Ebony Magazine, Lerone Bennett, Jr., and the Making and Selling Of
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Ebony Magazine, Lerone Bennett, Jr., and the Making and Selling of Modern Black History, 1958-1987 A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2015 James West School of Arts, Languages and Cultures CONTENTS: Abstract: 3 Declaration 4 Copyright Statement: 5 Introduction: 7 1.) Tell Us Of Our Past: Ebony Magazine, Civil Rights and the Turn Toward Black History: 34 2.) The Books You’ve Waited For: Ebony and the JPC Book Division: 67 3.) Of Time, Space and Revolution: Bennett, Black History and Black Power: 101 4.) These Black Men Helped Change the World: Gender, Sexuality and Black History: 137 5.) No Place Like Home: Black History, Heritage Tourism and the Bicentennial: 175 6.) His Light Still Shines: Ebony, Black History and the ‘Real Meaning’ of the King Holiday: 212 Conclusion: 248 Bibliography: 262 Final Word Count: 79,618 2 Abstract: This thesis is concerned with the ways in which Ebony magazine sought to recover, popularise and utilise black history between the late 1950s and the late 1980s. The dominant scholarly approach to Ebony has focused on the magazine’s bourgeois values and visual aesthetics, and has ignored its importance as a creator and disseminator of black history. By contrast, I highlight the multiple ways in which black history became central to Ebony’s content from the late 1950s onwards. Far from viewing Ebony as peripheral to or simply reflective of popular debates into the black past, I place the magazine at the heart of contestations between the corporate, philosophical and political uses of black history during the second half of the twentieth century. In Ebony, this shift was quarterbacked by Lerone Bennett Jr., the magazine’s senior editor and in-house historian. Bennett’s emergence as a prominent black historian and intellectual, and his increased desire to present history ‘from a black perspective’, was paralleled by Ebony’s broader move from a more politicised to a more market-driven moment. Rooted in my unique position as the first scholar to look at Bennett’s unprocessed papers at Chicago State University, and one of the first researchers to examine Bennett’s collections at Emory University, this thesis sheds new light on the work of Bennett, on Ebony’s significance as a ‘history book’ for millions of readers, and on the magazine’s place at the centre of post-war debates into the form and function of African-American history. 3 Declaration: The author declares that no portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. 4 Copyright Statement: i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trademarks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. 5 iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/ DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses. 6 INTRODUCTION: In the June 1969 issue of Ebony magazine, its ‘Backstage’ feature highlighted a ‘Buried Afro-American History’ brochure which was being distributed to prospective subscribers.1 Playing on the title of Arthur Schomburg’s seminal 1925 essay ‘The Negro Digs Up His Past’, the brochure celebrated Ebony’s own role in recovering black history for a popular audience.2 When read in isolation, this artefact could be dismissed as just one of many marketing ploys used by Johnson Publishing Company (JPC) to reinforce Ebony’s position as the most widely read black magazine in the world.3 However, when placed within the context of Ebony’s broader content, it becomes part of vast and deeply rooted editorial project. Publisher John H. Johnson declared that ‘from the yellowed pages of forgotten newspapers and from the writings of black historians who have themselves compiled volumes of black history, we have become one of the most authoritative sources of black history in the world today.’4 This thesis is concerned with the ways in which Ebony sought to recover, popularise and utilise black history between the late 1950s and the late 1980s. These years saw a significant shift in Ebony’s historical coverage, which can be mapped onto the broader ‘coming of age’ of black history during the decades 1 In the literature Ebony is referred to in plain text and italicised, and in lower and upper case. For consistency this thesis uses the lower cased italicised Ebony throughout. “Backstage,” Ebony, June 1969, 27. 2 Arthur S. Schomburg, “The Negro Digs Up His Past,” in Look For Me All Around You: Anglophone Caribbean Immigrants in the Harlem Renaissance, ed. Louis J. Parascandola (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2005), 414-420. 3 The question of what constitutes a ‘black’ magazine has frequently centred on ownership, production and orientation. This study takes its definition from Roland Wolseley’s examination of the black press, which stipulates that 1. Blacks must hold ownership and editorial control of a publication, 2. The publication must be intended for predominantly black customers, and 3. The publication must ‘serve, speak and fight for the black minority.’ Roland E. Wolseley, The Black Press, U.S.A. (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1990), 1-5. 4 Johnson, “Publisher’s Statement,” Ebony, August 1968, 29. 7 following World War II.5 The institutionalisation of black studies within the academy, the rise of the black museums movement, the federal recognition of Black History Month, the unprecedented success of Alex Haley’s Roots saga, and the movement to establish a federal holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - all were part of black history’s transition from the margins to the centre of American cultural, historical and political representation.6 In Ebony, this shift was quarterbacked by journalist and historian Lerone Bennett, Jr., who contributed a vast array of historical features to the magazine during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.7 These contributions fed directly into the publication of nine books through the JPC Book Division between 1962 and 1979. This included Before the Mayflower, which by 1987 had entered its sixth edition, and had become one of the best-selling black history books of all time.8 Ebony provided Bennett with a readership of millions, and the platform to become perhaps the ‘best-known and most influential black historian’ in America.9 Conversely, Bennett’s prominence helped to legitimate Ebony’s role as a major outlet for black history and culture.10 As one of the first scholars to examine Bennett’s unprocessed papers at Emory University, and as the first researcher to explore Bennett’s expansive new archive at Chicago State 5 Robert L. Harris, “Coming of Age: the Transformation of Afro-American Historiography,” Journal of Negro History 67 (1982): 107. 6 Andrea A. Burns, From Storefront to Monument: Tracing the Public History of the Black Museum Movement (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2013); David L. Chappell, Waking From the Dream: the Struggle for Civil Rights in the Shadow of Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Random House, 2014); Alex Haley, Roots: the Saga of an American Family (Garden City: Doubleday, 1976); Ibram X. Kendi, The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, 1965-1972 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); Keith A. Mayes, Kwanzaa: Black Power and the Making of the African American Black Holiday (New York: Routledge, 2009), 187-214; Mabel Wilson, Negro Building: Black Americans in the World of Fairs and Museums (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012). 7 This included seven major black history series, and countless individual articles and op-eds. 8 Bennett, Before the Mayflower: a History of Black America, seventh edition (Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company, 2007), preface to sixth edition; “Ebony Book Shelf,” Ebony, February 1988, 26. 9 Columbus Salley, The Black 100: a Ranking of the Most Influential African-Americans, Past and Present (Secaucus: Carol Publishing, 1993), 260. 10 Adelaide Gulliver, “The Shaping of Black America,” Black Times, August 1975, 36. 8 University, I look to challenge this significant gap in both Ebony’s own history, and twentieth century African American cultural and intellectual history.11 There are two key arguments which underpin this study. The dominant scholarly approach to Ebony has taken its cue from E.