and to acknowledge the efforts of many writers.
Access to the works of lesser-known writers of the
Harlem Renaissance is made possible, in part, be-
cause their work was recognized and subsequently
published in The Crisis.
Bibliography
Lewis, David Levering. When Harlem Was in Vogue.New
York: Knopf, 1981.
Wintz, Cary. Black Culture and the Harlem Renaissance.
Houston: Rice University Press, 1988.
“Criteria of Negro Art” Symposium(1926)
The series of published articles solicited by W. E. B.
DUBOISand facilitated by JESSIEFAUSETduring
DuBois’s editorship at The Crisis.
The series appeared over a period of seven
months and seven issues in 1926. It was inspired
by “Criteria for Negro Art,” the impassioned lec-
ture that DuBois delivered at the 1926 annual
conference of the NATIONALASSOCIATION FOR
THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE.
DuBois called for a responsible racially conscious
and uplifting tradition of art and literature and
protested the notion that African Americans
could afford to produce art simply for the sake of
doing so. The Crisisseries was an effort to stimu-
late further discussion of the need for substantial,
politically effective, and refined art rather than
reckless, self-indulgent, racially irresponsible art
that could impede, rather than enhance, the ef-
forts of DuBois and others to secure respect and
rights for the race.
DuBois and Jessie Fauset, the literary editor at
Crisis,distributed questionnaires to 20 white and
African-American writers and scholars. The re-
spondents represented a wide range of influential
publishers, writers, and scholars. The group in-
cluded COUNTEECULLEN,JOHNFARRAR,DUBOSE
HEYWARD,ALFREDKNOPF,SINCLAIRLEWIS,H. L.
MENCKEN,JOELSPINGARN,CARLVANVECHTEN,
and WALTERWHITE.
Bibliography
Lewis, David Levering. W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for
Equality and the American Century, 1919–1963.New
York: Henry Holt and Company, 2000.
“Cross Crossings Cautiously”Anita Scott
Coleman(1930)
Published in the June 1930 issue of OPPORTUNITY,
this short story by ANITASCOTTCOLEMANwas a
tragic tale of African-American vulnerability and
white paranoia. Sam Timons is an unwitting victim
when he sympathizes with an outspoken little girl
whose neglectful parents refuse to take her to the
circus. Having told their child that she can go if
she can find a companion, young Claudia per-
suades Sam to take her. The two set off, and Sam
ignores the sinking feeling he has as he passes rail-
road warning signs that advise pedestrians and
other travelers to “Cross Crossings Cautiously.”
The advice, as it is soon revealed, pertains to more
than the danger of passing trains. Timons is spot-
ted holding hands with the child, and the incident
is reported to the child’s mother, who immediately
feigns fear and anxiety. Coleman includes no de-
tails of Sam’s LYNCHINGand chooses to focus in-
stead on the innocence of the little girl who
wonders about the whereabouts of her “circus
man” and is wholly unaware of the murderous act
of racism that has been committed in her name.Crowninshield, Francis (Frank) Welch
(1872–1947)
As editor of VANITYFAIRduring the 1920s and
1930s, Frank Crowninshield oversaw the earliest
publication of African-American writers, art, and
images in a mainstream American magazine. His
decision to publish writers such as COUNTEE
CULLEN contributed immensely to the national
reputation of Harlem Renaissance figures.
Born in Paris on June 24, 1872, he was one of
three children born to Helen Fairbanks and Fred-
eric Crowninshield, a painter and art instructor
whose appointments included the museum school
at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. In the late
1890s, when he was in his early thirties, Frank
Crowninshield, became the publisher of the Book-
man,a literary review. By 1900, he had become an
assistant editor of the magazine. Before joining
Vanity Fair,he worked also at Munsey’s Magazineas
an assistant editor and then at CENTURYMAGA-
ZINEas the art editor. He never married, believing
that “[m]arried men... make very poor husbands”
but also, according to his secretary Jeanne Ballot,Crowninshield, Francis (Frank) Welch 103