JACKIE ORMES DRAWS THE FUTURE

One African American woman cartoonist pays respects to the inspirational creativity and persistence of another.

Ormes (1911-1985), born Zelda Jackson, realized as a child that “adventure didn’t have to be caught—it could be created.” She went on to become a journalist, was probably the first Black woman to have a nationally syndicated cartoon, and, as the creator of “Torchy Brown” and “Patty-Jo ’n’ Ginger,” was a perceptive commentator on both the Great Migration and the early civil rights movement. The author ends with Ormes’ invention of the latter comic’s spunky child character but goes on in a brief afterword to highlight her likewise venturesome design for an upscale, brown-hued Patty-Jo doll in the late 1940s. Though there is but one reproduced example of Ormes’ cartoon work, the bright, cleanly drawn pop-art illustrations make clear her focus, confidence, and intelligence, casting her as an alert observer who fearlessly takes in whatever is going on around her (even placing her inside the ring while covering a prizefight for an early assignment). Visible faces in the art are all Black or brown. Traci N. Todd’s Holding Her Own (2023), illustrated by Shannon Wright and aimed at a slightly older audience, offers more biographical detail, but both of these profiles are silent about Ormes’ later life. Still, as a role model for creative achievement, she merits all the attention she can get. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Warm tribute to an unjustly obscure artist.