{"id":9733,"date":"2021-08-25T13:39:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T17:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/?p=9733"},"modified":"2021-09-03T15:49:05","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T19:49:05","slug":"jackie-ormes-creating-the-powerful-fashionable-modern-african-american-female-cartoon-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2021\/08\/25\/jackie-ormes-creating-the-powerful-fashionable-modern-african-american-female-cartoon-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackie Ormes:  creating the powerful, fashionable, &#038; modern African American female cartoon character"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Jackie Ormes, born Zelda Mavin Jackson to parents William Winifield Jackson and Mary Brown Jackson in 1911, was an American cartoonist, journalist, editor, philanthropist, and ground-breaker .  She was the first African American woman creator of a syndicated comic strip.  Her comics, <em>Torchy Brown<\/em> and <em>Patty-Jo &#8216;n&#8217; Ginger<\/em>, depicted strong, intelligent, and fashionable African American women, which was provocative on its own.  Ever the innovator, Ormes would also often use her comics to comment on society as well, targeting racial issues and environmental pollution.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"850\" height=\"479\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gmdHOkB1SHA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Just a year after launching her <em>Patty-Jo &#8216;n&#8217; Ginger<\/em> strip, Ormes had a play doll of her Patty-Jo character produced by the Terri Lee doll company in 1947, just in time for Christmas.  Like Torchy, whose comics would often be accompanied with paper doll style wardrobes, Patty-Jo had an upscale wardrobe, and is considered the first black doll on the market that did not depict and enforce racist stereotypes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>&#8220;No matter the strip, Ormes was presenting African American women in a way that no other cartoonist in the papers had done previously. Her characters were demure and dynamic, involved in and commenting on current events, sporting the latest fashions. They were upper class women. Torchy in Heartbeats was often accompanied by Torchy Togs, paper dolls of the character with a variety of high-end outfits.&#8221;<\/p><cite>McGurk, Caitlin (2013) Found in the Collection: Jackie Ormes! (1911-1985).&nbsp; Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum Blog.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/library.osu.edu\/site\/cartoons\/2013\/02\/22\/found-in-the-collection-jackie-ormes-1911-1985\/\">https:\/\/library.osu.edu\/site\/cartoons\/2013\/02\/22\/found-in-the-collection-jackie-ormes-1911-1985\/<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ormes continued making art after she retired from creating comics in 1956, and served on the founding board of directors of the DuSable Museum of African-American History and Art. In 2014, 29 years after her death, she was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame.  In 2018 she was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Industry Eisner Award Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/library.osu.edu\/site\/cartoons\/files\/2013\/02\/TorchyHeartbeats4.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Jackie Ormes\u2019 \u201cTorchy in Heartbeats\u201d, September 22, 1951, from the Jackie Ormes biographical file, gift of Nancy Goldstein, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library &amp; Museum.  McGurk, Caitlin (2013) Found in the Collection: Jackie Ormes! (1911-1985).\u00a0 Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum Blog.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/library.osu.edu\/site\/cartoons\/2013\/02\/22\/found-in-the-collection-jackie-ormes-1911-1985\/\">https:\/\/library.osu.edu\/site\/cartoons\/2013\/02\/22\/found-in-the-collection-jackie-ormes-1911-1985\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Jackie Ormes&#8217; story enjoys plenty of documentation, and if you want to find more, I would highly recommend the <a href=\"https:\/\/library.osu.edu\/site\/cartoons\/2013\/02\/22\/found-in-the-collection-jackie-ormes-1911-1985\/\">post at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum Blog<\/a> as a starting off point. There is also a biography available: <a href=\".https:\/\/www.press.umich.edu\/11368041\"><em>Jackie Ormes:\u00a0 The First African American Woman Cartoonist<\/em> by Nancy Goldstein<\/a>. I am currently on the hunt to see if I can get access to more of her <em>Torchy<\/em> strips; I love the art and melodrama of the samples I have been able to find so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Holmes, Helen (2020) Cartoonist Jackie Ormes Made Groundbreaking Comics About Being a Black Woman.&nbsp; NewsBreak.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbreak.com\/news\/2052156609162\/cartoonist-jackie-ormes-made-groundbreaking-comics-about-being-a-black-woman\">https:\/\/www.newsbreak.com\/news\/2052156609162\/cartoonist-jackie-ormes-made-groundbreaking-comics-about-being-a-black-woman<\/a><\/li><li>Jackie Ormes (2020) Wikipedia.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jackie_Ormes\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jackie_Ormes<\/a><\/li><li>Jettakd (2013) Black HERstory Month: Jackie Ormes, the first female African-American cartoonist.&nbsp; ONTD Political.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/ontd-political.livejournal.com\/10396445.html\">https:\/\/ontd-political.livejournal.com\/10396445.html<\/a><\/li><li>McGurk, Caitlin (2013) Found in the Collection: Jackie Ormes! (1911-1985).&nbsp; Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum Blog.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/library.osu.edu\/site\/cartoons\/2013\/02\/22\/found-in-the-collection-jackie-ormes-1911-1985\/\">https:\/\/library.osu.edu\/site\/cartoons\/2013\/02\/22\/found-in-the-collection-jackie-ormes-1911-1985\/<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jackie Ormes, born Zelda Mavin Jackson to parents William Winifield Jackson and Mary Brown Jackson in 1911, was an American cartoonist, journalist, editor, philanthropist, and ground-breaker . She was the first African American woman creator of a syndicated comic strip. Her comics, Torchy Brown and Patty-Jo &#8216;n&#8217; Ginger, depicted strong, intelligent, and fashionable African American&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2021\/08\/25\/jackie-ormes-creating-the-powerful-fashionable-modern-african-american-female-cartoon-character\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Jackie Ormes:  creating the powerful, fashionable, &#038; modern African American female cartoon character<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[288,199,123],"class_list":["post-9733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-everymonthis__historymonth","tag-history","tag-research"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8204,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2019\/03\/05\/clay-jackson-from-no-evil\/","url_meta":{"origin":9733,"position":0},"title":"Clay Jackson from No Evil","author":"leems","date":"March 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"If you haven't read the latest No Evil, then this is the perfect time to take a break and delve into The Zombie, story by Richard Schmidt of Doomed Moviethon.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Clay007.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Clay007.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Clay007.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10086,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2022\/04\/13\/lavern-baker\/","url_meta":{"origin":9733,"position":1},"title":"LaVern Baker","author":"leems","date":"April 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"LaVern Baker has the strange distinction of being a wildly successful performing artist, the second African American woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, one of the first eight recipients of the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, and,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/eveningstar1957-105x150.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11072,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2025\/04\/01\/from-the-recipe-books\/","url_meta":{"origin":9733,"position":2},"title":"From the recipe books","author":"leems","date":"April 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"My collection of old recipe books has grown to include a number of community cookbooks circa 1940s-80s from the mid-west, some courtesy of family who all came from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Community cookbooks are a snapshot of interesting and sometimes unappetizing dishes. They were also compiled and consumed mostly by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250321_204133.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250321_204133.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250321_204133.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250321_204133.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250321_204133.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250321_204133.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9124,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2020\/08\/11\/blanche-calloway-the-queen-of-syncopation\/","url_meta":{"origin":9733,"position":3},"title":"Blanche Calloway, the Queen of Syncopation","author":"leems","date":"August 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When I tried out for band at the end of my fourth grade year, I wanted to play the trumpet or the flute, but the highschool band counselor they had brought in to help us choose our instruments said my mouth was all wrong for those. They recommended the clarinet,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blanchecallowaydetroittribune-84x150.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9036,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2020\/07\/03\/african-american-history-the-post-office-and-an-amazing-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":9733,"position":4},"title":"African American History, the Post Office, and an Amazing Woman","author":"leems","date":"July 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My head has been full of the myriad of terrible stuff in our world; stuff that is not new, but that Covid-19 has placed a magnifying glass over and lit fire to stress and hardships that had been slowly baking under the surface of our everyday USA. And I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mary-fields-100x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9674,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2021\/07\/14\/what-mrs-fisher-knows-about-old-southern-cooking\/","url_meta":{"origin":9733,"position":5},"title":"What Mrs. Fisher Knows about Old Southern Cooking","author":"leems","date":"July 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Until ten years ago, Abby Fisher was known as the first African American woman to publish a cookbook in the United States. The details now known about her life give only the faintest sketch of a woman who worked her way from enslaved cook on the east coast to business\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/AFisherBreakfastCornBread-150x56.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/AFisherBreakfastCornBread-150x56.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/AFisherBreakfastCornBread-150x56.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/AFisherBreakfastCornBread-150x56.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9733"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9742,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9733\/revisions\/9742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}