In the mid-1940s, black cartoonist Jackie Ormes challenged the derogatory characterizations of black women that were common in contemporary media at the time. As the first and only black newspaper columnist of her time in the United States, Ormes was a groundbreaking artist and activist.
To honor her contribution to combating racist, stereotypical representations, Google Ormes dedicated a slide show Doodle on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the debut of their single-panel cartoon Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger. Her cartoon centered on a big sister and little sister relationship in which the witty and precocious but socially conscious 6 year old sister was the only speaker who imparted wisdom to her attractive older sister.
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On that day in 1945, the satirical comic first appeared in the black newspaper Pittsburgh Courier - a run that would last 11 years. While the comic was sometimes dismissed as frivolous because the news came from a child's mouth, it contained a controversial speech that was critical of segregation, housing discrimination, education, and other issues.
Each panel in the Doodle on Tuesday shows phases of her life, from the self-taught artist to the much-visited newspaper columnist.
Born on August 1, 1911, the Pittsburgh native lost her father in a car accident at the age of 6, which resulted in her and her older sister being placed in the care of relatives for a short time until her mother remarried. After teaching herself to draw at a young age and drawing cartoons during high school, Ormes entered the media world as a proofreader and freelance reporter for The Courier, covering topics such as police beatings, legal proceedings, and subjects of human concern.
Her first comic book, Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem, debuted in the Courier in 1937 and featured a humorous portrayal of a Mississippi teenager who dances to seek fame and fortune in the north while trying to escape racism in the south.
Ormes' characters were intelligent and independent women who were socially and politically aware - portrayals in contrast to the stereotypical portrayals of black women in the media at the time as fat, slow, or stupid.
She retired from drawing in 1956, but continued to produce murals, still lifes, and portraits before she was plagued by rheumatoid arthritis. She died in 1985 of a brain hemorrhage.
