The Brownies' Book and Laura Wheeler Waring's Halloween Tableau
- Valerie Harris
- Oct 9
- 2 min read
The Brownies’ Book was a children’s magazine published by W.E.B. DuBois in association with The Crisis, and edited by the writer and Laura Wheeler Waring's long-time collaborator, Jessie Redmon Fauset.
The Brownies’ Book published only two years--from January 1920 through 1921--but featured drawings by Laura and a core group of prolific African American illustrators---Albert A. Smith, Hilda Rue Wilkinson, Marcellus Hawkins, among them---all with varying styles in depicting black children.
A particular aim of the publication was to represent black children as enjoying the same kinds of activities and just as importantly, deserving of the same opportunities for fun and joy as other children.
Laura loved using color and often requested color treatments for her cover designs for The
Crisis. But color reproduction was an expensive process, a luxury that was frequently denied Laura in her illustration work. In an attempt to appeal to children, however, The Brownies’ Book sometimes allowed color for its covers, but seldom if ever for its internal pages.
On several occasions, Laura created elaborate, 2-page spreads for The Brownies’ Book that showed children enjoying themselves in various modes of expression. I particularly love Laura Wheeler Waring's Halloween tableau created for The Brownies' Book to illustrate a poem by Annette Christine Brown. I find it fascinating for a couple of reasons.
Are the children on this side of the fence little black kids “spreading the fun of Halloween”?
Who are the children on the other side of the fence?
I see a frowning face in the far left. Have these black children boldly wandered into a neighborhood where they are not welcomed?
detail of LWW illustration (colorized)
I don’t know. But I know the feeling….
And I wonder how this extravagantly detailed image would look had it been presented in the vibrant colors that Laura favored….
Happy Halloween, y’all!
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A beautiful and powerful illustration, with so much to unpack from it. Wonderful post!