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Hidden Figures: Jackie Ormes #BlackHERstoryMonth 26/28

1,698 views · Published 27 February 2017 · 10:37 · Indexed 1 November 2026

Channel: Sensei Aishitemasu · 2017 · Entertainment

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Jackie Ormes is widely considered the first African American cartoonist in the United States. She created four comic strips, Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem (1937), Candy (1945), Patty Jo ‘n’ Ginger (1946), and Torchy Brown, Heartbeats (1950).

Ormes was born August 1, 1911 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to parents William Winfield Jackson and Mary Brown Jackson. Jackson owned and operated a printing business and was the proprietor of a movie theater. Mary was a homemaker who became a single parent when her husband died from motor vehicle accident in 1917. Jackie and her sister, Delores Jackson, were briefly raised by their aunt and uncle as a result.

After high school, Ormes obtained her first job as a proofreader for the Pittsburgh Courier in 1930. Ormes also completed freelance pieces on police beats, court cases, and human interest topics. Eventually she began to produce comics for the newspaper and established her career as a cartoonist. Her first comic strip, Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem ran for 12 months between 1937 and 1938.  Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem described a small town girl who migrated north to become an entertainer in Harlem. The cartoon resonated with many of the newspaper’s readers because it reflected the then contemporary struggles of hundreds of thousands of African Americans who were part of the great migration from the South to the North.  

In 1946, Ormes created the comic strip Patty Jo ‘n’ Ginger which ran for 11 years. This was one of her most influential comic strips. Also, many of the cartoons contained political and social satire thought to outline some of Ormes’s own opinions about issues of the day. The popularity of the comic strip led to the creation of the “Patty Jo” doll in 1947, the first African American doll based on a comic character.  With features painted on by the cartoonist herself, the doll is now a highly prized item for collectors. Zelda Jackie Ormes died in Salem, Ohio on December 26, 1985.

#HiddenFigures #BlackHERstoryMonth

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Links: 

Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist:
https://www.amazon.com/Jackie-Ormes-African-American-Cartoonist/dp/047211624X

https://www.press.umich.edu/150236/jackie_ormes

'Comics Crusader: Remembering Jackie Ormes:'
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93029000

'Fifty Years Before Boondocks There Was Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger:'
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/08/13/_patty_jo_n_ginger_the_ground_breaking_african_american_cartoon_of_the_1940s.html

'ADVENTURES IN FEMINISTORY: JACKIE ORMES, THE QUIETLY POLITICAL CARTOONIST:'
https://bitchmedia.org/post/adventures-in-feministory-jackie-ormes-cartoonist

'Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist by Nancy Goldstein:'
http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2013/03/17/jackie-ormes-the-first-african-american-woman-cartoonist-by-nancy-goldstein/

'Jackie Ormes Biography:'
http://www.biography.com/people/jackie-ormes-021216

'Jackie Ormes, First Black Woman Cartoonist:'
http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/jackie-ormes-first-cartoonist-who-portrayed-black-women-non-stereotypical

'Ormes, Zelda “Jackie” (1911-1985):'
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/ormes-zelda-jackie-1911-1985

'Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist by Nancy Goldstein:'
http://museumofuncutfunk.com/2013/03/17/jackie-ormes-the-first-african-american-woman-cartoonist-by-nancy-goldstein/

Jackie Ormes (Wikipedia):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Ormes#cite_note-:1-4

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