History of The Brownies' Book

In the early years of the Harlem Renaissance, W. E. B. Du Bois embarked upon a unique experiment in children’s literature. From January 1920 to December 1921, he and co-editor Jessie Redmon Fauset–a distinguished author and educator in her own right–published The Brownies’ Book, the first American periodical created specifically for Black children. Du Bois and Fauset used the magazine not only to publish the highest-quality Black-authored children’s literature available, but to present young readers with positive representations of Black individuals and showcase the accomplishments of the Black community (Vaughn-Roberson and Hill 494). Such content, Du Bois and Fauset hoped, would teach Black youths how to “respect themselves” in a racist society (Du Bois and Fauset 25). 

When Du Bois began editing The Crisis in 1910, he took pains to write for and about children, emphasizing moral lessons centering on hard work, acts of service, and Black pride (Blume Oeur 330-331). In October 1912, The Crisis debuted its “Children’s Number,” a special issue intended “to build readers’ pride in black beauty and physical vitality, and perhaps as a response to the eugenics movement and to the Progressive Era’s interest in health reform” (qtd. Blume Oeur 331). The success of the “Children’s Number” inspired the creation of the first major periodical for Black children, The Brownies’ Book: A Monthly Magazine for the Children of the Sun, which was published for two years from January 1920 to December 1921 (Blume Oeur 331). 

In his announcement of the magazine, Du Bois outlined the following goals:

1. To make colored children realize that being “colored” is a normal beautiful thing.
2. To make them familiar with the history and achievement of the Negro race.
3. To make them know that other colored children have grown into beautiful, useful and famous people.
4. To teach them a delicate code of honor and action in their relations with white children.
5. To turn their little hurts and resentments into emulation, ambition and love of their homes and companions.
6. To point out the best amusement and joys and worth-while things of life.
7. To inspire them to prepare for definite occupations and duties with a broad spirit of sacrifice. (qtd. in Gyant 22)

Du Bois envisioned The Brownies' Book as a tool for educating and awakening the social consciences of future members of the “Talented Tenth,” educated Black Americans who use their special abilities to become leaders of the Black community and effect social change (Van Wienen and Kraft 69). Du Bois regarded children as the key to a promising future for the Black community, asserting in his 1920 autobiography, Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil, that they had the power to reshape, or even transcend, the “color-line” and lift society’s “veil” of racial disillusionment and inequality (qtd. in Webster 347). When properly educated, he believed, children possessed the ability to eliminate racial prejudice (Webster 355).

Through The Brownies’ Book, Du Bois sought to foster Black children’s pride in their race and their heritage, encourage Black success, and give Black children the tools necessary to safely navigate a racist society. He also took care to infuse nearly every aspect of The Brownies’ Book with his philosophy of Pan-Africanism, the attempt to forge a united front amongst peoples of African descent in order to combat the dehumanizing effects of slavery, racism, colonialism, and oppression (M’bayo 21-22). 

As Du Bois embarked upon this mission, his co-editor, Jessie Redmon Fauset, endeavored to fill The Brownies’ Book with the best Black-authored children's literature available (Gyant 22; Vaughn-Roberson and Hill 495). During the magazine's two-year run, Fauset published work by Nella Larson, Elizabeth Ross Haynes, Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, and other luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance. The magazine also included forums like “The Judge,” in which Fauset gave children advice on topics such as behavior, dealing with parents, school work, and Black history; “The Jury,’ which focused on letters from readers; and “As the Crow Flies,” Du Bois's current events column. Other sections included “Playtime,” a column featuring lyrics, sheet music, puzzles, and games; “Our Little Friends,” a collage of reader-submitted photographs; “Little People of the Month,” which highlighted the accomplishments of Black children; and “The Grown-Ups’ Corner,'' a forum sharing letters from and dispensing guidance to Black parents.

Sadly, The Brownies’ Book folded at the end of 1921 due to inadequate subscription numbers. Following its closure, another Black children’s magazine wouldn’t be published until the debut of Ebony, Jr.! fifty-two years later in 1973 (Vaughn-Roberson and Hill 494).

Works Cited

Blume Oeur, Freeden. “The Children of the Sun: Celebrating the One Hundred-Year Anniversary of The Brownies’ Book.” The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, vol. 14, no. 3, 2021, pp. 329-344.

Du Bois, W. E. B. and Jessie Redmon Fauset. “The Grown-Ups’ Corner.” The Brownies’ Book, Jan. 1921, pp. 25.

Gyant, LaVerne. “The Brownies' Book: Preserving African American Memories through Textual Lineage.” Black History Bulletin, vol. 78, no. 2, 2015, pp. 22-26.

M’bayo, Tamba E. “W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and Pan-Africanism in Liberia, 1919–1924.” The Historian, vol. 66, no. 1, Wiley, 2004, pp. 19–44.

Van Wienen, Mark, and Julie Kraft. “How the Socialism of W. E. B. Du Bois Still Matters: Black Socialism in ‘The Quest of the Silver Fleece’ -- and Beyond.” African American Review, vol. 41, no. 1, 2007, pp. 67–85.

Vaughn-Roberson, Courtney and Brenda Hill. “The Brownies' Book and Ebony Jr.!: Literature as a Mirror of the Afro- American Experience.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 58, no. 4, 1999, pp. 494-510.

Webster, Crystal Lynn. “‘Transfiguring the Soul of Childhood’: Du Bois's Private Vision and Public Activism for Black Children.” The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, vol. 14, no. 3, 2021, pp. 347-366.