achievements . I

was t ry ing to save my job, " she sa id . M r s . Mar t in made it c l ea r that

a black woman ' s place in socie ty was not in an off ice , but r a t h e r behind

a mop or b room. "Finding a decent office job or any job wasn ' t e a sy ,

and t h e r e w e r e s e v e r a l of us who w e r e going to be to s sed out in the

s t r e e t if I didn' t do something. "

Since M r s . Mar t in had exhausted h e r r e s o u r c e s in the black

communi ty , t he re was only one place left to go - - the white communi ty .

2 Sta tement by Adelle Jackson Mar t in , long- t ime s e c r e t a r y

and ex-managing edi tor to H . J . Blackwel l ' s publication, Negro Ach ievements . Interview by te lephone, July 24, 1972, F o r t Worth , T e x a s . F u r t h e r footnote r e f e r e n c e s in this chapter a r e omit ted.

41

T h e whi te m a n w a s an objec t of f e a r and d i s t r u s t to the N e g r o e s , and

the y e a r 1951 b rough t l i t t le change to t h e i r f e e l i n g s . But th<a job#

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s p rov ided w e r e m o r e i m p o r t a n t to M r s . M a r t i n

than p r i d e . "Guts had to make up f o r p r i d e . I j u s t kept p l u g g i n g , "

she r e c a l l e d .

0 „ W . Owsley , one of the m e n in the p r in t ing shop, s u g g e s t e d

a whi te m a n who m e t m o s t of the qua l i f i ca t ions needed f o r the new

owner . Although not b l ack , he w a s in a m i n o r i t y g roup , He w a s

J e w i s h . If any r a c e of people has undergone as much t u r m o i l , p e r s e -

cut ion , and p r e j u d i c e as the N e g r o , i t would be the J e w i s h peop le . In

p a r t , h i s be ing J e w i s h a l t e r e d the image of t h i s m a n ' s w h i t e n e s s . A l s o ,

he w a s r i c h , r e ady to r e t i r e a t age f o r t y - s i x , and his f a v o r i t e m e n t a l

e x e r c i s e was gambl ing wi th p r o m i s i n g e n t e r p r i s e s . His n a m e was 3

George Lev i tan , and he w a s a h a n d s o m e , d a r k - s k i n n e d man wi th

a l e r t eyes who would be t aken in by no one.

D e t e r m i n e d to t a l k wi th Lev i t an , M r s . M a r t i n p u r s u e d h i m

and s t a t e d h e r in tent ions c l e a r l y . Levi tan l iked h e r a p p r o a c h but

s t a t e d f i r m l y , "No, I ' m get t ing r e a d y to r e t i r e . What would I want

wi th a b r o k e publ i sh ing house? " Not be ing s a t i s f i e d with anything

M r s . M a r t i n sa id , Lev i t an again s a id , " N o . " Leaving f o r a vaca t ion

3 Al though his given n a m e is George T h e o d o r e Levi tan , the

T h e o d o r e has been d i s m i s s e d as " u n n e c e s s a r y " by h i m . He has not u s e d it o r r e v e a l e d i t in any b u s i n e s s t r a n s a c t i o n or to any of his a s s o c i a t e s .

42

with h is w i f e , he did not give the p r o p o s i t i o n f u r t h e r thought e x c e p t

to m a r v e l a t the ga l l of M r s . Mar t in . .

But M r s . M a r t i n ' s m e n t a l whee l s had not quit sp inn ing .

" H e r e was a m a n with h e a r t . I w a s n ' t going to give u p , " M r s . M a r -

t in r e c a l l e d , and she kept h e r w o r d . A f t e r Levi tan r e t u r n e d f r o m h i s

v a c a t i o n , M r s . M a r t i n w a s " f i g u r a t i v e l y speak ing , c amp ing on h i s

door s t ep . 1 1 He r p r o p o s i t i o n th is t i m e w a s , " T r y it a t l e a s t . You

c a n ' t know t i l l you t r y . "

O r d i n a r i l y a b u s i n e s s m a n f i r s t , Lev i t an , in th i s c a s e , l e t

h i s s e n s i t i v e s ide guide h i m in b e c o m i n g i n t e r e s t e d in the de func t

W o r l d M e s s e n g e r P r i n t i n g Company . When M r s . M a r t i n a p p r o a c h e d

Lev i tan the second t i m e , the fo l lowing c o n v e r s a t i o n o c c u r r e d :

" M r . Levi tan , if you don ' t take over th is company ,

w e ' l l a l l be out of w o r k , " s a id M r s . M a r t i n . "Who's a l l ? " a s k e d Lev i t an . " F i v e c o l o r e d w o m e n and one whi te p r e s s m a n , "

she r e p l i e d . "Wel l , L a d y , " s a id Lev i t an , " y o u ' l l j u s t have

to be out of w o r k . I don ' t know anyth ing about the p u b -l i sh ing b u s i n e s s and I ' m get t ing r e a d y to r e t i r e . "

"A young m a n l ike you, looks as good a s you. You don ' t need to r e t i r e . J u s t c o m e and look a t i t . "

So Levi tan went to look. "What I saw w a s s o pa the t i c .

T h e y w e r e looking at me with t h e i r d a r k f a c e s and whi te eyes w o n d e r -

ing what I was going to do wi th t h e m . It w a s l ike having a l i t t l e g r o u p

of people in the p a l m of your hand tha t you could squeeze t h e m t o

43

nothing or le t t h e m b l o s s o m into s o m e t h i n g r e a l l y b ig , " s a i d

Levitan,,

Lev i t an , dec id ing to take over the m a g a z i n e f o r n ine ty d a y s ,

was o r d i n a r i l y a s c rupu lous b u s i n e s s m a n . In t h i s c a s e , Lev i t an

a d m i t t e d the buy w a s not such a "good d e a l , " but he was a g a m b l e r

a t h e a r t and could not r e s i s t t he t e m p t a t i o n of such a b u s i n e s s . He

r e c a l l e d ,

It was not at a good p r i c e . They owed money on the bui ld ing and on the equ ipmen t . They w e r e be ing so ld on a r e c e i v e r s h i p dea l , and the people who owned the bui ld ing and the people who owned the equ ipment wan ted t h e i r money . It w a s about a t h i r t y - or f o r t y - t h o u s a n d do l l a r i n v e s t m e n t . I pa id t h e m off , put f ive thousand d o l l a r s in the b a n k , and we s t a r t e d o p e r a t i n g . ^

Levi tan began o p e r a t i n g the p lant Ju ly 11, 1951,^ the day

he bought i t ; the company m a d e money the f i r s t mon th .

He kept the m a g a z i n e j u s t a s i t w a s , mak ing no changes in

f o r m a t or layout . Howeve r , changes w e r e made r ap id ly and e f f i c i en t l y

in the ope ra t i on of the b u s i n e s s .

"I t h r ew out the c a t s which M r s . B lackwe l l had lu rk ing

a r o u n d and s t a r t e d a s y s t e m , " exp la ined Lev i tan . The s y s t e m

4 The equ ipment was w o r t h a p p r o x i m a t e l y $ 14, 000 o r $ 15, 000

and the plant was w o r t h a p p r o x i m a t e l y $ 15, 000 or $ 16, 000. Lev i t an sa id the exac t va lue could not be d e t e r m i n e d b e c a u s e of B l a c k w e l l ' s poo r s y s t e m of r e c o r d s .

5 J u l y 11, 1951, i s the b i r th da te of Lev i t an . He r e c a l l e d the

44 e

involved r equ i s i t i on ing f o r supp l i e s or anything e l s e which was n e e d e d ,

"They had to r e q u i s i t i o n f o r a t w o - c e n t s t a m p . I wan ted everything^

t i g h t , " s a id Lev i t an . Arid t ight it w a s , b e c a u s e not a penny w a s

•wasted, and the company moved f r o m r e d to b l a c k , making $ 500 the

f i r s t mon th and $ 1, 000 the nex t .

No one was a l lowed to be la te o r l azy . "If anyone c a m e in

l a t e , he jus t s en t t h e m h o m e , " sa id Bea P r i n g l e , b u s i n e s s m a n a g e r

of Sepia Pub l i sh ing C o m p a n y . ^ To da te , t a r d i n e s s is u n h e a r d of .

" I s n ' t t h a t some th ing wi th a whole ope ra t ion of women? " laughed

Lev i t an .

He r a i s e d M r s . M a r t i n ' s s a l a r y f r o m t h i r t y d o l l a r s a w e e k

t o t h i r t y - f i v e a w e e k and the o ther s a l a r i e s f r o m e igh teen d o l l a r s a

w e e k to t h i r t y d o l l a r s a w e e k . He whipped the company into s h a p e ,

though he had his e m p l o y e e s f r i g h t e n e d , and was mak ing money out of

a company tha t had s e e n r e l a t i v e l y l i t t le s u c c e s s .

In n ine ty d a y s , a s a g r e e d , Levi tan p r e p a r e d to s e l l h i s

newly found company . He told M r s . M a r t i n , "You sa id ninety days

and n ine ty days it i s . " He o f f e r e d the company to a f r i e n d who

i m m e d i a t e l y a g r e e d to buy f o r $ 15, 000. Howeve r , l a t e r Lev i t an

c a n c e l l e d the v e r b a l negot ia t ions b e c a u s e h is e m p l o y e e s had begged

^S t a t emen t by M r s . B e a t r i c e P r i n g l e , b u s i n e s s m a n a g e r of Sepia P u b l i s h i n g Company , 1220 Hard ing S t r e e t , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s , June 22, 1972. F u r t h e r footnote r e f e r e n c e s in th i s chap t e r a r e o m i t t e d .

45

h im to s t a y . 'They looked so s t c . What e l s e could I do? " a sked

Levitan. Even though Levi tan had b een tough on his e m p l o y e e s , they

begged him not to leave . "He was mean but he was s o kind," sa id

Mrs . Martin.

A natural-born gambler , Levitan entertained thoughts of a

strong publishing empire with mental anticipation and chal lenge. His

gambling nature and his love of big bus iness inspired Levitan to stay,

but his need to help others probably was the convincing factor in his

remaining head of the World M e s s e n g e r Printing Company.

Once Levitan decided to s tay , he poured money into the pub-

l ishing plant and took the he lm as publisher. He i s now in his twenty-

f i r s t year and admits that it is his l ife and that he loves it dearly .

Levitan: Publ isher

"I'm not a journalist and this i sn' t journal ism. It's a b u s i -

n e s s and I 'm a bus inessman, " said Levitan f i rmly . But twenty-one

years on the magazine have made him a publisher whether he approves

or not.

Changes were the key to the f i r s t year of Levitan's reign.

"I began throwing big money into it. I spent $ 2 0 , 000 on little

p r e s s e s , s tarted getting four colors on a one-unit p r e s s , gave them

big b o n u s e s - - c a r s and fur s to l e s - - l e t . the employe es have a week for

46

C h r i s t m a s v a c a t i o n , and then I w a t c h e d it grow . . . l ike T o p s y , "

Lev i t an r e l a t e d .

Al though Levi tan did not w r i t e an exp l ic i t po l icy , he f e l t t he

p u r p o s e of the m a g a z i n e was to show p r o g r e s s of the N e g r o and to

e n c o u r a g e r a t h q r than d i s c o u r a g e t h e m . "I wan ted the m a g a z i n e to

p r o v e tha t t h e r e is some th ing to look f o r w a r d to in th is c o u n t r y and

r e a l l y a t tha t t i m e t h e r e w a s n ' t too m u c h . They w e r e in a h e l l of a

s h a p e , " he s a i d .

Lev i tan expla ined tha t a t f i r s t h is e m p l o y e e s w e r e a f r a i d of

h i m . He w o r e khaki c lo thes and w a s a l a r g e , rough- look ing ind iv idua l

who p e e r e d over t h e i r s h o u l d e r s a s they w o r k e d , giving adv ice and

point ing to e r r o r s .

"I a m n e i t h e r a c r u s a d e r no r a p h i l a n t h r o p i s t . I a m a b u s i -

n e s s m a n who t r i e s to o p e r a t e on a f i r m and f a i r b a s i s . T h e s e people

a r e taught to ope ra t e in the s a m e w a y , " he exp la ined .

He changed the n a m e of the publ i sh ing company to Good P u b -

l i sh ing and l a t e r r e f e r r e d to it a s Sepia R e c o r d P u b l i s h i n g Company .

Th i s n a m e was even tua l ly changed to Sepia Pub l i sh ing Company , and

at p r e s e n t the Sepia and Good a r e u s e d i n t e r c h a n g e a b l y . In J a n u a r y ,

1953, he changed N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s to Sep ia , and The W o r l d ' s

M e s s e n g e r to B r o n z e T h r i l l s .

47

He l e c t u r e d h i s s m a l l s t a f f on p o l i c i e s a n d c h a n g e s i n t h e

m a g a z i n e , s h o w e d t h e m w h a t t o do t o m a k e t h e m a g a z i n e b e t t e r , s u b -

s c r i b e d t o p u b l i c a t i o n s t h e y c o u l d s t u d y , b o u g h t e v e r y o n e a d e s k d i c -

t i o n a r y , a n d w e e d e d out p o o r s e r v i c e s p r e v i o u s l y u s e d b y N e g r o

7

A c h i e v e m e n t s . " M o s t of t h o s e n e w s a g e n c i e s h a d c a n n e d s t u f f .

We d i d n ' t n e e d i t , " s a i d L e v i t a n .

T h e y h i r e d N a t h a n K a t z a s t h e i r a d v e r t i s i n g a g e n t a n d l o o k e d

t o a d v e r t i s i n g a s a m e a n s f o r r e v e n u e .

'1 j u s t f o l l o w e d t h e b a s i c p r i n c i p l e s of b u s i n e s s : You e i t h e r

c h e a t o r p a y h o n e s t l y . Do p e o p l e r i g h t a n d do y o u r s e l f r i g h t . That's

a l l , " he s a i d .

L e v i t a n ' s p h i l o s o p h y h a s e a r n e d h i m m i l l i o n s of d o l l a r s a n d

r e s p e c t . N o t on ly d o e s he c o n s i d e r b u s i n e s s d e a l s s a c r e d , h e a l s o

c o n s i d e r s f r i e n d s h i p s d e a r . T o p o i n t out h i s f e e l i n g s on bo th t h e s e

a s p e c t s of l i f e , L e v i t a n r e c i t e d a p o e m he l e a r n e d a s a c h i l d , a b o u t

a b u s i n e s s d e a l t w o f r i e n d s m a k e , t i t l e d H a n s a n d F r i t z :

T w o d y k e r s w h o l i v e d s i d e b y s i d e R e m o t e f r o m t h e w o r l d , i t s de s e a t i n i t s p r i d e On p r e t z e l s a n d b e e r s t h e i r s p a r e m o m e n t s w e r e s p e n t a n d T h e f r u i t of t h e i r l a b o r w a s p e a c e a n d c o n t e n t . Now H a n s p u r c h a s e d a h o r s e of a n e i g h b o r one d a y and l a c k i n g a p a r t of t h e g e l t h e r e m o n e y a s t h e y s a y , H a n s m a d e a c a l l upon F r i t z t o s o l i c i t a l o a n t o h e l p h i m p a y f o r t h a t b e a u t i f u l r o a n .

7 C a l v i n ' s N e w s A g e n c y a n d I n d e p e n d e n t P r e s s S e r v i c e w e r e

t w o s e r v i c e s L e v i t a n d i s m i s s e d .

48

F r i t z kindly consented the money to lend* And gave the requ i red amount to his f r i e n d . And, sa id in his own s imple language to quote» "I t ink it ' t is b e t t e r we makes us a n o t e , " The note being drawn in t h e i r p r imi t ive way, "I Hans bo r rows f r o m F r i t z $ 50 t o d a y . " "Now who holds dat, " says F r i t z . "I holds i t , " says Hans "and then I wi l l know that I owes you dat money . 1

"Say F r i t z dat is s o . " Well , t ime did e lapse , as they did a g r e e - - H a n s paid back the money and f r o m the debt he was f r e e d . "Now, who 'olds i t" says Hans "dis n o t e . " "I holds i t , " says F r i t z "and din I wi l l know, dat you paid me dat money- -Says Hans - -Da t Is So. ^

Despi te Levi tan ' s mora l i ty in b u s i n e s s , some viewed his

endeavor skept ica l ly . When people hea rd about the Levitan deal , the

usua l comment was "Levi tan , y o u ' r e c r a z y . You can ' t t each a Negro

anything. And. another thing, they don' t even like you, " r eca l l ed

Levi tan. Through the f i r s t y e a r s of b u s i n e s s , Levitan accepted c r i t i -

c i s m and l i s tened. But, in the end, he always told these c r i t i c s the

s a m e thing:

I can unders tand them not loving us because they 've been the underdog so long. They 've been at a d i sad -vantage. T h e r e ' s nothing about us that they would love or l ike. Now, as f a r as t he i r menta l capaci ty and the abi l i ty to l ea rn to produce , I ' l l t e l l you a thing. I didn ' t think the Lord would have d ispensed b r a i n s according to color., I did think ce r ta in people a r e endowed with ce r t a in pecu l ia r i t i e s due to r a c i a l habi ts accord ing to what they went through, but I didn' t think the ac tual b r a i n m a t t e r e d .

8 Levitan rec i ted this oral ly and it was taped in in terv iew.

However , no source can be found.

49

He f e l t his s taf f w a s s m a r t i nhe ren t l y , and tha t b e c a u s e of

t h e i r p e r s e c u t i o n and p r o b l e m s they had b e c o m e "a fox who had

b e e n shot a t many t i m e s . "

Levitan's faith in hi3 staff al lowed him to make changes with-

9

out r e s e r v a t i o n until g r adua l l y the c i r c u l a t i o n of Sepia and B r o n z e

T h r i l l s had r i s e n f r o m 18, 000 to 200, 000 by 1954. ^

Levi tan began en l a rg ing the bui ld ing his second y e a r . He

a i r - c o n d i t i o n e d i t , got s o m e new equ ipmen t , and e n l a r g e d the p lan t .

The old Wor ld M e s s e n g e r plant went f r o m 3, 000 s q u a r e f e e t to 30, 000.

It now inc ludes e l even r e s t r o o m s , p r i n t i n g - p a c k a g i n g - s h i p p i n g w a r e -

h o u s e , of f ice supply , e d i t o r i a l o f f i c e s , b u s i n e s s o f f i c e s , a r t o f f i c e s ,

p l a t e - m a k i n g r o o m s , co lo r p r o c e s s i n g r o o m s , and a c a f e t e r i a w h e r e

e m p l o y e e s r e c e i v e t h e i r m e a l s f r e e .

" F r o m beginning to end, the m a g a z i n e is p roduced h e r e , "

s a i d Lev i tan wi th obvious p r i d e . With two mi l l i on d o l l a r s i n v e s t e d

in his company , his p r i d e s e e m s n a t u r a l .

The bui ld ing a t 1220 Hard ing St, is a r e d b r i c k , o n e - l e v e l ,

o n e - b l o c k ed i f i ce , and no w h e r e f r o m the outs ide can one s e e a Good

9 A c c o r d i n g to Lev i tan , the c i r c u l a t i o n s lowly r o s e about two

y e a r s a f t e r he a s s u m e d owner sh ip .

^ T h e s e f i g u r e s w e r e found in sh ipping o r d e r s and not f r o m A B C . Levi tan did not have c i r c u l a t i o n audi ted unt i l about t h r e e y e a r s a f t e r he bought the old W o r l d M e s s e n g e r Company .

5(

P u b l i s h i n g or Sepia Pub l i sh ing s ign . "We don ' t need i t , " s a i d Levitan..

" T h i s company is t he peop le . It could be mak ing a lot m o r e , but the

i m p o r t a n t th ing is i t g ives t h e s e people a r e s p e c t a b l e job and t hey

p r o d u c e . "

P r o d u c t i o n ha s a lways been an i m p o r t a n t p a r t of L e v i t a n ' s l i fe .

He has been p roduc ing s u c c e s s and r e s p e c t f r o m c o n t e m p o r a r i e s and

p e e r s s i nce age nine, when he sold n e w s p a p e r s in D e t r o i t by sneak ing

f r o m his home a t n igh t .

B o r n in L ' A n s e , Mich igan , to JRachael and David Lev i tan ,

Lev i t an w a s n a m e d a f t e r George Wash ing ton . "My m o t h e r w a s f r o m

R u s s i a and she saw how i t w a s , the i l l i t e r a c y and p e r s e c u t i o n , and

she w a s a g r e a t A m e r i c a n c i t i zen , " s a id Lev i t an .

Having d ropped out of s choo l a f t e r n ine g r a d e s , Lev i tan

e a r n e d an educa t ion f a r beyond his y e a r s . E x p e r i e n c e was h is

d ip loma and it he lped e a r n h i m money , s u c c e s s , and happ ine s s m o r e

than many co l lege d e g r e e s .

Lev i tan r e c e i v e d a " c l a s s i c a l " educa t ion f r o m books he

knew w e r e u s e d in s c h o o l s . "I l e a r n e d enough to get by wi th the

r e a l l y educa t ed , " he c o m m e n t e d . He f ina l ly had gained m o r e t h a n

enough to get by . He gained a mind f i l l ed with f a c t s , f i g u r e s , and

t r i v i a which h is m e m o r y holds unt i l the a p p r o p r i a t e m o m e n t . At t ha t

51

m o m e n t , i t is not unusua l f o r Levi tan to spout l ines of p o e t r y ,

1 1

encyc lopaed ia f a c t s , and quota t ions of g r e a t m e n .

At age f i f t e e n , Levi tan w a s a l u m b e r j a c k in N o r t h e r n M i c h i -

gan. When s ix t een , he r e t u r n e d to D e t r o i t and opened a b i c y c l e shop

wi th a sewing m a c h i n e r e p a i r shop in the r e a r and a l o c k s m i t h r e p a i r

shop in one c o r n e r . At twen ty -one he c a m e to T e x a s " to s e e wha t

w a s going on and I n e v e r r e t u r n e d . "

When the d e p r e s s i o n c a m e , Levi tan had it " r e a l , r e a l

r o u g h . " He hauled g r a v e l and m a n u r e a r o u n d F o r t W o r t h , and

l e a r n e d to make the m o s t of w h a t e v e r c a m e his way .

In 1940 Levi tan went into the p lumbing supply b u s i n e s s , did

we l l , sold out, and was p r e p a r i n g to r e t i r e when M r s . M a r t i n knocked

on h is door to t e l l h i m about The Wor ld M e s s e n g e r Pub l i sh ing Company .

L a t e r , he bought the We l l M a c h i n e r y and Supply Company in an unusua l

b u s i n e s s dea l as r e p o r t e d in the F o r t W o r t h S t a r T e l e g r a m A p r i l 7,

1963:

It could only happen in T e x a s . G e o r g e Lev i t an , who o p e r a t e s Good Pub l i sh ing

Company , dabb les in oil we l l s and has a f i n g e r in v a r i o u s other - e n t e r p r i s e s , s topped in a t Wel l M a c h i n e r y & Sup-ply Company a t 2901 Shot ts in the Ba i ley I n d u s t r i a l D i s -t r i c t F r i d a y . Wanted to buy a ho i s t f o r h is p r in t ing p lan t .

1 ^p lan t obse rva t i on made f r o m June 12 to Ju ly , 1972.

52

As he comple t ed the p u r c h a s e , T o m Gr i f f i n , l o c a l m a n a g e r f o r the Wor th ing!on Company , to ld h i m tha t t h i s would p robab ly be his l a s t i t e m p u r c h a s e d t h e r e . Wor th ing ton , he s a i d , w a s about to move the p lant f r o m F o r t W o r t h . Wor th ing ton had a c q u i r e d it s o m e 10 y e a r s ago in a dea l in which it a l s o p u r c h a s e d i ts C a l m e t M e t e r Div is ion h e r e .

" T h e h-~ you a r e ! " e x c l a i m e d Lev i tan . " W h y ? " " W e l l , " Gr i f f in s a i d , "Wor th ing ton ' s not i n t e r -

e s t e d in oil w e l l supply , his i n t e r e s t h e r e i s in w a t e r m e t e r s . "

" G o s h , " sa id Levi tan , "I ha te to s e e a good c o m -pany l ike th i s move out of town. I ' l l buy the d a r n e d t h i n g . "

And he did. The s a m e day he w r o t e the check comple t ing the

d e a l . ^

Lev i t an , a s t o r y in h i m s e l f , w a s a l s o an inventor and a

" w h e e l e r d e a l e r . " As a kid he m a d e s a i l s f o r wagons and sold t h e m .

" T h e y ' d go like h e l l , " he l aughed .

He sold l emonade on a s t r e e t c o r n e r l ike many c h i l d r e n do

on hot s u m m e r days , the only d i f f e r e n c e be ing tha t his s t and b rough t

in a p r o f i t . He a l s o so ld f o r e i g n s t a m p s , and , r e g a r d l e s s of the w o r k

involved, Levi tan w a s a s t r a i g h t shoo t e r in a l l of h is d e a l i n g s .

A good example of L e v i t a n ' s p r u d e n c e is the s t o r y of

Lev i t an ma in ta in ing high s t a n d a r d s du r ing p roh ib i t i on :

Abe and Joe Moss had a r u m b u s i n e s s du r ing p r o -h ib i t ion and they a p p r o a c h e d Levi tan congenia l ly about u s ing his g a r a g e in the b a c k of the b i cyc l e shop .

12 The F o r t W o r t h S t a r T e l e g r a m , A p r i l 7, 1963, Sec . 4 , p . 2.

53

Levi tan gave a f i r m "no . " The next a p p r o a c h by Abe and Joe w a s not s o n i c e .

" W e ' r e moving in, " they s t a t e d pos i t i ve ly . Levi tan s t a t e d j u s t as pos i t ive ly tha t he did not

want to be a g a n g s t e r . " J u s t what a r e you going to do about i t? " t hey

d e m a n d e d . Pu l l ing a s m a l l gun f r o m his coa t , Levi tan r ep l i ed

to the two b u r l y t y p e s , "Wel l , I ' l l j u s t shoot the both of you. "

Levi tan n e v e r went into the booze b u s i n e s s , p r o b a b l y ,

b e c a u s e no one c a r e d to o f f e r h i m a n o t h e r p r o p o s i t i o n .

Deal ing f a i r l y has c a u s e d many people to a p p r o a c h Levi tan

f o r a id in the b l a c k c o m m u n i t y . M r s . M a r t i n s a i d ,

He is such a n ice m a n ; h e ' d he lp jus t about anybody. At one t i m e , I had t o s e e s o m e of the o rgan iza t ions f i r s t . One t i m e , a b l ack g roup wanted a hundred d o l l a r s t o c l e a n up one of t h e i r c e m e t e r i e s . Why, t h a t ' s s i l l y . If t h e y ' r e good c i t i z e n s , they could c l e a n it up t h e m s e l v e s .

I sen t t h e m away and o t h e r s .

I t was not t ha t Levi tan was a m a n e a s i l y foo led . In r e a l i t y ,

quite the opposi te w a s t r u e . However , his g e n e r o s i t y and Midas

h e a r t a lways went out to the s o c i e t a l unde rdog .

L e v i t a n ' s t o u g h n e s s as a b u s i n e s s m a n c a u s e s people to f e a r

h i m a t t i m e s . By demand ing qua l i ty , he cha l l enges his people to u s e

t h e i r heads a s if the g r e a t e s t s in w e r e to m a k e a m i s t a k e f r o m c a r e -

l e s s n e s s and f r o m lack of th inking . " H e ' s s o m e a n , but h e ' s s o n i c e

54

13

t o o . I t ' s such a s u r p r i s e , " sa id C l a r i s s e Munroe , b u s i n e s s

s e c r e t a r y .

His is an off ice in which one could spend days and n ights

wi thout b e c o m i n g b o r e d . At age s i x t y - s e v e n , h i s day l a s t s e ight to

twelve h o u r s , wi th s t r e n u o u s t r a n s a c t i o n s transpiring, wi th p r o b l e m s

o c c u r r i n g in his b u s i n e s s e s , and with r e s p o n s i b i l i t y h e a v i e r than m o s t

m e n e v e r know. Yet Levi tan laughs e a s i l y in a v a r i e t y of w a y s .

Walking into his o f f i ce , one f a c e s r e d and b l a c k double c u r -

t a i n s p a t t e r n e d with bucking h o r s e s which ac t as the background f o r 14

a n ant ique c lock and two ant ique s t a t u e s of m e n . Two s i x - f o o t desks

p a r t i a l l y f i l l the book- l ined r o o m . T e l e p h o n e s , t a p e r e c o r d e r s , ,

c a m e r a s , and a c l o s e d - c i r c u i t t e l e v i s i o n unit a r e only s o m e of the

m a t e r i a l s s u r r o u n d i n g h i m .

S o m e w h e r e in the of f ice is T i g e r , L e v i t a n ' s dog. B lack and

s m a l l , wi th p e r k y e a r s , T i g e r fol lows Lev i tan about loyal ly , " s i n g s "

f o r v i s i t o r s , and a t t i m e s goes into b a r k i n g f i t s if s o m e o n e does not

p l e a s e h i m . E v e r y o n e s a y s "good m o r n i n g " to T i g e r and usua l ly

a s k s if h e ' s s e e n B lack i e , a ne ighborhood dog. 13

S t a t emen t by C l a r i s s e Munroe m a d e in i n t e r v i e w , June 27, 1972. She is the b u s i n e s s s e c r e t a r y of Good Pub l i sh ing Company , 1220 Hard ing St . , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s .

14 Lev i t an m a d e his de sk f r o m long s t r i p s of wood and it i s

u sua l l y p i led high wi th i m p o r t a n t p a p e r s , l e t t e r s and joke b o o k s .

' 55

One object in the o f f i ce wh ich b a f f l e s Levi tan i s the o r g a n

w h i c h he p lays s p a s m o d i c a l l y . "Isn't this funny? I don't unders tand

th i s thing. I just s i t down and m y f i n g e r s s t a r t p laying . If I think

about i t , I can't p l a y , " he sa id .

Levi tan , f u l l of s u r p r i s e s , w i l l t ry anything once . He l i v e s

big and he p lays hard. Levi tan a l lows no b o r e d o m . F r o m his d e s k ,

he may push a button on a pair of eye g l a s s e s wh ich spout w a t e r and

have w indsh ie ld w i p e r s , or shake one ' s hand wi th a shocking b u z z e r .

It i s not an oddity f o r h i m to s t r o l l through the Good Publ i sh ing

o f f i c e s gett ing laughs .

He knows how to "turn a b u c k , " but Levi tan m u s t rank high

in spending m o n e y f o r p e r s o n a l enjoyment . Levitan f l a s h e s h i s

T e x a s r e s i d e n c y wi th a pair of cowboy boots studded with d i a m o n d s :

p r i c e $ 15, 000. He has s i x c a r s , m o s t of t h e m red and s p o r t y .

H o w e v e r , a m o n g his subdued t ranspor ta t ion i s the c o m p a n y ' s c r e a m y

whi te Ro l l s R o y c e .

During the C h r i s t m a s s e a s o n he t r e a t s the "winos" who l i ve

around Good Publ i sh ing to b r e a k f a s t in his c a f e t e r i a and then hands

out c r i s p dol lar b i l l s .

In c o n t r a s t , Levi tan cannot stand ex travagance if it i n v o l v e s

what he c o n s i d e r s to be w a s t e . At the entrance of the ca fe t er ia .

56

l ine in his plant is a s ign wh ich r e a d s in bold b l a c k l e t t e r s : R e t u r n

no food . And no one r e t u r n s food .

He l ikes b a l l g a m e s , the t h e a t e r , and boxing. En joy ing t r a v e l ,

he s t a t e d tha t one of h is f a v o r i t e p l ace s is Las V e g a s . His g r e a t e s t

e n j o y m e n t , though, nex t to h is w o r k , is h i s f a m i l y and c l o s e f r i e n d s .

P e o p l e in g e n e r a l f a s c i n a t e h i m no m a t t e r what t h e i r s t a t i on in l i fe i s .

His r e p e r t o i r e of s t o r i e s is f i l l ed wi th a c q u a i n t a n c e s , e m p l o y e e s , and

c o n t e m p o r a r i e s .

He r e l a t e d a s t o r y about one C h r i s t m a s when he gave an a u t o -

mob i l e to a b l a c k w o m a n who had t aken c a r e of the l a r g e Lev i tan house

and cooked the m e a l s t h e r e f o r y e a r s . She hugged h i s n e c k and

thanked h i m , bu t the r e a l thanks c a m e s e v e r a l days l a t e r . She

wa lked into his den and looked a t h i m v e r y c l o s e l y . "You know, M r .

15

Lev i t an , you m u s t be r e a l r i c h . "

Lev i t an r o a r e d with l a u g h t e r a s he to ld the s t o r y . "She

j u s t n e v e r thought about it b e f o r e . I was j u s t a n o t h e r g u y . "

Lev i t an a p p r e c i a t e s wit and in t e l l i gence , a d m i r e s s t a m i n a

and s t ab i l i t y and r e s p e c t s independence and c o n s c i e n t o u s n e s s . He

e x a m i n e s o t h e r s c a r e f u l l y and l i s t ens c l o s e l y to what they s a y .

R a r e l y i s his f i r s t i m p r e s s i o n w r o n g of t hose he m e e t s .

^"*Story c o m e s f r o m plant o b s e r v a t i o n , June 21, 1972. Lev i t an wa lked th rough , laughing a s he r e m e m b e r e d i t .

57

A s s h r e w d a s he is h a r d h e a d e d , Levi tan i s loved b y h is

e m p l o y e e s whose w o r k r e c o r d s a r e long. They don ' t th ink of h i m a s

wh i t e , b e c a u s e " tha t j u s t i s n ' t an i s s u e , " s a i d Bea P r i n g l e , b u s i n e s s

m a n a g e r f o r Good Pub l i sh ing . Nor do they th ink of h i m be ing a n y

o lde r than they a r e , though he exceeds m o s t by twenty y e a r s . "If

he e v e r s a y s 'now l i s t e n h e r e , I ' m o lde r than y o u , 1 we s a y now

wai t a m i n u t e , M r . L e v i t a n , " sa id M r s . P r i n g l e .

Lev i tan knows h i s e m p l o y e e s , c a r e s about t h e m , r e s p e c t s

t h e m , and expec t s a t r e m e n d o u s amount of w o r k f r o m t h e m . He ge ts

w o r k and a f f e c t i o n in r e t u r n .

Good Pub l i sh ing is "good" b e c a u s e p u b l i s h e r Levi tan ha s

s e t the goa l of get t ing out a m a g a z i n e to s e l l , put f a i t h in h is e m p l o y e e s ,

16 and c r e a t e d 11 one happy f a m i l y . n

16 Th i s t i t l e w a s used of ten by Lev i tan , P r i n g l e and Munroe

to d e s c r i b e the staff a t Good Pub l i sh ing Company .

CHAPTER IV

1950-1959: DECADE OF CHANGE

P u b l i s h e r Levi tan r e c o g n i s e d the need f o r change in N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s , but he did not choose to r e d e s i g n the publ ica t ion in

h a s t e . " G r a d u a l l y , I wan ted to w o r k wi th the people and I wan ted

t h e m to get to know m e . I cou ldn ' t j u s t up roo t a l l they w e r e f a m i l i a r

wi th . They knew m o r e about it than I did, " s a id Lev i t an .

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s ' staff m e m b e r s cont inued the m a g a z i n e

a s they had under Blackwel l ; t h e r e f o r e , du r ing Lev i t an ' s n i n e t y - d a y

t r i a l p e r i o d , r e l a t i v e l y l i t t le change was a p p a r e n t . Howeve r , a f t e r

2

Lev i t an dec ided to k e e p the m a g a z i n e , some changes in m a n a g e m e n t

of the p lant and in the look of the publ ica t ion b e c a m e no t i ceab l e . F o r

i n s t a n c e , the S e p t e m b e r , 1951, i s s u e c a r r i e d a t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l ,

^S ta tement by p u b l i s h e r , George Lev i tan , in an in te rv iew on Ju ly 24 , 1972, in the Good Pub l i sh ing O f f i c e s , 1220 Hard ing St . , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s . A second in te rv iew with Levi tan took p lace on Oc tobe r 27, 1972. Throughou t the r e m a i n d e r of th i s c h a p t e r h is s t a t e m e n t s a t t h e s e i n t e r v i e w s a r e quoted and d i s c u s s e d without f u r t h e r footnoted a t t r i b u t i o n .

When Lev i t an made a def in i te dec i s i on to k e e p the pub l i ca -t ion , the Augus t , 1951 i s s u e was sk ipped in o r d e r to o rgan i ze the p u b l i c a t i o n ' s f o r m a t , to o f f e r b r i e f t r a i n i n g to the e d i t o r i a l s t a f f , and to m a k e changes involving a d v e r t i s i n g and m e c h a n i c s .

58

59

g r e e n - a n d - b l a c k box on the f r o n t c o v e r wi th the t i t l e p r i n t e d in it,

and the c o v e r pho tograph w a s of a foo tba l l p l a y e r s u p e r i m p o s e d o v e r

the n a m e p l a t e and b o t t o m da te l ine .

T h i s change , l ike many of the f i r s t changes m a d e u n d e r

Lev i t an , was in a p p e a r a n c e r a t h e r than in con ten t . Content change

was to c o m e s lowly as Levi tan l e a r n e d about the b u s i n e s s of j o u r n a l -

i s m .

The N o v e m b e r , 1951 i s s u e of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s u s e d a r t

w o r k in the t ab le of con ten ts to a d v e r t i s e the W o r l d M e s s e n g e r P u b l i c a -

t i o n s . A l s o , the f i r s t no t i ce of app l i ca t ion f o r e n t r y a s Second C l a s s

M a i l a p p e a r e d ,

D e c o r a t i o n s and o r n a m e n t s w e r e u s e d too much in t he N o v e m -

b e r , 1951 i s s u e , as w e l l as a m o r e len ient m a k e - u p s t y l e . C i r c l e s ,

s t a r s , and boxes w e r e me thods used to f r a m e a r t i c l e s and p i c t u r e s ;

o the r t e c h n i q u e s , new to N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , w e r e l ines and 50 p e r

cent i n t ens i ty s c r e e n s to s e p a r a t e d i f f e r e n t i t e m s on the s a m e page^

H e a d l i n e s , i n s t e a d of be ing s t r a i g h t above the s t o r y , w e r e pos i t ioned

a t v a r i o u s a n g l e s , u sua l ly s l an t ing t o w a r d s the r i g h t - h a n d c o r n e r .

The m o s t obvious change w a s in a d v e r t i s i n g . C a r t o o n s

a p p e a r e d of ten in a d v e r t i s e m e n t s boos t ing the publ ica t ion , with the

e x c l a m a t o r y w o r d , " L o o k ! " in bo ld face type . Levi tan began pushing

f o r m o r e subsc r ip t ions , and in N o v e m b e r , 1951, the m a g a z i n e o f f e r e d a

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s p e c i a l s u b s c r i p t i o n p r i c e which was f i f t y cents lower than the p r e v i o u s

t h r e e - d o l l a r p r i c e f o r one y e a r .

Do l l a r s igns and the head l ine r e a d i n g "Need M o n e y ? " w e r e

s e t in r e v e r s e d type in an a t t e m p t to en t ice r e a d e r s to b e c o m e a g e n t s

to s e l l N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s . Included in th i s N o v e m b e r , 1951 a d v e r -

t i s e m e n t w a s an i nqu i ry b lank which was a l s o a new m e a n s to get

r e s p o n s e f r o m r e a d e r s . Ano the r a d v e r t i s e m e n t in the s a m e ve in w a s

s e t in 24-po in t r e v e r s e d tvpe , r e a d i n g "Agents W a n t e d ! "

Most unusua l of a l l the changes in L e v i t a n ' s N e g r o

A c h i e v e m e n t s was the inc lus ion of f u l l - p a g e , h a l f - p a g e , and f o u r t h -

page a d v e r t i s e m e n t s of p lumbing supp l i e s in the N o v e m b e r , 1951

i s s u e . S inks , l a v a t o r i e s , p o p - u p d r a i n s , and ba th s e t s w e r e shown

a s b a r g a i n s a t C u t - R a t e P lumbing Supply owned by George Lev i t an .

T h e s e ads w e r e the f i r s t t r u e ind ica t ion tha t the m a g a z i n e had

changed h a n d s . T h r e e Cu t -Ha t e P lumbing ads a p p e a r e d in the

N o v e m b e r , 1951 i s s u e but did not r e a p p e a r in l a t e r i s s u e s ^

Al though the g r e a t e s t n u m b e r of changes ev ident ly

a p p e a r e d be tween D e c e m b e r , 1951 and S e p t e m b e r , 1952, so few

i s s u e s have s u r v i v e d f r o m the f i f t i e s , i t i s d i f f i cu l t to d e t e r m i n e

exac t ly when s p e c i f i c changes w e r e m a d e . ^

3 Only one i s s u e s u r v i v e s f r o m 1952 and it i s the S e p t e m b e r

i s s u e . O t h e r i s s u e s of the e a r l y f i f t i e s a r e s c a t t e r e d , c o n s i s t i n g of only two o r t h r e e cop ies f r o m e a c h y e a r .

61 ft

T h e S e p t e m b e r , 1952 i s s u e of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s w a s s o

much changed in a p p e a r a n c e and content tha t t h e r e w e r e v e r y f ew

s i m i l a r i t i e s be tween it and e a r l i e r i s s u e s .

Mos t d r a s t i c a l l y a l t e r e d was the c o v e r , which changed

f r o m two c o l o r s to f o u r c o l o r s and whose n a m e p l a t e w a s r e s t y l e d .

P r e v i o u s l y , subheads u n d e r the n a m e p l a t e r e a d T r u e S t o r i e s ,

R o m a n c e s , and A c h i e v e m e n t s of the N e g r o R a c e . The new subhead

r e a d The P r o g r e s s of the N e g r o P e o p l e b e n e a t h a r e s t y l e d n a m e -

p l a t e . The n a m e p l a t e , N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , went to two c o l o r s wi th

" N e g r o " s ty led in th in yellow Bodoni type and " A c h i e v e m e n t s " in

l o w e r - c a s e whi te s c r i p t . The u n d e r l i n e , The P r o g r e s s of the N e g r o

P e o p l e , w a s done in a r e d s a n s - s e r i f t ype , in c a p i t a l l e t t e r s .

F o r the f i r s t t i m e in N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s ' h i s t o r y , a r t w a s

u s e d on the c o v e r , r a t h e r than pho tography . A g r e a t e r v a r i e t y of

type w a s used than b e f o r e , and the publ ica t ion a c h i e v e d the look of a

b e t t e r - q u a l i t y m a g a z i n e .

The p a p e r s t ock was changed f r o m a n e w s p a p e r g r a d e to a

g l o s s y s tock , which a l s o i m p r o v e d the m a g a z i n e ' s a p p e a r a n c e . T h e

4 change of s tock a l s o p e r m i t t e d b e t t e r p i c t u r e r e p r o d u c t i o n .

4 Although the g lo s sy s tock w a s a h e a v i e r we igh t , Lev i t an

app l i ed and his r e q u e s t was a c c e p t e d and e n t e r e d f o r s e c o n d - c l a s s m a t t e r , S e p t e m b e r 20, 1951, a t the P o s t Off ice of F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s , unde r the Ac t of M a r c h 3, 1879.

62

"I l iked the f e e l of the new p a p e r b e t t e r . . . . I t looked

b e t t e r and t h a t ' s what we w o r k e d on f i r s t , " s a id Lev i t an . D e v e l o p -

ing a new look was among the f i r s t s t ep s Levi tan took in m a k i n g a.

new, m o r e su i t ab le p r o d u c t , but i t was not h i s l a s t .

F o r m a t changed acu te ly and so did the con ten t . A " T a b l e

of C o n t e n t s " was added on page one i n s t e a d of on the ins ide c o v e r a s

it had b e e n b e f o r e . A l s o , the con ten t s w e r e c a t e g o r i z e d . T h e f i r s t

topic was the ma in news top ic of the month , wh ich a l s o w a s r e l a t e d

to the c o v e r con ten t . F o r i n s t a n c e , the c o v e r w a s a r t of a N e g r o

s o l d i e r and the f i r s t topic of the content w a s the W a r F r o n t .

O the r c a t e g o r i e s of the content in the S e p t e m b e r , 1952 i s s u e

inc luded E n t e r t a i n m e n t , D e p a r t m e n t s , S p o r t s , P e o p l e , A c h i e v e m e n t ,

F e a t u r e s , W a r F r o n t , and Home F r o n t .

' 5

Under W a r F r o n t w e r e t h r e e i t e m s : " H e r o of Hil l 5 4 3 , "

"Cap ta in G r e e n , Icebound, " and " P i c t u r e of Ach ievemen t . 1 1 P u z z l i n g

i s the f ac t tha t though the heading W a r F r o n t app l ied to the f i r s t two

s t o r i e s , i t did not apply to the t h i r d s t o r y , which was about f o u r

N e g r o e s who had ach ieved v a r i o u s h o n o r s . 5

" H e r o of the Hi l l , " N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , IX ( S e p t e m b e r , 1952), p. 2 . (Throughout the r e m a i n d e r of th is c h a p t e r the S e p t e m -b e r , 1952 i s s u e wi l l b e d i s c u s s e d wi th t ex tua l r e f e r e n c e to the t i t le of the a r t i c l e and r e f e r e n c e s to th i s i s s u e wi l l be c i ted as Ibid, wi th the a p p r o p r i a t e page n u m b e r . )

63

The f i r s t two s t o r i e s , h o w e v e r , w e r e w r i t t e n wi th m o r e

e x p e r t i s e than p rev ious N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t a r t i c l e s ; they w e r e v o i d

of t y p o g r a p h i c a l and g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s , and they w e r e j o u r n a l i s t i -

ca l ly s a t i s f a c t o r y a s n e w s - f e a t u r e s . Po ignan t ly done was " H e r o of

Hi l l 543, " which told of Sgt . C o r n e l i u s H. C h a r l t o n , who died in a

K o r e a n ba t t l e and was l a t e r honored wi th the C o n g r e s s i o n a l M e d a l .

T h e s t o r y included a l e t t e r , boxed wi th in the s t o r y , f r o m the young

m a n ' s m o t h e r to the e d i t o r . T i t l e d " L e t t e r f r o m a H e r o ' s M o m , "

it w a s p r i n t e d exac t ly a s w r i t t e n . Desp i t e the obvious n o n - s t a n d a r d

E n g l i s h , i t r e v e a l e d the f ee l ing of a N e g r o m o t h e r who had los t h e r

son in the w a r .

Our son C o r n e l i a s begged me to let h i m e n l i s t when he was 15 but I had h i m to wai t unt i l he w a s 17 then I s ign f o r h i m . He was a good boy n e v e r d r i n k , s m o k e d , no r s w e a r . He loved s p o r t s such a s h o r s e b a c k r id ing , b i cyc le and ba l l ing . . . n e v e r w a s s i c k . H e a l -thy and s t r o n g and b r a v e and s m a r t . We a l l m i s s h i m s o l can not w r i t e th i s l e t t e r without c r y i n g a l l so p r o u d of h i m .

Lev i t an made it c l e a r tha t a.lthough changes w e r e m a d e in

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , the p u r p o s e of those changes w a s not to s u g a r -

coa t the r e a l i t y of N e g r o l i fe .

Under the E n t e r t a i n m e n t sec t ion of Contents of the S e p t e m b e r ,

1952 i s s u e w e r e "Double Dynami t e , " " M e e t the T o p M o d e l s , "

" E n t e r t a i n m e n t T o p i c s , " and " P o r g y and B e s s R e b o r n . " A l l a r t i -

c l e s w e r e newswor thy b e c a u s e t hey c o v e r e d p r o m i n e n t N e g r o e s in the

64

news. "Double Dynamite" covered Ruth Brown, a blues and ba i lada

s inge r , and Dorothy Dandridge, a s inger of popular rock and ro l l .

"Meet the Top Models" d i scussed a top adver t i s ing agency

in New York which sol ici ted Negro women explici t ly. The a r t i c l e

d i sc losed the pay to be f i f teen dol la rs per hour .

"En te r t a inment Topics" of the Sep tember , 1952 issue

included i t ems on s tage , movies , radio and te levis ion , and records.

The wide range of en te r ta inment topics f i t under the subheading "Cur-

rent beat notes f r o m Broadway to Hollywood, in the world of act ing,

singing, dancing, and m u s i c . " Such e n t e r t a i n e r s as Duke Ellington

and The Ink Spots were f ea tu red in this sect ion. A few "unknowns"

appea red , but not in nea r ly the same number as had appeared in p r e -

vious Negro Achievements .

" P o r g y and Bess R e b o r n , " probably the bes t of a l l tha e n t e r -

t a inment a r t i c l e s , was an in-depth f ea tu re on the new cas t and the

p e r f o r m a n c e s of "George Gershwin ' s Grea t A m e r i c a n Opera of

Cat f i sh Row, in the S u m m e r t i m e Carol ina heat , . . . revived f o r

tour of Europe and U . S . A . "

Although Levitan did not pa r t i cu la r ly c a r e to s tereotype the

Negro in his publication, he recognized the many contr ibutions of

Negroes in the f ie ld of en te r t a inment . "Sure the Negroes had rhy thm,

but they did other things too. Emphas i s had to be in other f ie lds to

65

m a k e r e a d e r s a w a r e tha t N e g r o e s could do th ings o ther than j i v e , "

he a s s e r t e d . Consequen t ly , the amoun t of space devoted to e n t e r -

t a i n m e n t was cut in c o m p a r i s o n to e a r l i e r i s s u e s .

F a l l i n g b e n e a t h the topic " D e p a r t m e n t s " w e r e " L e t t e r s

to the E d i t o r , " " E d i t o r i a l s , 1 1 and "Our C o v e r . " E d i t o r i a l s ,

r e s u m e d f o r the f i r s t t i m e s i nce B lackwel l had .d ropped t h e m in la te

1948, w e r e of high qua l i ty on s ign i f i can t and i n t e r e s t i n g t o p i c s . In

the S e p t e m b e r , 1952 i s s u e ed i t o r i a l s w e r e " C i c e r o Riot Book F i r m l y

Being C l o s e d , l ! " P i t y the P o o r P o r k e r , P a t t y ! " and "Civ i l Rights

Can Swing E l e c t i o n s . "

Light ly w r i t t e n was " P i t y the P o o r P o r k e r , P a t t y ! " which

to ld the s t o r y of c o l o r e d pigs being banned in I r e l a n d b e c a u s e " the

c o l o r e d ones tend to make the a p p e a r a n c e of p o r k look spot ty and

l e s s d e s i r a b l e . " The e d i t o r i a l ends wi th th i s c l i n c h e r : " P e r h a p s

the NAACP of I r e l a n d should be f o r m e d (Nat ional A s s o c i a t i o n f o r the

Advan c e m e n t of Co lo red P i g s , of c o u r s e ) . "

Al though Levi tan does not r e c a l l who w r o t e e d i t o r i a l s du r ing

th i s p e r i o d , he c o m m e n t e d tha t many of the m a g a z i n e ' s p i ece s c a m e ,

in the beg inn ing , f r o m news r e l e a s e s s en t to the publ i sh ing house

f r o m v a r i o u s s e r v i c e s . L a t e r , h o w e v e r , the ex i s t ing staff unde r took

a p p r o x i m a t e l y 90 p e r cen t of the e d i t o r i a l s . The o the r 10 p e r cen t

was done by a s s i g n m e n t . T h e s e w r i t e r s w e r e o f ten b l ack , but not

66

n e c e s s a r i l y s o . L e v i t a n ' s phi losophy in Sepia or N e g r o

A c hi eve me lit s had no c o l o r l ine . "Whoever did the b e s t [got the

s t o ry ] . You l e a r n a f t e r a wh i l e , you know,1 1 sa id Levi tan , Equa l i ty

w a s p r a c t i c e d in the Good Pub l i sh ing F i r m and, a c c o r d i n g to Lev i t an ,

e a c h man or w o m a n w a s paid what they w e r e w o r t h when , and only

when , they p roved t h e m s e l v e s .

The s t o r i e s e a r n e d f o r the w r i t e r s v a r i e d a m o u n t s r ang ing

f r o m $ 100 to $ 500 and up, depending on qua l i ty and r e a d e r s h i p i n t e r -

e s t . H o w e v e r , Lev i tan a d m i t s tha t v e r y s e l d o m did a f r e e - l a n c e

w r i t e r get lucky enough to have a s t o r y a c c e p t e d which had not been

r e q u e s t e d .

In the Sepia of f ice a r e f i l e s which conta in the n a m e s of c o n -

t r i b u t o r s f o r a l l f ive m a g a z i n e s , and the f i l e is u s e d to so l i c i t w r i t e r s

on s p e c i f i c s t o r i e s .

The " S p o r t s " s ec t ion of S e p t e m b e r , 1952 i s s u e w a s c o n -

t inued f r o m the o r i g ina l N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , bu t i t , t oo , w a s

de s igned in a m o r e soph i s t i c a t ed s t y l e . Under S p o r t s w e r e "Ole

Man Sa tch , " "Spor t s and P l a y e r s , " and " T e x a n Buddy Young. "

T i t l e d " S p o r t s P r o f i l e s , " the a r t i c l e on L e r o y "Sa t che l "

P a i g e was done in exce l l en t f e a t u r e s t y l e . Conc i se and c o m p l e t e , i t

did not g l o r i f y and p r a i s e P a i g e unduly j u s t b e c a u s e he w a s a N e g r o ,

bu t , r a t h e r , gave a n accoun t of h i s a c h i e v e m e n t s and of h is

67 &

p e r s o n a l i t y . An e x c e r p t of the a r t i c l e r e a d s ?

He w a s c o n s i d e r e d "old and w a s h e d up" in 1948, when he jo ined the Indians la te in the s e a s o n to h e l p t h e i r push to a pennan t . He w a s thought of a s a g a t e -d raw r a t h e r than a s an e f f ec t ive p i t c h e r .

A f t e r a l l , b a s e b a l l old t i m e r s could r e m e m b e r P a i g e and h is m o n a r c h s s t o r m i n g a r o u n d the country-b a c k in the days when t h e r e was a Republ ican P r e s i d e n t .

The only ment ion of P a i g e even being a N e g r o is in one s e n t e n c e of

the a r t i c l e : "He jo ined B i l l Veek a t C leve land , the f o u r t h N e g r o to

e n t e r the m a j o r s . "

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s ' m a j o r content change is s e e n a t th i s

poin t . No longe r would the N e g r o be s e t upon a p e d e s t a l j u s t b e c a u s e

of his c o l o r . In the new publ ica t ion , the N e g r o would e a r n h i s

p l ace in p r i n t .

P r a c t i c a l l y e v e r y spo r t i ng event was c o v e r e d under "Spo r t s

and P l a y e r s , " wi th e m p h a s i s on the s p o r t s in s e a s o n . ^ Howeve r ,

b r i e f o n e - t o - t w o p a r a g r a p h i t e m s w e r e w r i t t e n about a t h l e t e s and

s p o r t s e v e n t s . F o r i n s t a n c e , one i t e m in th i s s e c t i o n r e a d s :

J a m e s " S u i t c a s e " C l a r k s o n has b e e n spend ing th i s s u m m e r r id ing the t r a i n . If he f o r g e t s his t e a m -m a t e s ' n a m e s once in a whi le i t ' s b e c a u s e h e ' s n e v e r s u r e which t e a m h e ' s on.

F o r i n s t a n c e , in J u n e , C l a r k s o n made f o u r t r a i n t r i p s be tween the Bos ton B r a v e s and the Milwaukee

6 In the S e p t e m b e r , 1952 i s s u e , b a s e b a l l , boxing , foo tba l l ,

and b a s k e t b a l l w e r e the m a i n s p o r t s c o v e r e d .

68

B r e w e r s , E a c h t i m e he r e a c h e d Bos ton he w a s benched , . . and sen t b a c k in a couple of d a y s .

In s p o r t s , a s w e l l a s in o ther a r e a s , the N e g r o r e a d e r w a s

kept i n f o r m e d about h is r a c e in many a r e a s , s e r i o u s and not s o

s e r i o u s . Under the topic " P e o p l e " in the con ten t s , a r t i c l e s l i s t e d

w e r e "NAACP C o n v e n t i o n , " " U r b a n League R e p o r t , " and " T h e y

Get T e c h n i c a l . " Mainly f e a t u r e - n e w s a r t i c l e s , t h e s e a r t i c l e s touched

on work ing N e g r o e s a id ing soc i e ty . The a r t i c l e " T h e y Get T e c h n i c a l "

was about the Washington T e c h High School , which l i s t e d a " v a r i e d

p r o g r a m of t r a d e s —-froxn r a d i o to roof r e p a i r i n g - - b e s i d e s i t s r e g u l a r

a c a d e m i c c u r r i c u l a r . " Not r ebe l l ious or indignant in t one , the

NAACP s t o r y gave high points of the 1952 convent ion , a few f e a t u r e

i t e m s f r o m the convent ion , and b u s i n e s s of the convent ion . One t y p i -

c a l p a r a g r a p h r e a d s :

F o r the m o s t p a r t , f o r m a l s e s s i o n s w e r e devoted to an eva lua t ion of Civi l Rights and a guide to po l i t i ca l ac t ion th is c r u c i a l e l ec t ion y e a r .

L e v i t a n ' s idea of a good publ ica t ion was not one which fought

f o r anyth ing or demanded anything f r o m anyone . He chose to have

his publ ica t ion i n f o r m and e n t e r t a i n , and w h a t e v e r he had to do to

p e r f o r m t h e s e two func t ions of j o u r n a l i s m , he would do.

The a b s e n c e of t r u e s t o r i e s c o n f i r m s th i s Levi tan phi losophy.

He did not deny tha t t r u e s t o r i e s had t h e i r p l ace , but he r e f u s e d to have

69

t h e m in N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s . " E n t e r t a i n by giving t h e m s o m e t h i n g

good, s o m e r e a l a c h i e v e m e n t , " Levi tan of ten s a i d .

As Levi tan pumped money into N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , he a l s o

f i n a n c e d a magaz ine so le ly f o r " t r u e s t o r i e s " and n a m e d it B r o n z e

T h r i l l s . " S u r e , you c a n ' t t ake some th ing hot out of a m a g a z i n e .

T h e y love th i s kind of th ing, But , t h i s kind of a r t i c l e ju s t w a s r i d i c u -

lous h e r e , " sa id Lev i tan , point ing to an old N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s '

s t o r y . Lev i tan contended tha t the " t r u e s t o r i e s " w e r e not t r u e

a c h i e v e m e n t s .

Lev i t an , h o w e v e r , did have his staff inc lude as many a c h i e v e -

men t s t o r i e s as p o s s i b l e . Under the heading " A c h i e v e m e n t s , " in the

con ten t s of S e p t e m b e r , 1952 i s s u e w e r e "Make Way, M r . J o r d a n , " a

s t o r y about a N e g r o m a n f r o m Brooklyn who w a s a l a w y e r , a po l i t i c ian ,

a judge , a s o c i a l w o r k e r , a s tudent , and a g r o c e r y s t o r e owner . A l s o

in th i s c a t e g o r y w e r e " D o c t o r s Have D a y , " " B r o t h e r h o o d Boos t , "

and " A c h i e v e m e n t s S a l u t e s . "

" D o c t o r s Have T h e i r Day" d i s c u s s e d the s i x t y - s i x t h annua l

s e s s i o n of Lone S t a r Med ica l A s s o c i a t i o n and the " B r o t h e r h o o d Gets

a Boos t " to ld of an i n t e g r a t e d San F r a n c i s c o c h u r c h c o n g r e g a t i o n .

Under " A c h i e v e m e n t s S a l u t e s " w e r e b r ie f a r t i c l e s about a M i s s o u r i

v e t e r i n a r i a n , an A r k a n s a s o p t o m e t r i s t , a T e n n e s s e e l a w y e r , and a

Lou i s i ana a u t h o r .

70

T h e new N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s of S e p t e m b e r , 1952 c o v e r e d

no t only g roups of N e g r o e s but a l s o individual N e g r o e s , and t h i s

con ten t p a r t i a l l y c o m p e n s a t e d f o r the l ack of t r u e s t o r i e s .

Al though s o m e c a t e g o r i e s did not a p p e a r to be c l e a r - c u t , t he

pub l i ca t i on ' s e f f o r t t o o rgan i ze the r ead ing m a t e r i a l undoubtedly a i d e d

the r e a d e r . Benea th the content heading " F e a t u r e s " w e r e " T h e

C h u r c h , " " N e g r o e s in t he N e w s , " and " C a r t o o n s by T u r n e r . "

Other than the c a r t o o n s , th is s e c t i o n c o n s i s t e d of a c h i e v e m e n t s t o r i e s .

Howeve r , they w e r e w r i t t e n in f e a t u r e s t y l e .

The c a r t o o n s w e r e l ight and c o m i c a l , L e v i t a n ' s idea wi thout

a doubt . Al though th i s f e a t u r e i t e m of " C a r t o o n s by T u r n e r " d i s -

p layed s e v e r a l c a r t o o n s , o the r c a r t o o n s w e r e i n t e r m i t t e n t l y p l aced in

o the r a r e a s . Laugh t e r is p a r t of L e v i t a n ' s p e r s o n a l ph i losophy, and

j o k e s , c a r t o o n s , and o the r funny- type f i l l e r s began a p p e a r i n g in the

m a g a z i n e . One f i l l e r p l aced in the midd le of o t h e r w i s e s e r i o u s m a t e r -

i a l w a s w r i t t e n in joke f o r m :

"I d idn ' t s a y tha t a l l l a w y e r s a r e c r o o k s , " s a i d the d o c t o r , "but you ' l l a d m i t tha t your p r o f e s s i o n d o e s n ' t m a k e ange l s of m e n . "

" N o , " r e t o r t e d the l a w y e r , "You d o c t o r s have the b e s t of us t h e r e . "

" T h e Home F r o n t , " yet a n o t h e r c a t e g o r y in c o n t e n t s , w a s

a i m e d a t the w o m a n r e a d e r . T o p i c s w e r e " C o o k ' s N o o k , " " H o u s e -

hold S c r a p b o o k , " and " B e a u t y C o r n e r . " A l l had def in i te a p p e a l to

71

the housewi fe , but not n e c e s s a r i l y to the N e g r o housewi fe , a s d id

co lumns in p r e v i o u s N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s ,

Lev i t an e n t e r t a i n e d no idea of appea l ing to the N e g r o a s a

s u b s t a n d a r d r e a d e r , but n e i t h e r did he choose to c r e a t e a d r e a m w o r l d

above t h e i r h e a d s . A r t i c l e s in the changed N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s w e r e

e a r t h y , p r a c t i c a l , and r e a l i s t i c .

Ed i t ing the publ ica t ion dur ing 1952, the ma in y e a r of change ,

w a s an e d i t o r i a l b o a r d headed by Adel le J a c k s o n M a r t i n a s m a n a g i n g

e d i t o r . "Dur ing the f i r s t y e a r , we l e a r n e d t o g e t h e r . Of c o u r s e , I

knew what had been done. He [Levi tan] knew what would s t a y , wha t

7 would g o , " sa id M r s . M a r t i n .

M r s . M a r t i n had " l ea rned the r o p e s " unde r B lackwel l a s a

c u r i o u s , p e r s i s t e n t t e e n a g e r . B lackwe l l depended on h e r s e r v i c e s s o

much tha t when he died she could not le t the magaz ine d i e . " T h a t ' s

when I found L e v i t a n , " sa id M r s . M a r t i n .

T h r o u g h the 1950's M r s . M a r t i n r e m a i n e d a p i l l a r of the

pub l i ca t ion . She s o m e t i m e s led and at t i m e s she fo l lowed . But , in

F e b r u a r y , 1953, Lev i t an changed the n a m e of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s t o

Sepia R e c o r d . F r o m th i s point on he b e c a m e a s t r o n g l e a d e r of the

pub l i ca t ion .

^S ta t emen t by Adel le J a c k s o n M a r t i n , e x - m a n a g i n g ed i t o r of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s in a t e l ephone in te rv iew m a d e Ju ly 24, 1972. F u r t h e r footnote r e f e r e n c e in t h i s c h a p t e r is omi t t ed .

72

Sepia R e c o r d

T h e change to Sepia R e c o r d s igna led the obvious o v e r a l l

change in the m a g a z i n e ' s content and m a k e - u p . Levi tan c o m m e n t e d

tha t a f t e r he had been p u b l i s h e r of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s f o r about a

y e a r , he r e a l i z e d the n a m e did not f i t the con ten t . The r e a s o n was.

tha t Lev i t an had ove rhau led N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s to the point w h e r e i t

w a s not the s a m e m a g a z i n e , and , t h e r e f o r e , he could not k e e p the

s a m e n a m e . He s tud ied o ther N e g r o m a g a z i n e s and a t t e m p t e d to put

h i s publ ica t ion in the p r o p e r p e r s p e c t i v e . He wanted to do s o m e t h i n g

d i f f e r e n t tha t would s e l l . Making money r e m a i n e d top p r i o r i t y ; yet

he wan ted to give the N e g r o s o m e t h i n g he did not h a v e - - a n a l l - r o u n d

publ ica t ion des igned t o e n t e r t a i n and to i n f o r m . Sepia R e c o r d f i t the

r o l e .

The F e b r u a r y , 1953 i s s u e w a s the f i r s t to c a r r y the new

n a m e p la te which r e a d Sepia R e c o r d , F o r m e r l y N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s .

R e c o r d was s e t in a p p r o x i m a t e l y e igh teen -po in t type-,

w h e r e a s Sep ia , se t in an a r t type of a p p r o x i m a t e l y 144 po in t s ,

r e m a i n e d the p r i m a r y t i t l e . S o m e t i m e be tween Augus t , 1954 and

8

N o v e m b e r , 1954, the R e c o r d was d ropped and the magaz ine ha s

c a r r i e d only Sepia s ince then . 8

The l a s t i s s u e ava i l ab le c a r r y i n g the n a m e p l a t e Sepia R e c o r d w a s Ju ly , 1954, and the f i r s t i s s u e ava i l ab l e c a r r y i n g only Sepia w a s N o v e m b e r , 1954. P u b l i s h e r Levi tan could not r e c a l l the exac t month of the change , but s a id it was p robab ly S e p t e m b e r .

73

Levi tan f e l t a o n e - w o r d logo was e a s i e r to r e m e m b e r ,

c a t c h i e r , and b e t t e r than a n a m e s t r e w n a l l ove r the f r o n t of a p u b l i -

ca t i on . " M o r e c l a s s , you k n o w , " he s a i d .

The n a m e p la te p roved to be the f i r s t of many no t i ceab le

changes in the magaz ine and i ts change was the beginning of a f i n e r

e x a m p l e of N e g r o j o u r n a l i s m .

Sepia R e c o r d even f o r i t s s h o r t p e r i o d of l i fe in 1953 and

1954 p roduced m o s t of the m a j o r changes ma in t a ined in Sepia . Mos t

obvious of a l t e r a t i o n s in the A p r i l , 1953 i s s u e w a s the c o v e r which

went f r o m a dull t w o - c o l o r to a b r i g h t e r f o u r - c o l o r . Lev i tan r a n the

new c o v e r th rough the one-un i t p r e s s f o u r t i m e s .

The c o v e r a l s o began f e a t u r i n g c e l e b r i t i e s , p r e t t y g i r l s , and

9 p rovoca t i ve t i t l e s , such a s " T r o u b l e in Las V e g a s , " "How to

10 11 Make a D a m e , " "Ho t t e s t N e g r o N i g h t c l u b , " 'The G i r l wi th the

9 " T r o u b l e in Las V e g a s , " Sepia R e c o r d , X (Apr i l , 1953),

c o v e r one.

^ " H o w to Make a D a m e , " Sepia R e c o r d , X { F e b r u a r y , 1953), c o v e r one.

"Ho t t e s t N e g r o Nightc lub , " Sepia R e c o r d , X (March , 1953), c o v e r one.

74

12 13 Magic H i p s , " " A r e O l d e r W o m e n S e x i e r ? " and " T h e S h a k e

14

Shake G i r l . , !

Two r e g u l a r t i t l e s a p p e a r e d on each i s s u e of Sepia Record*

T h e y w e r e " E x p o s e d ! " and " T r u e M u r d e r M y s t e r y . " " E x p o s e d ! "

s t o r i e s u sua l l y r e v e a l e d a s coop . E x a m p l e s of such scoops w e r e 15 16

"Men Who D r e s s Like W o m e n , " "They Live by N i g h t , " and 17

" A f t e r Hour C l u b s . " Under the " T r u e M u r d e r M y s t e r y " head ing

w e r e s t a r t l i n g s t o r i e s . F o r i n s t a n c e , "The C a s e of the B r u t a l

18 19 Baby K i l l e r , " " T h e Pen tagon M u r d e r C a s e , " "The Gi r l in the

12"The G i r l wi th the Magic H i p s , " Sepia R e c o r d , XI ( F e b r u a r y , 1954), c o v e r one.

^ " A r e O l d e r W o m e n S e x i e r ? " Sepia R e c o r d , XI (Apr i l , 1954), c o v e r one.

14 "The Shake Shake Gi r l , " Sepia R e c o r d , XI (November ,

1954), c o v e r one.

15 " E x p o s e d ! Men Who D r e s s Like Women , " Sepia R e c o r d ,

XI ( D e c e m b e r , 1954), cove r one.

16 " E x p o s e d ! They Live by Night , " Sepia R e c o r d , XI

( J a n u a r y , 1954), cove r one.

17 " E x p o s e d ! A f t e r Hour C l u b s , " Sepia R e c o r d , XI (March ,

1954), c o v e r one.

^®"The C a s e of the B r u t a l Baby K i l l e r , " Sepia R e c o r d , XI (Ju ly , 1954), c o v e r one .

19 " T h e Pen tagon M u r d e r C a s e , " Sepia R e c o r d , XI (June ,

1954), c o v e r one.

75

20 71 G r a v e l P i t , " and 'He A l m o s t P r e a c h e d His Vic t im's F u n e r a l "

w e r e s o m e of such s h o c k e r s .

T i t l e s w e r e not the only ob jec t s used to " s p i c e up1® the

c o v e r . Mode l s , pos ing in ba th ing su i t s on boa t s and b e a c h e s ,

a p p e a r e d f r e q u e n t l y .

Lev i tan fe l t tha t if the m a g a z i n e looked b e t t e r i t would s e l l

b e t t e r . A c c o r d i n g to Levi tan , s a l e s i m p r o v e d i m m e n s e l y , going

22

f r o m a r o u n d 38, 000 to 45 , 000 in 1955. M o r e news tand cop ies

w e r e so ld , b e c a u s e the m a g a z i n e was compe t ing with o ther t op N e g r o

publ ica t ions in outward a p p e a r a n c e . However , the c h e e s e c a k e ph i lo -

sophy did not al low it t o compe te with top m a g a z i n e s in con ten t .

But L e v i t a n ' s goa l to r e a c h a m o r e m i d d l e - c l a s s s e g m e n t of the b l ack

populat ion w a s being r e a c h e d .

The content w a s j u s t a s radica l ly a l t e r e d a s the c o v e r . How-

e v e r , the change f r o m N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s ' conten t to Sepia R e c o r d

20 "The G i r l in the G r a v e l P i t , " Sepia R e c o r d , XI (Apr i l ,

1954), c o v e r one.

21 "He A l m o s t P r e a c h e d His V i c t i m ' s F u n e r a l , " Sepia R e c o r d ,

XI (March , 1954), c o v e r one.

22 One s t a t e m e n t of o w n e r s h i p was found, r e q u i r e d by The

Ac t of C o n g r e s s , but c i r c u l a t i o n w a s not s t a t e d b e c a u s e " t h i s i n f o r -ma t ion is r e q u i r e d f r o m dai ly , week ly , s e m i w e e k l y , and t r i w e e k l y n e w s p a p e r s only ." N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , X ( J a n u a r y , 1953), 2 .

76 «•

con ten t o c c u r r e d m o r e g r adua l l y than the c o v e r , and , t h e r e f o r e , t h i s

change is not a s s h a r p l y r e c o g n i z e d .

The T a b l e of Contents m a i n t a i n e d i ts s a m e h e a d i n g s , but

o ther top ics w e r e added . Sepia R e c o r d , beg inn ing in J u n e , 1953,

added the E x p o s e head ing , the Na t iona l F r o n t , S p e c i a l i t i e s , and T r u e

R o m a n c e head ings . Sepia R e c o r d , 1954, h e r a l d e d the T r u e De tec t ive

M u r d e r M y s t e r y , which s u b s t i t u t e d f o r the T r u e Romance s e c t i o n .

T h e Na t iona l F r o n t , a heading including N e g r o e s in the news

and N e g r o e s in nat ion-wide e v e n t s , he lped b a l a n c e the s e n s a t i o n a l

head ings of " T r u e R o m a n c e s " and " T r u e De tec t ive M u r d e r M y s t e r y . "

Had it not been f o r s t ab le news under "Nat ional F r o n t " and " P e o p l e , "

the m a g a z i n e could have r e v e r t e d e n t i r e l y to a s e n s a t i o n a l , c h e a p

pub l ica t ion . Levi tan saved Sepia f r o m th i s p a r t i c u l a r f a t e by b e g i n -

23

ning o the r publ ica t ions which ac t ed a s ou t le t s f o r the c h e e s e c a k e

ph i losophy , including s e n s a t i o n a l c o v e r a g e of s ex , movie s t a r s , and

c r i m e s .

S t i l l , Lev i t an did not p r o t e c t Sepia e n t i r e l y f r o m s o m e sexy ,

s e n s a t i o n a l pho tos , s t o r i e s , and a d v e r t i s e m e n t s . Throughou t the

23 B r o n z e T h r i l l s was the f o r e r u n n e r to the old W o r l d

M e s s e n g e r and was a d v e r t i s e d a s e a r l y as S e p t e m b e r , 1952, in N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s . L a t e r , J ive was b o r n and w a s f i r s t a d v e r t i s e d in F e b r u a r y , 1953 Sepia R e c o r d .

77

7 A f i f t i e s , Sep ia , The Kandy Size P i c t u r e M a g a z i n e , c a p i t a l i z e d on

s e n s a t i o n a l p i c t u r e s and s t o r i e s and sugges t ive a d v e r t i s i n g .

In a s e l f - p r o m o t i o n c a m p a i g n of J a n u a r y , 1956, a b a c k - c o v e r

a d v e r t i s e m e n t r e a d a s fo l l ows : " I t ' s H o t - - I t ' s T e r r i f i c - - I t ' s

S e n s a t i o n a l - - L a r g e r P i c t u r e s - - A " L i f e " Magaz ine in the N e g r o

F i e l d . "

The New Sepia

T h e " b i g g e r , n e w e r Sep ia , " which c l a i m e d to be w i d e r and

t a l l e r than b e f o r e , was a d v e r t i s e d to a p p e a r f i r s t in F e b r u a r y , 1956.

Howeve r , only one copy of 1956 is ava i l ab l e and it is the J a n u a r y

i s s u e . Showing the new s i z e f o r the f i r s t t i m e was the J a n u a r y ,

1957 i s s u e . Sepia m e a s u r e d n i n e - b y - t w e l v e - a n d - o n e -half i n c h e s ,

an odd s i z e , s m a l l e r than Life and Ebony, and was p r in t ed on a g lossy -

coa ted s tock in s t ead of the dul l , a b s o r b e n t s tock u s e d in the p a s t .

S ince the new s tock w a s not a b s o r b e n t , the co lo r r e p r o d u c t i o n was

i m p r o v e d i m m e n s e l y . T h e r e w a s a c l e a n e r , g l o s s i e r f i n i s h .

24 The Handy Size P i c t u r e Magaz ine sub t i t l e w a s added in

J a n u a r y , 1954, benea th the m a j o r n a m e p l a t e . I t w a s d ropped in 1955, s h o r t l y a f t e r R e c o r d w a s d ropped f r o m Sep ia , p robab ly in N o v e m b e r , 1954. It should be noted h e r e that cop ies a r e m i s s i n g f r o m the s h e l v e s of the Good Pub l i sh ing S t o r e h o u s e be tween Ju ly , 1954, and N o v e m b e r , 1954.

73

Also , the nameplate again changed to mimick Life magazine's

logo. Sepia was done in white, heavy-weight san-se r i f type against

a r ed f ive-by- two- inch block background. Yet, only four months

25

la ter the s tr iking logo was dropped, and the size of the publication

was changed again.

On the new thi r teen-by- ten- inch publications, the same size

as Ebony and Life, the red and gray nameplate s t re tched a c r o s s the

ent i re top f ron t . It had a dimensional appearance and white s tenc i l -

type l e t t e r s . The magazine maintained this logo throughout the r e s t

of the f i f t i e s .

According to the publ isher , Levitan, he and the staff liked to

" e x p e r i m e n t . " He said, "You never know what sel ls , . . got to t r y

it. It won't work if you don't just do it . And we did it a l l the t ime .

Tha t ' s the way these people learned this bus iness . Tha t ' s the way I

learned i t . Some things work . "

Also, as Levitan improved the publication, the plant, and 26

the newly named Good Publishing, obtained new p r e s s e s and type-

s e t t e r s . Fasc ina ted by the print ing-publishing bus iness , Levitan was 25

June-Ju ly , 1957 i s sues nameplate was changed.

2 6 Levitan said the name seemed " a p p r o p r i a t e , " " r i g h t . "

He changed the name July, 1952.

79

a l w a y s r e a d y t o a c q u i r e b e t t e r m a c h i n e r y in o r d e r t o i m p r o v e his-

m a g a z i n e s . By t h e l a t t e r p a r t of t h e 1 9 5 0 ' s , S e p i a looked a s good

a s o t h e r m a j o r p u b l i c a t i o n s , N e g r o a n d w h i t e a l i k e .

C o n t e n t t h r o u g h t h e f i f t i e s s t a b i l i z e d enough f o r a n e s t a b -

l i s h e d f o r m u l a to b e s e e n b y 1956. E n t e r t a i n m e n t and s e n s a t i o n a l -

i s m d i r e c t e d t o w a r d s t h e l o w e r - m i d d l e c l a s s N e g r o a c h i e v e d t h e

S e p i a n i c h e . Ye t t h e m o s t p r o g r e s s i v e c h a n g e s o c c u r r e d in 1957.

F r o m 1957 t o 1959» t h e p u b l i c a t i o n e v e n m o r e f i r m l y e s t a b l i s h e d i t s e l f

in t h e N e g r o m a r k e t . ' I w a s m o r e c o n v e r s a n t , " e x p l a i n e d L e v i t a n ,

" m o r e i n v o l v e d in b u s i n e s s . A l l t h e c h a n g e s w e r e m i n e r e a l l y .

T h i n g s w o u l d j u s t p o p i n m y h e a d . "

L e v i t a n r e a d m o r e and t r i e d h a r d e r . He saw t h e p o t e n t i a l

of S e p i a and d e c i d e d t o e x p a n d i t . " F o r s e l f i s h r e a s o n s , r e a l l y , I

w a n t e d i t t o be b e t t e r . I m e a n , I cou ld h a v e one d e c e n t m a g a z i n e I

c o u l d s h o w . T h i s i s G e o r g e L e v i t a n ' s , " he s a i d .

In J a n u a r y , 1957, L e v i t a n w a s w e l l on h i s w a y t o p u b l i s h i n g

27

t h e " d e c e n t " S e p i a . Sep i a t o o k a t u r n f o r t h e b e t t e r w h e n B e n

B u r n s , a w h i t e J e w i s h m a n of E b o n y f a m e , b e g a n c o n t r i b u t i n g t o t h e

p u b l i c a t i o n . O r i g i n a l l y , B e n B u r n s had b e e n t h e c a t a p u l t of E b o n y . 27

S e p i a ' s f o r m a t m a i n t a i n e d s e n s a t i o n a l i s m , bu t t o G e o r g e L e v i t a n , d e c e n c y w a s s e n s a t i o n a l , q u a l i t y m a t e r i a l p r e p a r e d in a p r o f e s s i o n a l w a y a n d n o t t r u e - s t o r y t ype m a t e r i a l .

80 »

He had c r e a t e d f o r t h e m a s e n s a t i o n a l f o r m a t which put theirs in

g r e e n e r f i e l d s . Only when pub l i she r John H. Johnson dec ided to go

to a s t r a i g h t e r f o r m a t did B u r n s dec ide to l eave . A c c o r d i n g to L e v i -

t a n , B u r n s was n e v e r r e a l l y " h i r e d " at Sep ia . He was a c o n t r i b u t o r .

In the s taff b o x e s , h o w e v e r , f r o m J a n u a r y , 1957 to D e c e m b e r , 1958

B u r n s was c r e d i t e d with the t i t l e of e d i t o r . Al though B u r n s w a s not

in f a c t an e d i t o r , h is in f luence was unden iab le . He w a s a p r o f e s s i o n a l

wi th a f l a i r . "When B u r n s t u r n e d in s t o r i e s , he a l s o s u g g e s t e d layout

and p i c t u r e u s e . T h e s e i deas w e r e a lways a c c e p t e d and Levi tan u r g e d

h i m to s ay m o r e .

"We took, his i d e a s , of c o u r s e . He w a s a l e a r n e d m a n , a

s c h o l a r l y m a n . H e ' s a h i g h - c l a s s g e n t l e m a n , a n e w s p a p e r w r i t e r .

He wen t to co l l ege . Main ly , he was b e s t when the m a t e r i a l w a s h o t - -

s e n s a t i o n a l . He w a s good f o r the m a g a z i n e , " s a i d Lev i tan , speak ing

of B u r n s .

B u r n s le f t an indel ib le m a r k on the publ ica t ion in the f i f t i e s ,

a l though his t e n u r e w a s s h o r t .

In J a n u a r y , 1957, the content f o r m changed . T o p i c s w e r e

d ropped and ind iv idua l t i t l e s w e r e u s e d . A c o v e r explana t ion w a s a n

addi t ion on the content page , and a d v e r t i s e m e n t s w e r e not a s abundant

a s in p r e v i o u s i s s u e s . F o r the f i r s t t i m e no t i ce of Audi t B u r e a u of

C i r c u l a t i o n (ABC) w a s s e e n in Sep ia . " T h e o ther m a g a z i n e s d idn ' t

81

need it , bat Sepia did . . . the ABC gave it more c l a s s , you know,"

said Levitan.

The January , 1957 i ssue a lso fea tured 'In Next Month's

I s s u e , " which told on the contents page about the number-one s to ry

for the next month. This i tem acted as a t e a s e r to r e a d e r s to buy

the next i s sue .

Examples of the 1957 content prove the magazine was an

ins t rument for enter ta inment in the sensat ional vein; yet, it was a l so

leaning towards more quality, educational a r t i c l e s . The January ,

1957 i s sue fea tured such a r t i c l e s as "The Biggest Racket of Them

All , " which told Negroes that instal lment plan buying had one out of

every four Negroes hopelessly in debt and always at the mercy of

f inance companies ; in cont ras t to this s to ry were such t i t les as "Sexi-

es t Man in H a r l e m , " "How to Become a Night Club S i n g e r , " and "I

Fbund God in Pr ison. 1 1

In the a r e a of enter ta inment , Sepia told its r e ade r s about

Negro name s t a r s such as Sugar Chile [sic] Robinson and Wilt

Chamber la in .

The content was var ied during 1957 and 1958, with only a

few sensat ional p ieces . "The Bloodiest Murder of the Year" was

f ea tu red on the June-July , 1957 issue cover as "Ex t r a : Murde r :

Chicago's Bru ta l E a s t e r Sunday Head-Chop Killing. " It told vividly

82

in w o r d s and p i c t u r e s the s t o r y of the Chicagoan who had chopped off

t h e head of his l ove r with a hunting kn i fe a f t e r s h e s n e e r e d a t h i s l o v e -

making ab i l i t y . He then c a r r i e d the head s ix b locks t o a t a v e r n t o

have a b e e r b e f o r e dumping the head in a t r a s h b a s k e t . Sepia m u l t i -

p l ied the h o r r o r of the g r o t e s q u e s t o r y by showing the b loody head in

the t r a s h can and the h e a d l e s s body soaked in runn ing b lood .

O the r s t o r i e s d i sp lay ing m i l d e r s e n s a t i o n a l i s m w e r e "How

I F igh t Off T h o s e Male Wolves on the Road, " S t r e e t w a l k e r to

29 30 P r e a c h e r , " "Why M o r e N e g r o e s A r e Going A s t r a y , " " F e m a l e

,31

A r t of Snake D a n c i n g . "

31 32 I m p e r s o n a t o r ' s B a l l , " " C r i m e P h o t o g r a p h e r , " and "The F i n e

33

? 8 Ruth Brown , "How I F igh t Off T h o s e Male Wolves on the

R o a d , " Sep ia , V (May, 1957), 26.

29 Georg ia Mae J a c k s o n , " S t r e e t w a l k e r to P r e a c h e r , " Sep ia ,

V (Oc tobe r , 1957), 40 .

30 "Why More N e g r o e s A r e Going A s t r a y , " Sep ia , V

(Oc tober , 1957), 7 .

31 " F e m a l e I m p e r s o n a t o r ' s B a l l , " Sep ia , V ( F e b r u a r y ,

1957), 54.

^ " C r i m e P h o t o g r a p h e r , " Sepia , VI ( F e b r u a r y , 1958), 30.

33nrphe F i n e A r t of Snake D a n c i n g , " Sep ia , VI (May, 1958), 53.

83 ?

Even a s Sepia p r o v e d i ts abi l i ty to s t a r t l e , m o r e a p p a r e n t

w a s i t s ab i l i t y to i n f o r m the l o w e r - m i d d l e c l a s s N e g r o popula t ion .

34 Such a r t i c l e s a s " B l a c k J e w s of I s r a e l , " " G r e a t M o m e n t s in

35 36 N e g r o H i s t o r y , " and "Hones t T r u t h about B i r t h Con t ro l " w e r e

of an i n f o r m a t i v e n a t u r e .

A s the fifti .es d rew to a c l o s e , the f o r m u l a was c l e a r . I t

c o n s i s t e d of s e n s a t i o n a l n e w s , s t a r t l i n g m e d i c a l d i s c o v e r i e s , gos s ipy

e n t e r t a i n m e n t f e a t u r e s , and a c h i e v e m e n t a r t i c l e s about N e g r o e s who

had m a d e good.

T h e f o r m u l a f o r Sepia was much l ike the old f o r m u l a of

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s with one m a i n d i f f e r e n c e . Sepia s t a f f e r s w e r e

m o r e p r o g r e s s i v e in copy read ing , in t h e i r w r i t i n g t echn ique , in t h e i r

c o l o r r e p r o d u c t i o n , in t h e i r pho tography , and hi t h e i r s u b j e c t m a t t e r .

S e p i a ' s f o r m u l a was g r a d u a l l y growing away f r o m the old t i r a d e of

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s .

A f t e r Burns le f t in D e c e m b e r , 1958, the m a g a z i n e took a

nosed ive a s f a r as innovat ive layout and des ign w e r e c o n c e r n e d . E v e n

" ^ " B l a c k J e w s of I s r a e l , " Sep ia , VI ( M a r c h , 1958), 22.

35 " G r e a t Momen t s in N e g r o H i s t o r y , " Sep ia , VI (Apr i l ,

1958), 50.

^ B o o k e r B r a d l e y , "Hones t T r u t h abou t B i r t h C o n t r o l , " Sepia , VI (May, 1958), 72.

84

though John Howard Gr i f f in of Black Like Me f a m e took over the t i t l e

of ed i t o r , the f l a i r of the f a i r - h a i r e d chi ld , B u r n s , was gone. Burns

l e f t Sepia as a con t r ibu to r in o r d e r to begin his own b u s i n e s s in publ ic

r e l a t i o n s .

However , the absence of Burns did not keep Sepia f r o m

th r iv ing dur ing 1959 and the succeeding y e a r s . The f o r m a t , b a s i c a l l y

the s a m e , kept s a l e s up and main ta ined Sep i a ' s i m a g e . The y e a r 1959

b rought co lor to the ins ide pages of Sepia , b rought about a change of

37 s t a f f , and brought back a ca t egor i za t ion of content again-.

Sensa t iona l cove rage of Negro happenings r e m a i n e d . E x a m -

3 8 pies a r e "Big Bust Boom, " which showed r epu l s ive p i c t u r e s of

39 open b r e a s t c a n c e r , "Decency V e r s u s Sin C i t y , " and "Is Too Much

40

Sex Ruining Ath le t e s? "

The only r e a l d i f f e r e n c e in 195 9 f r o m 1958 was the lack of

c r e a t i v e m a k e - u p . Bas ica l ly , the magaz ine r e m a i n e d the s a m e .

37 May, 1959's staff box was a l t e r e d wi th many new n a m e s of

c o n t r i b u t o r s and a s s o c i a t e e d i t o r s .

38 Eddie Roceo, "Big Bus t B o o m , " Sepia , VII ( J anua ry ,

1959), 14.

39 Dan Bur l ey , "Decency V e r s u s Sin C i t y , " Sepia , VII

(July, 195 9), 28. 40

"Is Too Much Sex Ruining A t h l e t e s ? " Sepia , VII (July, 1959), 64.

85

A d v e r t i s i n g c e r t a i n l y was not r a i s e d to a h ighe r s t a n d a r d .

I t e m s f o r c u r l i n g h a i r , s t r a i g h t e n i n g h a i r , co lo r ing h a i r , b l e a c h i n g

sk in , and d a r k e n i n g sk in w e r e a d v e r t i s e d a long with many m e d i c a l

c u r e s , such a s r o y a l j e l ly to i n s u r e l onge r l i fe and a ids to r e l i e v e

a l c o h o l i s m . E r o t i c i t e m s w e r e s e e n a d v e r t i s e d , such a s J ayne M a n s -

f i e l d l i n g e r i e , a b o t t o m l e s s g i r d l e , F r e n c h nude p i c t u r e s , and h o n e y -

moon love d r o p s . O the r i t e m s a d v e r t i s e d included m e n ' s h a t s , l a d i e s '

d r e s s e s , guns , high schoo l d i p l o m a s , s h o e s , j obs , genuine s tu f fed

a l l i g a t o r s , r e c o r d s , and r a d i o s . N a m e p roduc t s w e r e not s e e n .

Lev i t an sa id h is low c i r c u l a t i o n kept h i m f r o m so l i c i t ing top

p roduc t a d v e r t i s e m e n t s and added , "Bes ides , w e ' r e b ig enough.

Why be the r i c h e s t p u b l i s h e r in the g r a v e y a r d ? "

Yet , Sepia was compe t ing in the N e g r o m a r k e t and Sepia

w a s m a k i n g m o n e y .

The f i f t i e s in i t i a ted p u b l i s h e r George Levi tan into the b u s i -

n e s s , c r e a t e d a s a l ab l e publ ica t ion f o r the h a r d - t o - r e a c h l o w e r -

midd le c l a s s N e g r o m a r k e t , and paved the way f o r g r e a t e r t h ings .

C H A P T E R V

THE 1960'S AND COMING O F AGE

Al though the f i f t i e s b rough t the m o s t change to Sepia in

t y p o g r a p h i c a l f o r m a t and in b a s i c con ten t , the s i x t i e s b r o u g h t

m a t u r i t y to the o t h e r w i s e a d o l e s c e n t publicat ion. .

The J a n u a r y , F e b r u a r y , and M a r c h , 1969 i s s u e s c a r r i e d

such s t o r i e s a s "Space Age Oppor tun i t i e s , " "Ba t t l e Men on the Home

F r o n t , " and "Washing ton : Al l N e g r o by 1961?" The qua l i ty of c o n -

t en t in I960 w a s on a h ighe r l eve l than e v e r b e f o r e . P h o t o g r a p h i c

qua l i ty and p r in t ing r e p r o d u c t i o n i m p r o v e d . The publ ica t ion looked

b e t t e r and w a s b e t t e r .

S t i l l , the m a g a z i n e needed two add i t iona l f e a t u r e s which i t

l a c k e d . F i r s t , t he qual i ty of a d v e r t i s i n g needed to be g r e a t l y

i m p r o v e d , and , s econd , s o m e type of o r i g i n a l qua l i ty s e r i e s o r s t o r y

w a s needed to b r e a k on S e p i a ' s p a g e s . Pub l i ca t ions need some type

of d i s t i nc t ive s t o r y or s e r i e s to b e c o m e we l l -known , e i t h e r a g i m m i c k

86

87

1

s i m i l a r to the B u r t Reynolds f a r c e in Cosmopo l i t an , A p r i l , 1972, o r

s o m e t h i n g t r u l y innova t ive .

Though a d v e r t i s i n g n e v e r i m p r o v e d c o n s i s t e n t l y du r ing the

m a j o r p a r t of the s i x t i e s , Sepia obta ined the d i s t inc t ive s e r i e s to

m a r k i ts j o u r n a l i s t i c l i f e . John Howard G r i f f i n , an o c c a s i o n a l

c o n t r i b u t o r to Sep ia , a p p r o a c h e d Lev i tan e a r l y in 1958 wi th an idea

tha t w a s to m a k e Sepia a b e t t e r N e g r o pub l i ca t ion . Although nei ther"

of the men had enough f o r e s i g h t to p r e d i c t the i m p a c t of the idea ,

bothkiew it would be b ig . In the f i n a l a n a l y s i s , the b e s t of a l l o t h e r

end r e s u l t s was tha t t h i s idea i m p r o v e d the r epu ta t ion of the p u b l i c a -

t ion . I n s t e a d of b e m g c o n s i d e r e d a c h e a p N e g r o m a g a z i n e , i t began

to be r e c o g n i z e d a s hav ing s o m e depth .

Saga of John Howard G r i f f i n

P u b l i s h e r Levi tan f i r s t m e t John Howard Gr i f f i n in the e a r l y

2 f i f t i e s , t h r o u g h a J e w i s h o rgan i za t i on which u r g e d Lev i tan t o he lp

The " f a r c e " on C o s m o p o l i t a n ' s pages was a g i m m i c k u s e d by the m a g a z i n e to en t ice r e a d e r s to buy the pub l ica t ion . The g i m m i c k w a s a fo ld -ou t in the A p r i l , 1972 i s s u e of B u r t Reyno lds , movie a c t o r , a l m o s t «ude. M a j o r m a g a z i n e s such a s Newsweek w r o t e about the event and the i m p a c t i t had on C o s m o p o l i t a n ' s f u t u r e . T h e event w a s c o v e r e d by n e w s p a p e r s a r o u n d the coun t ry and o ther m a s s m e d i a . T h i s f e a t he lped e a r n the m a g a z i n e the r epu ta t ion of be ing a l i b e r a l , " w i t h -i t " w o m e n ' s pub l ica t ion .

^ John Howard G r i f f i n was unava i l ab le f o r i n t e rv iew due to an i l l n e s s and a l s o b e c a u s e he has a n o t h e r book in p r o g r e s s and is u n d e r a s t r e n u o u s s chedu le . Howeve r , i n f o r m a t i o n on Gr i f f i n w a s r e v e a l e d b y Lev i tan and through the m a g a z i n e Sep ia .

88 c

t h e m by giving Gr i f f i n e m p l o y m e n t . "I was not s u r e a t f i r s t . . . a 3

bl ind man? I a s k e d i n c r e d u l o u s l y , " sa id L e v i t a n .

But Levi tan h i r e d h i m and l a t e r r e a l i z e d tha t Gr i f f in w a s

s e r i o u s about his job and w a s e a r n e s t about w r i t i n g . B e f o r e m e e t i n g

Lev i t an , Gr i f f in had w r i t t e n The Devi l R ides Ou t s ide , a book pub l i shed

in 1952,which was w e l l r e c e i v e d by c r i t i c s and the publ ic a l i k e . ^

Levi tan in i t ia l ly he lped Gr i f f i n f o r h is b l i n d n e s s but not f o r

h is t a l e n t . However , in the late f i f t i e s a p p r o x i m a t e l y t en y e a r s

a f t e r m e e t i n g Gr i f f i n , Lev i t an did not c a r e why he had h i r e d h im , bu t

only tha t he had . Gr i f f i n p roved to be a n a s s e t to the pub l ica t ion .

In 1958, Gr i f f in m i r a c u l o u s l y gained h is eyes igh t b a c k a n d ,

a c c o r d i n g to Levi tan , began t ak ing a new p e r s p e c t i v e of the w o r l d

about h i m . A f t e r r ega in ing h i s eyes igh t , Gr i f f in began w r i t i n g m o r e

then he e v e r had in an a t t e m p t to po l i sh his s t y l e . "He w a s a f ine

3 S t a t e m e n t and g e n e r a l i n f o r m a t i o n obtained f r o m George

Lev i t an , p u b l i s h e r of Sepia m a g a z i n e in T h e Good Pub l i sh ing of f ice , O c t o b e r 27, 1972. Throughou t the r e m a i n d e r of th i s c h a p t e r h is s t a t e m e n t s a t th i s i n t e rv iew a r e quoted and d i s c u s s e d without f u r t h e r footnoted a t t r i b u t i o n .

4 In a s h o r t p iece about John Howard Gr i f f i n in the A p r i l ,

I960 i s s u e of Sep ia , it is w r i t t e n that th is nove l e a r n e d h i m " i n t e r -na t iona l r e p u t a t i o n . " Also , , the c r i t i c Maxwel l G e i s m a r in h is A m e r i c a n M o d e r n s s a i d , " F o r s h e e r t a l e n t , power and v i r t u o s i t y of c r a f t G r i f f i n r anks v e r y high among the new w r i t e r s , but he has d e e p e r p o w e r s than t h e s e . "

89

w r i t e r and he used his ta len ts to a grea t advantage. He was s m a r t

5

and he had va r i ed exper iences , 1 1 said Levitan.

In late October or e a r l y November of 1958, Gri f f in took his

idea to Levitan. Griff in proposed turning himself b lack, ventur ing

into the Deep South to exper ience life as a Negro and wri t ing about

these exper iences f o r Sepia. "The man always looked fo r purpose in

his l i fe . When he told me he wanted to be a Negro , I thought 'You ' r e

c r a z y m i s t e r ' but it wasn ' t enough f o r this man to empathize with the

Negro . . . he wanted to be one, " explained Levitan.

Levitan was not p leased about Gr i f f in ' s ambi t ions . He fe l t

the venture was dangerous and fool ish . "The magazine was impor tan t ,

but so is l i f e , " Levitan r e m a r k e d . The idea was too r i sky even for a

gambler like Levitan. But Gri f f in did not give up, and his p e r s i s -

tence paid off. Levitan said he insured the w r i t e r fo r $ 100, 000 and

sent h im on his way.

Griff in telephoned or wi red his s t o r i e s to Sepia when

n e c e s s a r y . He was sent money by publ isher Levitan,who, a f t e r the

proposi t ion was under way, was even m o r e uneasy in knowing Griff in

was his respons ib i l i ty .

5 John Howard Grif f in has among his "var ied expe r i ences"

the study of medic ine , psychia t ry , and musicology. He is cons idered an author i ty on the Gregor ian chants . Sepia, IX (April , I960), 12.

90

St i l l , no m a t t e r how w o r r i e d Lev i tan w a s about the v e n t u r e ,

he knew ins t inc t ive ly the s t o r y was b ig . Sepia cap i t a l i z ed on the

G r i f f i n v e n t u r e , and a f t e r r ev i ews of the book (Black Like Me) w e r e

pub l i shed , it b e c a m e obvious tha t the magaz ine had c r o s s e d the l ine

that s e p a r a t e d m e d i o c r i t y and p r o m i n e n c e .

In M a r c h , I960, the f i r s t p rev iew of the Gr i f f in saga w a s

r e v e a l e d to Sepia r e a d e r s . The p iece was t i t l ed , "White Man

E x p e r i e n c e s Life a s a N e g r o in the Deep South, " and it f e l l u n d e r

the Next Month ' s I s s u e c a t e g o r y on the content page . It r e a d :

N e v e r has any publ ica t ion d a r e d to p r i n t a s t o r y s o bold, so unbel ievable as G r i f f i n ' s t ou r of the B lack Be l t . Sepia is p roud to accep t the d a r e .

You don ' t need a space h e l m e t and a r o c k e t s h i p to v i s i t ano the r wor ld John Howard Gr i f f in , f a m o u s a u t h o r of "The Devi l Rides O u t s i d e , " and o ther nove l s , did it wi th a note book, penc i l , a sun l a m p and gu t s . A lot of guts !

G r i f f i n ' s s t o r y is y o u r s to begin in A p r i l Sepia when we run the f i r s t of a f i v e - p a r t s e r i e s on G r i f f i n ' s d i s c o v e r i e s - - h a t e . . . f e a r . . . s a d n e s s . . . c a t -f i s h e a d stew . . . i l l i c i t love .

T h e r e is a n o t h e r wor ld i n s ide the one we l ive in . It is a w o r l d wi th in a wor ld and Gr i f f i n t r a v e l e d i ts h igh -w a y s , a l l ey s and t r a i l s , exp lo r ing it in sunl ight and in d a r k n e s s .

F r o m New O r l e a n s . . . R a m p a r t S t r e e t . . . F r e n c h M a r k e t . . . dingy, s t e a m i n g ho te l s . . . he h i t ch -h iked , wa lked and rode b u s e s t h rough Lou i s i ana , M i s s i s s i p p i , A l a b a m a and G e o r g i a - - t h e Deep South.

G r i f f i n ' s s t o r y is t r u e - - e v e r y shocking word of i t - - a n d i ts publ ica t ion wi l l shake the coun t ry . T h e r e w i l l be a n g r y c r i e s f r o m s o m e who r e c o g n i z e t h e m s e l v e s in h is s t o r y . . . the p r e t t y , and ha t e fu l , t i cke t s e l l e r in the New O r l e a n s bus t e r m i n a l . . . the s u r l y bus

91 e

d r i v e r who r e f u s e d to let N e g r o e s leave the bus to u s e the to i l e t on the H a t t i e s b u r g r a n . . . the whi te mart who wi l l reca.ll p ick ing up a h i t c h - h i k e r b e t w e e n Mobi le and M o n t g o m e r y , A l a . , and t e l l ing h i m how he "wen t f o r c o l o r e d g a l s . "

They wi l l r e m e m b e r G r i f f i n , shocked and u n b e -l ieving a s they r e c a l l the t a l l , husky " N e g r o " wi th g l a s s e s and shaven h e a d .

John Howard Gr i f f in is not a N e g r o . He is wh i t e , of whi te p a r e n t s . But he was c u r i o u s to l e a r n f i r s t -hand of the Sou the rn N e g r o ' s l i f e . Tha t is why a sun l a m p con t r ibu ted to his s t o r y .

How he b e c a m e a " N e g r o , " l ived, w o r k e d , a t e , l aughed , s u f f e r e d in the b a y o u s , b a c k a l l e y s and b r i g h t l ights of the Deep South, Gr i f f in has m a d e one of the f i n e r con t r ibu t ions to A m e r i c a n l i t e r a t u r e .

Read how John Howard Gr i f f i n " c r o s s e d o v e r " f r o m whi te to b l a c k . It s t a r t s in A p r i l Sep ia . We p r o -m i s e it w i l l l eave you gasp ing .

The f i r s t s t o r y in the s e r i e s was one a t which to g a s p . The

c o v e r of the next m o n t h ' s i s s u e in A p r i l , I960 was d r a m a t i c a l l y done.

It showed f ive s c e n e s of Gr i f f i n a s a b l a c k man done in b l a c k and

w h i t e . In co lo r was a c l o s e - u p shot of the whi te Gr i f f i n . Under

e a c h c l o s e - u p w a s a cu t l ine which r e a d , " John Howard G r i f f i n - -

fwh i t e ) " and "John Howard G r i f f i n - - (Negro) . " The c o v e r t i t l e r e a d ,

" S e a r c h i n g f o r T r u t h - - F i e Found I t . "

The s t o r y in the A p r i l , I960 i s s u e w a s d r a m a t i c , s t a r t l i n g ,

and w e l l w r i t t e n . Gr i f f i n took the r e a d e r into h i s e x p e r i e n c e s and

led the r e a d e r into h is t hough t s . At one point , he w r o t e :

Though the night w a s cold , swea t dampened m y body. T h i s a l s o w a s new. It was the f i r s t t i m e th i s N e g r o had e v e r p e r s p i r e d . I thought it vague ly

92

illuminating that the Negro Griffin 's sweat felt exactly the same on bis body as the white Griffin's. As I had suspected they would be , my discoveries were naive ones, like those of a child.

After part one appeared in April , 1969 as the lead story,

the May through October i s sues featured the s er i e s as secondary.

It was publicized on the cover of each of the i ssues but was not the

lead story.

Each new part of the story revealed experiences of Griffin,

and in each story, at least one cl imactic event occurred. For

instance, the June issue cover headline read, "I opened the truck

door and found myself staring at the cold steel of a shotgun, " while

the August, I960 i ssue's feature headline read, "What happens to

John Howard Griffin, white man turned Negro, when he stops to rest

in a dismal, Alabama ditch?"

Before the seventh and last story of the ser ies appeared in

the October Sepia i s sue , the September, 1961 issue advertised it

with the headline "BOOM!" The piece read:

When the impact of John Howard Griffin's m a s -querade as a Negro burst around the world, thousands upon thousands heralded him as a courageous humani-tarian. But in the eyes of the bigots, he had committed the unpardonable sin, he had betrayed his race.

In this age the coin of man is minted with two s ides , while thousands from the North and South praised Grif-fin, the bigots screamed their contempt. The peace of understanding was punctuated by threats of violence. A few prejudiced citizens of Griffin's hometown used

93

the anonymi ty of d a r k n e s s to hang h i m in ' e f f igy .

Gr i f f i n l i t the f u s e on the p o w d e r - k e g of r a c i a l p r e j u d i c e , r e a d the f u l l s t o r y of the r e s u l t a n t exp los ion in the Oc tobe r i s s u e of S e p i a .

T h e impac t w a s evident f r o m the r e s p o n s e the Sepia of f ice

r e c e i v e d . Levi tan s a id the off ice r e c e i v e d w e l l e v e r f o u r hundred ,

l e t t e r s du r ing the Gr i f f in s e r i e s f r o m r e a d e r s and c r i t i c s . Gr i f f i n

c a p i t a l i z e d on th i s r e s u l t by wr i t i ng an i n t e r e s t i n g , c l i m a c t i c l a s t

s t o r y to the s e r i e s . In the l a s t p a r t of the s e r i e s , which a p p e a r e d

in O c t o b e r , I960, Gr i f f i n t ied up the wr i t i ng v e n t u r e with a s t o r y

t i t l e d " P r a i s e d and D a m n e d . "

He a n s w e r e d in the l a s t s t o r y ques t ions about how s o u t h e r n

w h i t e s f e l t , how his f a m i l y f e l t , how the w o r l d r e a c t e d , how f o r e i g n

r e v i e w e r s r e a c t e d , and w h e t h e r he would do it aga in . T h i s l a s t

s t o r y of the s e r i e s w a s we l l done and a r t i c u l a t e . The s t o r y ended ,

but a s t r o n g change of a t t i tude t o w a r d s Sepia began in tha t the i n n o v a -

t ive a r t i c l e s e a r n e d r e s p e c t f o r the o t h e r w i s e l i t t l e - r e g a r d e d p u b l i c a -

t i on . T h e f a c t t ha t na t iona l ly known a d v e r t i s e r s began to buy s p a c e

f o r t h e i r p roduc t s w a s ind ica t ion tha t Sepia w a s no longer c o n s i d e r e d

too m i n o r to a d v e r t i s e in .

John Howard Griffin left Sepia towards the end of 1961.

Levitan commented that Griffin was not ever really hired as such

94

bu t w a s a c o n t r i b u t o r who worked c l o s e l y wi th the pub l ica t ion and the

s taff box only t i t l ed h i m a s e d i t o r .

A f t e r G r i f f i n ' s s t o r y had had i ts i m p a c t in Sep ia , G r i f f i n

c o m p i l e d h is s t o r y into a 176-page book t i t l ed Black Like Me, which

w a s pub l i shed in 1961. Sho r t l y a f t e r the r e l e a s e of the book,

r ev i ews began to a p p e a r in s e v e r a l p r o m i n e n t m a g a z i n e s .

C r i t i c L. E . Lomax of S a t u r d a y Review w r o t e in the

D e c e m b e r 9, 1961, i s s u e :

T h i s was not a s tun t ; th i s w a s not a l a r k ca r r i ed .

out by a f r e e - l a n c e w r i t e r in s e a r c h of a s t o r y . . " B l a c k Like Me" is a moving and t roub l ing book w r i t t e n by an a c c o m p l i s h e d nove l i s t . Though s l e n d e r , th is vo lume is a sca th ing ind ic tmen t of our s o c i e t y .

Bookl i s t c a r r i e d a r ev iew in i ts O c t o b e r , 1961 i s s u e which

r e a d in p a r t :

In d e s c r i b i n g his e n c o u n t e r s with N e g r o e s and whi tes Gr i f f in not only r e v e a l s the depth of the gulf s e p a -r a t i n g the r a c e s in the South but conveys the p sycho lo -g ica l impac t of be ing ins ide s o m e o n e e l s e ' s sk in . . . . F o r a l l i t s d e s p a i r the book is roo ted in c o u r a g e and convic t ion that t h e r e m u s t be c o m m u n i c a t i o n be tween b l ack and whi t e .

Dan Wakef ie ld , book r e v i e w e r of the New York T i m e s Book

Review , c o m m e n t e d in the Oc tobe r 22, 1961, i s s u e of his publ ica t ion

Black Like Me w a s "a b r i e f , unse t t l ing , and e s s e n t i a l documen t

of c o n t e m p o r a r y A m e r i c a n l i f e . " Ano the r c r i t i c , R . J . G leason , of

95

The San F r a n c i s c o Chron ic le of October 27, 1961, sa id a imply K

"Th i s is s t r o n g s t u f f . "

The only a d v e r s e review c a m e f r o m The New York H e r a l d -

T r i b u n e Books of Oc tober 15, 1961, which sa id , "The b e s t that c a n

b e sa id is tha t M r . Gr i f f i n ' s book r e p r e s e n t s an i n t e r e s t i n g j o u r n a l i s -

t ic e x p e r i m e n t that does not yield its f u l l p r o m i s e , " This r e v i e w e r

contends tha t " the idea that a white man m u s t live a N e g r o ' s l i fe to

u n d e r s t a n d his p r o b l e m s d i s r e g a r d s the capac i ty of the white man

. . . to see th rough the evi ls of o p p r e s s i o n and d i s c r i m i n a t i o n . "

Many nat ional ly a c c l a i m e d publ icat ions sought to review the book and

in a few of the r e v i e w e r ' s s u m m a t i o n s , it was noted that the s e r i e s

a p p e a r e d f i r s t in Sepia magaz ine . ^ Accord ing to Levi tan , the Good

Pub l i sh ing of f ices w e r e swamped with phone ca l l s and r e v i e w e r s

wish ing to d i s c u s s the s e r i e s on rad io and t a lk shows with m e m b e r s

of the Sepia s t a f f . Of ten people c a m e by the of f ices to see if Gr i f f in

w e r e t h e r e .

Sepia of the Sixt ies

The June , 1961 i s s u e c e l e b r a t e d Sep ia ' s t en th a n n i v e r s a r y

and the c e l e b r a t i o n was w e l l - d e s e r v e d .

The New Yorke r review of Black Like Me sa id , "Th i s b o o k , p a r t of which a p p e a r e d in the N e g r o magaz ine Sepia , is a j o u r n a l account of tha t e x p e r i e n c e . " The review was w r i t t e n Oc tobe r , 1961. The f a c t tha t Sepia was r ecogn ized by m a j o r publ icat ions f o r the John Howard Gr i f f in episode was t e s t a m e n t to the p r o g r e s s Sepia had made publ ic ly .

96

A c c o r d i n g t o L e v i t a n , b e c a u s e of t h e s e r i e s the c i rcu la t ion ,

increased . 10, 000 in I960 f r o m f i g u r e s t a k e n in 1958, m a k i n g S e p i a ' s

new c i r c u l a t i o n a p p r o x i m a t e l y 50 ,000 . T h e kinds of a d v e r t i s e m e n t s

a l s o i m p r o v e d . In the J u n e , 1961 i s s u e l a r g e na t iona l a d v e r t i s e r s

such a s P o n d ' s F a c i a l C r e a m and Schl i tz B e e r a p p e a r e d .

A s ixteen-p&ge s p r e a d w a s done about the Sepia s taf f and

p lant in the a n n i v e r s a r y i s s u e . It inc luded p i c t u r e s of each staff

m e m b e r , the phys i ca l p lan t , the p u b l i s h e r a t h i s t w e l v e - f o o t d e s k ,

and even the dog s i t t ing a t a t y p e w r i t e r . The a r t i c l e b r i e f l y told the

s to ry , of S e p i a ' s b i r t h and growth and p r a i s e d the s t a f f , a s does L e v i -

t an a t e v e r y c h a n c e . " T h e people make th i s p l ace g o , " s a id L e v i t a n .

" T h e y a lways have and they a lways wi l l . . . j u s t the peop le . S u c -

c e s s cannot be a t t r i b u t e d to anything e l s e , " he con tended .

In the f r o n t p a r t of the J u n e , 1961 a n n i v e r s a r y i s s u e is one

of the r a r e p i c t u r e s of p u b l i s h e r Lev i tan , and , even m o r e r a r e , i s

a s h o r t p i ece w r i t t e n by h i m :

A mi l l ion d o l l a r s is a lot of money . And l i t t le did I th ink t en y e a r s ago I would have inves t ed in, of a l l t h ings , a pub l i sh ing b u s i n e s s . N e i t h e r did I th ink tha t m y execu t ives of th i s company would be N e g r o e s - -a s such things j u s t w e r e not done "Down South. "

My f r i e n d s to ld me that i t would not w o r k . Being a h a r d - h e a d e d guy, who c a m e up off the s t r e e t s , I w a s c u r i o u s to s e e if it would w o r k , and it did.

And t h e s e s a m e people who p r o p h e s i e d the doom of m y v e n t u r e a r e now our b igges t b o o s t e r s , even to the point of want ing to inves t in th i s c o m p a n y - - m y company and my N e g r o f r i e n d s who bui l t i t . -

97

The ne t r e s u l t of a l l t h i s is Sepia m a g a z i n e . Th i s is our p r i d e , b e c a u s e w e l l we know tha t it i s beyond doubt , the f i n e s t N e g r o publ ica t ion in the w o r l d t o d a y .

In h is s h o r t p i e c e , Lev i tan a t t r i b u t e d the s u c c e s s of Sepia to

p r i d e . F r o m the e d i t o r i a l staff to the c a f e t e r i a s t a f f , a l m o s t a l l wi th

w o r k r e c o r d s of ove r ten y e a r s be l i eve in t h e i r w o r k , Levi tan w r o t e .

If one o ther a s p e c t of Sepia b e s i d e s the John Howard Gr i f f i n s t o r y

con t r i bu t ed to making Sepia s u c c e s s f u l , i t would be L e v i t a n ' s s t a f f .

Levi tan of ten s a i d , " T h e y not only pul led t h e m s e l v e s up by

t h e i r b o o t s t r a p s . „ , they made t h e i r b o o t s t r a p s . "

An a r t i c l e in the J u n e , 1961 Sepia expla ined one a s p e c t of

S e p i a ' s s taff t r a i n i n g . The a r t i c l e exp la ined ,

Since none of the e m p l o y e e s had f o r m a l t r a i n i n g in j o u r n a l i s m , the company paid a j o u r n a l i s m p r o f e s s o r f r o m T e x a s C h r i s t i a n U n i v e r s i t y to hold c l a s s e s f o r a l l e m p l o y e e s who w e r e i n t e r e s t e d , a t company e x p e n s e . A l s o , c l a s s e s in pho tography w e r e given.

Staff m e m b e r s , i n s t r u m e n t a l in mak ing Sepia wha t it was

in the s i x t i e s , w e r e John Howard Gr i f f i n , wi th the s u p e r f i c i a l t i t l e of

e d i t o r ; Ben B u r n s , e d i t o r ; Ade l le J a c k s o n M a r t i n , e d i t o r i a l d i r e c t o r ;

Eun ice Wi l son , a s s o c i a t e ed i t o r ; T r a v i s Wi lbu rn , a s s o c i a t e e d i t o r ;

J o h n P i t t , c a m e r a m a n ; Edna Lacy T u r n e r , s u b s c r i p t i o n d e p a r t m e n t

c l e r k ; L e o m a Whea t , a r t ed i t o r ; Cons t ance F e a s t e r , of f ice m a n a g e r ;

and B e a t r i ce P r i n g l e , m a n a g e r . O t h e r s i m p o r t a n t in the mak ing of

Sepia w e r e Mike M e d r a n o , p la te m a k e r , and Z a c k C r e a m i e r , p r e s s m a n .

98

Mos t of the key people of the f i f t i e s and s ix t i e s a r e the s a m e

key people s t i l l put t ing out Sep ia . Howeve r , U lys se s R i v e r s c a m e

to Sepia in 1959 and now is the Copy E d i t o r .

Sepia in I960 s t a r t e d aga in wi th the L i f e - l i k e n a m e p l a t e of a

r e d box wi th the t i t l e Sepia done in t a l l , whi te Bodoni t ype . Not only

w a s the n a m e p l a t e L i f e - l i k e , but a l s o the e n t i r e publ ica t ion w a s s i m i l a r

to L i f e - - o n l y the aud ience it appea l ed to was d i f f e r e n t .

A d v e r t i s i n g in the s ix t i e s did not ma in t a in a c o n s i s t e n t l y high

s t a n d a r d . Only occas iona l ly did Sepia s e c u r e top a d v e r t i s e r s . D u r -

ing the e a r l y s ix t i e s top c o m p a n i e s which a d v e r t i s e d t h e i r p roduc t s

inc luded N o r f o r m s ( c o n t r a c e p t i v e s ) , Smirnof f vodka , P o l a r o i d , C o c a -

Cola , and E m k o ( con t r acep t i ve s ) .

In the F e b r u a r y , 1964 i s s u e , Sepia in a s e l f - p r o m o t i n g

type of a d v e r t i s e m e n t s a i d ,

A d v e r t i s i n g Is S e c o n d a r y . O u r m a g a z i n e i s f u l l of i n t e r e s t i n g a r t i c l e s . With u s , a d v e r t i s i n g a lways ha s been of s e c o n d a r y i m p o r t a n c e — o u r r e a d e r s are-f o r e m o s t . We give you a c o m p r e h e n s i v e p i c t u r e of the N e g r o in w o r l d e v e n t s .

A r t i c l e s in the s ix t i e s w e r e not a s s e n s a t i o n a l a s in e a r l i e r

y e a r ' s i s s u e s , bu t s o m e "ho t" m a t e r i a l was m a i n t a i n e d in the Sepia

f o r m u l a . F o r i n s t a n c e , in 1962, such t i t l e s a p p e a r e d as "Bloody

99

4 5 S a t u r d a y Night in Chicago" and "A S u r e Way to B i r t h C o n t r o l . n

One 1962 c o v e r f e a t u r e d a p rovoca t i ve young w o m a n s c a n t i l l y

d r e s s e d , and the s t o r y w a s t i t l ed " C a l i f o r n i a ' s Most B e a u t i f u l

Wcrrsen.

In the S e p t e m b e r s 1963 i s s u e , a s in many i s s u e s of Sep ia ,

a p r e t t y w o m a n donned the c o v e r . The r e l a t e d s t o r y was t i t l ed

" B e a u t y in N e g r o W o m e n . "

J O t h e r s c in t i l l a t i ng t i t l e s w e r e "An A m a z i n g Ape Man,

8 "Shocking: T e e n a g e r s and V e n e r e a l D i s e a s e , " " T h e C a s s i u s C lay

<> 10 M a r i t a l Bout , " ' " H o m o s e x u a l s Get Help a t C h u r c h , " "A Mi l l ion

Men Sexual ly Impoten t by 1982? "Man Shot Twice T h r o u g h the

4 "Bloody S a t u r d a y Night in C h i c a g o , " Sep ia , XI (August ,

1962), 30.

5 " E m k o : A Su re Way to B i r t h C o n t r o l , " Sep ia , XI (Novem-

b e r , 1962), 28,

^ " C a l i f o r n i a ' s Most Beau t i fu l W o m e n , " Sep ia , XI (Oc tober ,

1962), 24 .

7 " M o r r o c a ' s A m a z i n g Ape M a n , " Sep ia , XIV (June , 1965), 16,

8 " T e e n a g e r s and V e n e r e a l D i s e a s e , " Sep ia , XIV (July ,

1965), 68.

9 " B e l l Rings f o r C a s s i u s , T h i s T i m e in C o u r t , " Sep ia , XIV

(August , 1965), 8.

^ " T h e C h u r c h and the H o m o s e x u a l , " Sep ia , XVI ( June , 1967), 68.

^ " W i l l A Mil l ion Men Be Impo ten t by 1982? " Sep ia , XVI ( June , 1967), 62,

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12 13 H e a r t Lives to T e l l About I t , " " M i n i - s k i r t s and M o r a l s , " "Sex

1A 15 in P r i s o n , " "S in i s t e r Sex f r o m Outer S p a c e , " " E x p o s e ! C r i m e

16 P a y s f o r Dishones t C h i r o p r a c t o r , " "Grave Digger T u r n s G r a v e

IT IS R o b b e r , " and "Beauty Contes t f o r H o m o s e x u a l s . "

More a r t i c l e s a p p e a r e d which showed empathy with the N e g r o

m o v e m e n t , though the magaz ine could be ca l led anything but a p r o t e s t

publ ica t ion . Sepia moved caut ious ly t oward c o n t r o v e r s i a l N e g r o

s t o r i e s . They did not take s tands on r a c i a l inc iden t s , f o r i n s t ance ,

but r a t h e r r e p o r t e d t h e m without opinion.

T ° s e e Sep ia ' s f o r m a t , content , and phi losophy, one m a y

examine the J a n u a r y , 1962 i s s u e which c a r r i e d two lead a r t i c l e s .

40 .

14

1 2 " I Died T h r e e T i m e s , " Sepia , XVI (Sep tember , 1967), 8.

1 3 " M i n i - S k i r t s and M o r a l s , " Sepia , XVI (November , 1967),

Sex in P r i s o n , " Sepia , XVI ( D e c e m b e r , 1967), 8.

^ " S i n i s t e r Sex f r o m Outer Space? " Sepia , XVII (May, 1968), 68.

^ " W h o Says C r i m e Doesn ' t P a y , " Sepia , XVII (July, 1968),

20. 17

" G r a v e Digger T u r n s Grave R o b b e r , " Sepia , XVII (November , 1968), 60.

18 "Homosexua l Beauty Contes t , " Sepia , XVII (December ,

1968), 34.

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One w a s about Chubby C h e c k e r and his new c r a z e dance , the t w i s t ;

t he o the r w a s a s t o r y t i t l ed , "The N e g r o A f t e r 99 Y e a r s of F r e e d o m . "

E s s e n t i a l l y , the magaz ine was f o r e n t e r t a i n m e n t , but Sepia would not

let the r e a d i n g publ ic f o r g e t tha t it was a Neg ro publ ica t ion . S e v e r a l

e x a m p l e s in i s s u e s of the s ix t i e s show e n t e r t a i n m e n t f i r s t , and N e g r o

cu l t u r e second . If the s ix t i e s a c c o m p l i s h e d anyth ing , i t w a s the

def in i te deve lopment of a f o r m u l a which was b a s e d on an " e n t e r t a i n -

men t f i r s t " f o r m u l a .

No m a t t e r how many e n t e r t a i n i n g a r t i c l e s a p p e a r e d in Sep ia ,

the m a g a z i n e s t i l l i n f o r m e d the N e g r o r e a d e r with educa t iona l a r t i c l e s .

In June , 1963, S e p i a ' s t op two s t o r i e s w e r e " A m e r i c a T r a i n s F i r s t

N e g r o S p a c e m a n , " and " A r e We on the V e r g e of an I n t e r r a c i a l

W a r ? " T h e r e w e r e f o u r e n t e r t a i n m e n t a r t i c l e s in th is s a m e i s s u e ,

t i t l ed " W o r k Out With J a c k i e W i l s o n , " "Hol lywood 's New B r e e d , "

" T h e Magni f icen t M a r t i n i q u e , " and " P e g Leg Ba te s and the H a r l e m

G l o b e t r o t t e r s . "

T h e y e a r 1964 b rough t few changes to Sep ia ; h o w e v e r ,

po l i t i ca l s t o r i e s a p p e a r e d m o r e f r e q u e n t l y t han b e f o r e . The l ead

s t o r y in F e b r u a r y , 1964 was about the a s s a s s i n a t i o n of P r e s i d e n t

John F . Kennedy. The June , 1964 top s t o r y w a s about C a r l Rowan,

d i r e c t o r of the United S t a t e s I n f o r m a t i o n C e n t e r . T h a t i s s u e a l s o

c a r r i e d an a r t i c l e about N e g r o a th l e t e s and t h e i r c iv i l r i g h t s . T h e

102 6

Augus t , 1964 i s s u e had t h r e e long a r t i c l e s f e a t u r e d on the c o v e r

involving p o l i t i c s . They w e r e t i t l ed " N e g r o e s Who Seek to B e

United S t a t e s P r e s i d e n t , " "Civil Bights : F i l i b u s t e r Ended , " and

"New Y o r k : City of F e a r , Whi tes Ready to L e a v e . " F r o m t h e s e

a r t i c l e s in 1964 i s s u e s , it can be s e e n tha t Sepia w a s t i m e l y .

P e r h a p s 1964 w a s a po l i t i ca l ly o r i en t ed y e a r f o r Sep ia ,

b e c a u s e it w a s not only an e lec t ion y e a r , but a l s o the y e a r of the p a s -

sage of the 1964 Civi l Bights Bi l l . An examina t ion of the 1964 i s s u e s

of Sepia a l s o t e l l s some th ing about the pub l ica t ion . Whe the r i t w a s

an e n t e r t a i n i n g organ o r an i n f o r m a t i v e o rgan , it w a s t i m e l y . L a t e r

i s s u e s of the s ix t i e s w e r e e n t e r t a i n i n g a s w e l l a s i n f o r m a t i v e . "An,

A m a z i n g Ape Man" w a s one of the lead s t o r i e s of J u n e , 1965, a long

wi th a f e a t u r e on the l o v e - a f f a i r r u m o r s of Diahann C a r r o l l and Sidney

P o i t i e r . A l s o , in the i s s u e s of S e p t e m b e r and Oc tobe r of 1965 w e r e

m o r e s e n s a t i o n a l s t o r i e s , such as " C o l o r Line Ki l led in Bunny

C l u b s , " "The B a r e F a c t s : S t r i p p e r T e l l s A l l . " Yet , in the next

m o n t h ' s i s s u e of N o v e m b e r , 1965 w a s the s e r i o u s and s t a r l i n g news

r e p o r t about "Bloody Riots in L . A . "

S e p i a ' s f o r m u l a was not only e n t e r t a i n i n g a r t i c l e s o r j u s t

i n f o r m a t i v e a r t i c l e s . Howeve r , dur ing one month one p a r t i c u l a r

type of s t o r y would a p p e a r , e i t h e r f e a t u r e o r news . The i n c o n s i s -

t ency of i ts f o r m u l a , in the f i na l a n a l y s i s , was i t s f o r m u l a . E a c h

103

month the magaz ine would hit h a r d on one p a r t i c u l a r s egmen t of

N e g r o l i fe . Tha t s egmen t might be about a b lack pol i t ic ian o r a b l ack

caucus in C o n g r e s s , or it might be about a b r u t a l m u r d e r o r the

con fe s s ions of a b l ack cho rus g i r l . Sep i a ' s f o r m u l a has r e m a i n e d

s tab le through the s ix t ies ?.nd into the s e v e n t i e s . C u r r e n t a r t i c l e s ,

en te r t a in ing and i n f o r m a t i v e , f i l l the Sepia pages in an e f f o r t to

s a t i s f y the Negro r e a d e r . Most not iceable are the lack of s e n s a t i o n a l

a r t i c l e s mean t to stax-tle, and m o r e p r o f e s s i o n a l layout and t y p o g r a p h i -

ca l des ign .

Typograph ica l ly , the publ icat ion was i m p r o v e d . The 1967

i s s u e s had b e t t e r co lo r r ep roduc t ion b e c a u s e of pub l i she r Lev i t an ' s

" e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n " with innovative p r e s s equipment . He a c q u i r e d

new equipment in his p r e s s r o o m and b e c a m e much m o r e a w a r e of the

phys i ca l a p p e a r a n c e of the magaz ine . P a p e r s tock improved to a

g l o s s i e r f in i sh , and type f a c e s looked b e t t e r than in the p a s t . Black

ink was b l a c k e r and the r e d s were t r u e r . In Sepia , typography-

improved and neve r r e g r e s s e d to p o o r e r days .

In f o r m a t , a few changes w e r e made . The contents sec t ion

changed in tha t the "Coming Next Month" was e n l a r g e d with addi t ional

co lo r and addi t ional s t o r y and photo c r e d i t s . The staff box was

s p r e a d a c r o s s the en t i r e bot tom of the contents page and was s e t in a

104

l a r g e r type . The cove r explana t ion added a p i c tu r e of a m i n i a t u r e

19

c o v e r . T h i s change w a s kept th rough the s i x t i e s .

I n t e r n a l f o r m a t changes included going f r o m a t i t l e index to a

c a t e g o r i c a l index s i m i l a r to the one used in the f i f t i e s . The c a t e -

g o r i e s in conten ts s ec t ion w e r e "Sepia S p e c i a l s , " " P o l i t i c s , "

"Human I n t e r e s t , " " E n t e r t a i n m e n t , " and " D e p a r t m e n t s , " In s o m e 20 21

i s s u e s " R e l i g i o n , " " S p o r t s , " and "Race R e l a t i o n s " w e r e added .

Under " D e p a r t m e n t s " f e l l the r e g u l a r co lumns of the pub l i -

ca t ion , which w e r e " L e t t e r s to the E d i t o r , " " P e o p l e Who Make the

Wor ld Go Round, " "Book R e v i e w s , " " J u s t Ask M e , " "New P r o d u c t s , "

"Sound O f f , " " F a s h i o n s , " "Mood f o r Food , " " R e c o r d Review, "

" B r o a d w a y C h a t t e r , " "Our Men in V i e t n a m , " "Behind the Scenes

in Wash ing ton , " and "Sepia Round Up. "

A l l of the r e g u l a r co lumns inc luded N e g r o e s in p a r t i c u l a r ,

w h a t e v e r the top ic . Though many c o v e r s and s t o r i e s involved w h i t e s ,

the co lumns usua l ly did not b r i ng any o ther r a c e into f o e u s .

19 Sep ia , XV ( J a n u a r y , 1966), 4 .

20 No p a r t i c u l a r p a t t e r n can be s e e n , but s p a s m o d i c a l l y

S e p i a ' s c a t e g o r i e s would be added or de l e t ed . 2 !

Sep ia , XVII ( J anua ry , 1968), 4 .

105

In 1969, the p r i c e of Sepia went up f r o m t h i r t y - f i v e cen t s to

f i f ty cen t s p e r copy, and to c o m p e n s a t e f o r th i s i n c r e a s e , the m a g a -

zine s e e m e d to t r y to pack even m o r e s t o r i e s into i t s s a m e e igh ty - two

p a g e s . In s t ead of f e a t u r i n g the usua l two top s t o r i e s on the c o v e r ,

up to t en might be head l ined on the c o v e r .

F o r e x a m p l e , the Ju ly , 1969 i s s u e f e a t u r e d " B l a c k Unions ,

White U n i o n s , " "Ghet to Medic ine , 1 1 " L o u R a w l s , " "Clown P o w e r , "

" T e a and R a c i s m , " and "The Kind of Women Black Men Go F o r . "

In the s a m e vein r a n the cove r of i ts S e p t e m b e r , 1969 i s s u e which

a d v e r t i s e d "Long , Hot S u m m e r , " " B i r t h of Mi l i t an t s , " "Gandhi ,

Non-v io l ence and the Black M a n , " "The Swinging Soul of O. C, S m i t h , "

" B l a c k A r t i s t T o m F e e l i n g , " 1Th.e P l igh t of Black O r p h a n s , " and

" F u t u r e F a s h i o n s of John Wes ton . "

Though many topics w e r e out l ined f o r Sepia r e a d e r s , the

c o v e r did not a p p e a r c rowded . The magaz ine i tself did not conta in

any m o r e a r t i c l e s than b e f o r e the p r i c e changed , but the qual i ty of the -

m o r e m i n o r a r t i c l e s s e e m e d i m p r o v e d . No explana t ion is given f o r

the s l ight i m p r o v e m e n t no t i ceab le in the m o r e expens ive Sepia

excep t t ha t , a s Levi tan exp la ined , "Maybe , subconsc ious ly , the s ta f f

wan ted to give the r e a d e r s m o r e , and, if tha t couldn ' t be done, they 'd

make b e t t e r w h a t e v e r they did give t h e m . "

106

L a t e r in the s i x t i e s , Sepia somehow p o s s e s s e d a sa t i s fact ion

with the s t a t u s quo, s i m i l a r to the lull a f t e r a s t o r m *

Sepia obta ined m o s t of i ts m a t e r i a l in the s ix t i e s f r o m

s t r i n g r e p o r t e r s and f r e e - l a n c e w r i t e r s who w e r e c o n t r a c t e d to w r i t e

c e r t a i n p i e c e s .

Gradua l ly , du r ing the s i x t i e s , the m a g a z i n e ' s c irculat ion

r o s e . C i r cu l a t i on c l a i m e d in the J a n u a r y , 1968 i s s u e w a s 109, 000

f o r a l l of the Good pub l i ca t ions , but Levi tan s a id Sepia had r i s e n to

a p p r o x i m a t e l y 52 ,000 f r o m 5 0 , 0 0 0 in the e a r l y s i x t i e s . M o r e people

w e r e p icking Sepia up f r o m the s t ands as a new d i s c o v e r y in

N e g r o l i t e r a t u r e . The e d i t o r i a l staff of f ive people b a s e d in F o r t

"Worth, T e x a s , a t the home off ice was o v e r w o r k e d and p r e s s u r e d to

k e e p the publ ica t ion a t the s a m e peak it ach ieved b e f o r e G r i f f i n ' s

d e p a r t u r e a t the end of 1961. " T h e y could have done it if they j u s t had

Sep ia , " sa id Lev i tan , "but they w e r e a l s o get t ing out fou r Other

m a g a z i n e s : J i ve , Hep, B r o n z e T h r i l l s , and Soul C o n f e s s i o n s , " The

pub l ica t ion had grown beyond i ts p e r s o n n e l ' s c apac i t y . "We ju s t got

too b ig . We wouldn ' t allow o u r s e l v e s to go down, and we , phys i ca l ly ,

cou ldn ' t go u p , " expla ined Lev i t an . As e a r l y a s in the F e b r u a r y ,

1964 i s s u e , Sepia w r o t e about i t s e l f , " M o r e and m o r e people a r e

r e a d i n g S e p i a . . . . Sepia is the b e s t buy on the magaz ine m a r k e t

today . We have our old r e g u l a r r e a d e r s and hundreds of new r e a d e r s who

107

a r e d i scover ing ' Sepia e v e r y month . "

Lev i t an , f a c e d with the d e c i s i o n of employ ing new peop le ,

began his s e a r c h f o r s o m e o n e capable and wi th e x p e r i e n c e in the

b l a c k pub l i ca t ion ' s m a r k e t to edi t Sepia of the s e v e n t i e s .

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION

P u b l i s h e r Levitan's s e a r c h f o r a new ed i to r f o r Sepia

l a s t ed through 1970. In 1971, an ed i to r was found, but he was not

new to the publication. He was the same Ben Burns who had so

sk i l l fu l ly edi ted Sepia in the f i f t i e s ,

Levi tan had confidence in the man and u r g e d h im to rejoin.

Sepia . Ben Burns was involved in his own public r e la t ions f i r m , but

decided the Sepia job would be a we l l -pay ing and chal lenging s i tua t ion

that he could t ie in with his own b u s i n e s s in Chicago. The chal lenge

L/evitan put to. Burns was to improve the s ty le of Sepia and r a i s e the

c i r cu l a t i on . I m p r o v e m e n t was obvious soon a f t e r Burns took t h e

e d i t o r ' s job, al though, like many of the other t i t l e s awarded at Sepia ,

Burns, work ing in Chicago^ was not an ac tua l ed i to r . He was on the

e d i t o r i a l board, a l so composed of the home off ice ed i t o r i a l staff of

Edna K. T u r n e r , T r a v i s D. Wi lburn , and Eunice J . Wilson, who put

Sepia toge the r a f t e r the m a t e r i a l f o r it was ga the red . However ,

B u r n s was the idea man fo r Sepia , and his work was that of e d i t o r - i n -

ch ie f .

108

109 »

R e g a r d l e s s of h i s t i t l e . B u r n s s u p p l i e d the l e a d e r s h i p

w h i c h S e p i a of the s e v e n t i e s n e e d e d . T h e m a g a z i n e ' s c i r c u l a t i o n

j u m p e d t o 65, 000 in 1972 f r o m t h e 51, 000 s t a t e d by L e v i t a n f o r t h e

l a t e 1960 'S. TO m a n y m a g a z i n e s , t h i s c i r c u l a t i o n m e a n t l i t t l e c o m -

p e t i t i o n s i n c e l a r g e r N e g r o p u b l i c a t i o n s b o a s t e d c i r c u l a t i o n f i g u r e s

in the h u n d r e d s of t h o u s a n d s . H o w e v e r , the q u a l i t y of S e p i a w a s

enough t o m a k e it a s t r o n g c o m p e t i t o r w i t h r e n o w n e d N e g r o p u b l i -

c a t i o n s s u c h a s E b o n y .

In t h e A p r i l , 1971 i s s u e " E d i t o r ' s N o t e b o o k , " t h e h o p e s

a n d goa l s of Sep ia in the s e v e n t i e s w e r e r e v e a l e d b y B u r n s . He

w r o t e ,

If r e a d e r s ge t t he i m p r e s s i o n t h e y b o u g h t t h e w r o n g m a g a z i n e t h i s m o n t h b e c a u s e t h i s i s s u e of S e p i a a p p e a r s qu i te d i f f e r e n t in f o r m a t and c o n t e n t , t h e n the e d i t o r s ' a r e g r a t i f i e d i n d e e d . B e g i n n i n g w i th the A p r i l i s s u e , we a r e s t a r t i n g a m a j o r o v e r h a u l o p e r a t i o n on the m a g a z i n e t h a t w i l l con t i nue f o r s o m e m o n t h s a s w e d e v e l o p new i d e a s in p r e s e n t a t i o n and m a k e u p , c o n c e p t and c o n t e n t s t o r e v a m p th i s p u b l i c a t i o n c o m p l e t e l y .

A s i d e f r o m s t e p s t o u p g r a d e t h e p r i n t i n g qual i ty-a n d i n t r o d u c e m o r e m o d e r n type f a c e s in c o m i n g m o n t h s , m a j o r a t t e n t i o n w i l l be d e v o t e d t o d e l i v e r i n g a m a g a z i n e t h a t e n c o m p a s s e s s o m e of the f i n e s t w r i t i n g a n d o u t s t a n d -ing pho tos on t h e m o s t s i g n i f i c a n t h a p p e n i n g in b l a c k A m e r i c a . Wi th t h e a d d i t i o n of o u t s t a n d i n g new e d i t o r s , o u r g o a l w i l l be to c r e a t e a b l a c k m a g a z i n e t o m a k e b l a c k A m e r i c a n s p r o u d .

I t is ou r a m b i t i o u s hope t o m a k e Sep i a a n e x c i t -ing f o r u m f o r p r o v o c a t i v e i d e a s , a p l a c e t o d i s p l a y p r o u d l y b l a c k a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s a s w e l l a s to e x p o s e r a c i a l h y p o -c r i s y . We m a y no t n e c e s s a r i l y a p p r o v e s o m e of t h e c o n t r o v e r s i a l a r t i c l e s w h i c h a r e a l r e a d y b e i n g d r a f t e d b y

110

outstanding au thors on as s ignment f r o m us , but wo wi l l publish what we bel ieve is re levant to the everyday life of b lacks in this land of ours , this A m e r i c a belongs to i ts b lack people no l e s s and perhaps more so than to mos t whites since mos t blacks have an ances t ry hare in A m e r i c a f a r longer than mos t whi tes .

We have a r ich and noble t rad i t ion he re and it is wor th fighting for and protect ing. We a r e A m e r i c a n s without any r e s t r i c t i ve qua l i f i ca t ions - -and that we intend to uphold. While we can and do r e m e m b e r our proud Af r i can he r i t age , we s t i l l ca l l A m e r i c a our home, our pr ide and our f u tu r e . If A m e r i c a has i ts faul ts and t r e s -p a s s e s , its h o r r o r s and even t e r r o r s at t i m e s , as b lacks we wil l s t r ive c e a s e l e s s l y for change to make A m e r i c a what it should r ightful ly be . One thing we f ee l it should not be . . . violent . Violence is the way of those v e r y quest ionable A m e r i c a n s who a r e the r a c i s t s in our mids t . Nei ther r a c i s m nor violence can rea l ly cope with evil ; .both indulged in by any race s imply beget more r a c i s m and violence.

With that ed i tor ia l note, we set fo r th on our j o u r n e y - -to c r ea t e a new Sepia. We may perhaps s t r a y f r o m our stated goal at t imes and perhaps p r o g r e s s will never be swift enough, but we would ask your indulgence, your commen t s , your suggest ions and your suppor t as we move ahead.

Though Sepia may not have wr i t ten its ed i tor ia l policy or

its philosophy before as a magazine , both policy and philosophy had

been evident. Being an advocate of peace , Sepia r e fused to condone

violence in any Negro s t rugg le . Thus , this non-violent at t i tude has

been its t r a d e m a r k in news and f ea tu re a r t i c l e s . But, the audience

this publication a t tempts to r each is wel l defined and d i f ferent f r o m

the audience more in te l lec tual Negro publications r each . It is

designed to appeal to the s m a l l segment of lower midd le -c l a s s Negroes .

I l l

Roland E . W o l s e l e y , p r o f e s s o r of j o u r n a l i s m a t S y r a c u s e

U n i v e r s i t y , w r o t e in his r e c e n t l y pub l i shed hook on b lack j o u r n a l i s m ,

" . . , it [Sepia] holds an i m p o r t a n t p lace s i nce it r e a c h e s a s u b s t a n -

t i a l g roup in the b l ack c o m m u n i t i e s and has a somewha t d i f f e r e n t

1

f o r m u l a than do the o the r . . . f i r m s . "

Wol se l ey a l s o s t a t e d about Sepia tha t " s u p e r f i c i a l l y it looks

l ike any p i c t u r e m a g a z i n e , and , while l e s s s u b s t a n t i a l than Ebony

in con ten t , has m o r e s u b s t a n c e t han i ts ou tward a p p e a r a n c e would

2 i n d i c a t e . " Among the subs t ance W o l s e l e y r e f e r r e d to w e r e s u c h

top ics a s book r e v i e w s , Wash ing ton news r e p o r t s , and h i s t o r i c a l

and b i o g r a p h i c a l p i ece s " c a l c u l a t e d to engende r p r i d e in b l a c k a c c o m -

3 p l i s h m e n t s . "

Wol se l ey noted tha t John H, Johnson , owner of Ebony, c o n -*

s i d e r e d Sepia v e r y l i t t le compe t i t i on b e c a u s e the c i r c u l a t i o n and a d v e r -

t i s i n g gap be tween t h e m is so g r e a t . Howeve r , he a l s o a d m i t t e d tha t

Ebony had vanqu i shed a l l of i t s r i v a l s excep t Sep ia , "which , t h e r e f o r e 4

has a c c o m p l i s h e d some th ing in be ing able to s u r v i v e . " He

1 Roland E . W o l s e l e y , T h e B lack P r e s s , U . S . A . ( A m e s ,

1971), p . 118.

2 I b i d . , p . 123.

4 Ibid .

3 I b i d . , p. 125.

112

a t t r ibuted Sepia ' s success to a fo rmula which, he s a y s ,

. . . is to be l e s s sensa t ional than its companion m a g a -z ines , to be t imely , to offer a va r i e ty of content , and to avoid high cos t s by doing compara t ive ly li t t le co lor pr in t ing, by using inexpensive pr int ing paper , and l i t t le promot ion, and to venture cautiously into fundamenta l soc ia l i s s u e s .

Wolseley, in the above pa rag raph , defined the fo rmula which

helped take Sepia f r o m m e a g e r beginnings as a superf luous publication

t i t led Negro Achievements to i ts p r e sen t s ta tus as a r e spec ted Negro

journa l .

However , to continue in any type of l eadersh ip , Sepia mus t

upgrade its t echnica l product ion by using a more expensive grade of

paper and by adopting m o r e p ro fess iona l make-up techniques . This

change wil l be diff icult because Levi tan 's f inancia l success has been

dependent upo'n inexpensive product ion of a l l his magaz ines . But

p ro fess iona l ly , Sepia mus t move up technical ly to keep up with other

publ icat ions.

Although Sepia ' s content p o s s e s s e s depth, its adver t i s ing

is not genera l ly of high quali ty. The magazine mus t sol ic i t a h igher

grade of adver t i s ing in o rde r to p r o g r e s s f u r t h e r . The quality of

adver t i s ing which Sepia now runs degrades i ts content and keeps the

upper -midd le c lass Negro f r o m subscr ib ing , although the content

"Ibid.

113 $

could v e r y w e l l s a t i s f y the r e a d i n g appe t i t e of the u p p e r - m i d d l e c l a s s

N e g r o .

Levi tan contends that a h ighe r g r a d e of a d v e r t i s i n g w a s once

the a i m of the Sepia s t a f f , but the a t t e m p t to obtain such a d v e r t i s i n g

w a s t h w a r t e d b e c a u s e of S e p i a ' s s l ight ly s e n s a t i o n a l f o r m a t , " A d v e r -

t i s e r s j u s t d idn ' t f e e l t h e i r p roduc t s would go in our type of pub lie a -

t ion , " s a id Lev i t an .

A l s o , f o r Sepia to r e m a i n a p r o g r e s s i v e N e g r o publ ica t ion ,

it m u s t s t age o ther j o u r n a l i s t i c f e a t s s i m i l a r to the John Howard

Gr i f f i n s t o r y in o r d e r to renew i t s i m a g e in the mind of the r e a d i n g

N e g r o publ ic . But , w h e r e does Sepia v e n t u r e f r o m h e r e ? What w i l l

the r e s t of the s e v e n t i e s hold f o r the pub l ica t ion?

P u b l i s h e r Lev i tan , having s u f f e r e d a hea l th s e t b a c k in la te

1971, has given the f u t u r e of h i s t w o - m i l l i o n - d o l l a r publ iehing house

much thought . He would l ike to e n l a r g e and en l i s t b r i g h t , young

people to c a r r y Sepia even f u r t h e r . He would l ike to f ind someone-

even to t ake over h i s job; o r , if th i s hope cannot be r e a l i z e d , he would

l ike to s e l l out .

If Lev i tan holds o w n e r s h i p and f inds the r igh t people to m a n -

age his m a g a z i n e , Sepia could b e c o m e an even m o r e p r o m i n e n t f r o n t -

^S ta t emen t by George Lev i tan , p u b l i s h e r of S££ ia^Publ i sh-ing Company , 1220 Hard ing S t . , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s , June 9, 1972.

114

rurrnei ' in itss f i e l d . If he s e l l s , Sepia's f u t u r e w i l l b e in lirnfeo,

f o r who e l s e could t ake up wha t G e o r g e Lev i t an b e g a n ?

APPENDIX

PHOTOGKAPHS

116

. MAGAZINE FOR EVERYBODY Foahirine All True Negro Stories* C o n s i s t i n g r ^ Negm Accomplishments, Love, Roma*

KSHKNOEII ft u 1.1ft II INO < OMI- ANY* rt'» LI CATION

,UGUST ISSUE 1947

S W F P

IN THIS ISSUE . p<« a

APPEARING IN THE SEPTEMBER iSSUF. HKR PERSONAL DECEPTION

m ERRORS IN LIFE

A STRANCE 9T0KY OF HOO-DOOiS^i

THE WANDERERS FRAIL

RETTtW OF THE NEWS

THE UNDEfU OVE* REPORTER

SWEffnNG IN THE BREEZE

MATRIMONIAL i OLIMN

WHAT THE STARS TEIX FOR YOU

WHO'S WHO

WF THE PEOPLE SPEAK

THEATRICALS AND Ml SK

P h o t o g r a p h 1 . - - H o r a c e J . B l a c k w e l l , F o u n d e r of t h e f o r e -r u n n e r t o S e p i a , N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , o r i g i n a l l y p u b l i s h e a t h i s 11 X 1 7 - i n c h t a b l o i d n e w s p a p e r t o i n f o r m a n d e d u c a t e t h e N e g r o p e o p l e b y t e l l i n g t h e m J I t r u e s t o r i e s 5 * of t h e r a c e . T h i s s i z e , b e g u n in 1946 , w a s c h a n g e d in O c t o b e r , 1949 , f o r t h e p r a c t i c a l r e a s o n t h a t i t w a s t o o d i f f i c u l t t o g e t i t t o s t a n d on t h e m a g a z i n e r a c k s .

117

ODY True Stories

AZINE FOR EVE <»«*o ni p I i ts h in <k n t k Featur ing

IN T H I S ISSUE

PICTURES FROM SAMUEL HUSTON COLLEGE, AUSTIN, TEXAS

,iU- "i ?*"

SEPTEMBER. 19511

P h o t o g r a p h 2 . - - T h e S e p t e m b e r , 1951 i s s u e w a s one of t h e f i r s t p u b l i s h e d u n d e r new o w n e r G e o r g e L e v i t a n . H o w e v e r , s i n c e he w a s a n e w c o m e r t o t h e p u b l i s h i n g b u s i n e s s , h e kep t the p u b l i c a t i o n a s i t h a d b e e n p r e v i o u s l y f o r a n i n e t y - d a y t r i a l p e r i o d , m a k i n g v e r y f e w c h a n g e s . T h e n a m e p l a t e w a s done in g r e e n and b l a c k , a s w a s the t i t l e box f e a t u r i n g the c o v e r s t o r y .

l i s

I IW1I1 i SEPTEMBER, 19

I I If 11 fyzcJUeve NEGRO P E O P L E

*2 j ; *

Convention

wptna a »t*<i

P h o t o g r a p h 3 . - - B y S e p t e m b e r , 1952 George Levi tan , p u b -l i s h e r , had changed the magaz ine by going to f o u r - c o l o r c o v e r , a r t w o r k , and a n e w l y - s t y l e d n a m e p l a t e which r ead The P r o g r e s s of the N e g r o P e o p l e ins tead of A Magaz ine f o r E v e r y b o d y . Content began having m o r e depth .

119

m 9 IrlvPiVP iWTI

FKIIHUAKY 1958

[ (BJJACIUCVEMENTS

mm 25 Cents RECORD

I w

THE DOMINOES

Fashions Photos Fiction - Features

Pho tog raph 4. - -Sep i a R e c o r d , F o r i n e r l y N e g r o Ach ievemen t s

was f i r s t on the m a r k e t F e b r u a r y , 1953. George Levi tan , pub l i she r ,

changed the name b e c a u s e "Negro Ach ievemen t s d idn ' t f i t . . . too

much tha t couldn ' t be c a t e g o r i z e d under th i s n a m e , " he s a id .

120

SEPIA -CUMBER. 1954

V Strict . V»ra Francis

A0T

True Murder Mystery; , •, *.

Case Of The Girl In The Swamp

P h o t o g r a p h 5. - - I n D e c e m b e r , 1954, t h e w o r d R e c o r d w a s d r o p p e d f r o m the logo and the p u b l i c a t i o n b e c a m e S e p i a , t h e n a m e it c a r r i e s t o p r e s e n t d a t e .

121

HARLEM

l i M Z

P h o t o g r a p h 6. - - S e p i a m i m i c k e d t h e L i fe logo in t h e l a t e r 1950 ' s w i t h Sep i a done in w h i t e wi th a r e d b lock b a c k g r o u n d . J a n u a r y , 1957 w a s t h e i s s u e showing the c h a n g e f r o m a n 8 - 1 / 2 X 1 1 - i n c h s i z e t o an odd s i z e d 9 X 1 2 - 1 / 2 - i n c h s i z e . H o w e v e r , t he new s i z e w a s s h o r t - l i v e d and b y 1958, the p u b l i c a t i o n w a s t h e s a m e s i z e a s E b o n y o r L i f e , 10 X 13 i n c h e s .

122

A P R I L , I 9 6 0

P h o t o g r a p h 7. - - T h e s i x t i e s f o r Sep i a w e r e h i g h l i g h t e d by the John H o w a r d G r i f f i n s e r i e s w h i c h l a t e r w a s m a d e in to the b o o k B l a c k L ike M e . T h e n a m e p l a t e , " f a n c y " a s p u b l i s h e r G e o r g e L e v i t a n c a l l e d i t , w a s r e d and g r a y a l t e r n a t e l y , w i t h Sep ia done in w h i t e . T h e A p r i l , I960 i s s u e w a s t h e f i r s t t o c a r r y the G r i f f i n s t o r y .

123

WILL SHE WIN AN OSCAR?

t

P h o t o g r a p h 8. - - S e p i a of t h e s e v e n t i e s h a s t y p o g r a p h i c a l l y and e d i t o r i a l l y i m p r o v e d s i n c e i t s m e a g e r b e g i n n i n g s in 1946. T h e n a m e p l a t e h a s gone b a c k to m i m i c k the L i fe logo .

124

•

P h o t o g r a p h 9. - - P u b l i s h e r G e o r g e L e v i t a n p o s e s w i t h a " f r i e n d l y c u b " in one of h i s f a v o r i t e r e s t a u r a n t s . T a k e n in N o v e m b e r , 1956, t h i s p i c t u r e t y p i f i e s L e v i t a n ' s s e n s e of do ing the " u n u s u a l . "

B I B L I O G R A P H Y

P r i m a r y S o u r c e s

N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s , F o r t W o r t h , Texas . : W o r l d ' s M e s s e n g e r P u b l i s h i n g C o m p a n y , a v a i l a b l e i s s u e s f r o m J u n e , 1947 t o J a n u a r y , 1953.

S e p i a R e c o r d , T h e Handy S ize P i c t u r e M a g a z i n e , F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s : Good P u b l i s h i n g C o m p a n y , a v a i l a b l e i s s u e s f r o m F e b r u a r y , 1953 to J u l y , 1954.

S e p i a . F o r t W o r t h , T e x a s : Good P u b l i s h i n g C o m p a n y , a v a i l a b l e i s s u e s f r o m N o v e m b e r , 1954 t o the p r e s e n t .

S e c o n d a r y S o u r c e s

Books *

W o l s e l e y , R o l a n d E . , T h e B l a c k P r e s s , U . S . A . : A D e t a i l e d a n d U n d e r s t a n d i n g R e p o r t on Wha t the B l a c k P r e s s Is and How I t C a m e to B e , A m e s , I owa , T h e Iowa S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1972.

A r t i c l e s

" H o i s t Sough t , F i r m Bough t , " F o r t W o r t h S t a r T e l e g r a m , A p r i l 7 , 1963, S e c . 4 , p . 2 .

In te r v i e w s

L e v i t a n , G e o r g e ( P u b l i s h e r ) , a t 1220 H a r d i n g S t r e e t , on J u n e 9, 1972, J u n e 22 , 1972, J u n e 27 , 1972, J u l y 24 , 1972, and O c t o b e r 27 , 1972.

125

126

M a r t i n , A d e l l e J a c k s o n ( E x - m a n a g i n g E d i t o r of N e g r o A c h i e v e m e n t s a n d S e p i a ) , by t e l e p h o n e on J u l y 24 , 1972.

M u n r o e , C l a r i s s a ( B u s i n e s s S e c r e t a r y of Good P u b l i s h i n g C o m p a n y ) , a t 1220 H a r d i n g S t r e e t on J u n e 27 , 1972.

P r i n g l e , B e a t r i c e , a t 1220 H a r d i n g S t r e e t , on J u n e 22 , 1972.

T u r n e r , E d n a K, L a c y ( " L e a d i n g E d i t o r of S e p i a " ) , a t 1220 H a r d i n g S t r e e t on J u l y 20 , 1972.