Many of Fisher’s peers recognized his talents
and did not hesitate to praise his work and example.
ZORANEALEHURSTONwas extremely enthusiastic
about the prospect of seeing her work published
alongside Fisher’s in the new journal that DOROTHY
WESTwas attempting to establish. In a March 1934
letter to West, Hurston did not hesitate to reveal her
high opinion of Fisher, a writer whom she believed
was “greater than the Negroes rate him generally.”
According to Hurston, some tended to underesti-
mate Fisher because “he is too honest to pander to
our inferiority complex and write ‘race’ propaganda”
(Kaplan, 297). One of the most memorable stories
about Fisher revolves around a taxi ride that he took
with Paul Robeson, Juilliard School graduate and
teacher Edwin Coates, and New York City School
deputy superintendent Frank Turner. Scholars of
both Robeson and Fisher record that in response to
the driver’s recklessness and near misses on the dark,
rainy night, Robeson finally urged him to slow down.
“Be careful,” he intoned. “If anything happens to any
of us, you will set the race back three generations”
(Boyle and Buni, 102; McCluskey, xi). Contempo-
rary reviews of his work also tended to praise Fisher
for what one writer referred to as his “undoubted lit-
erary knack” (NYT,5 August 1928, 54).
In a January 1933 radio interview that was
later published in the PITTSBURGH COURIER,
Fisher described himself as a writer whose works
would historicize and document the culture and
traditions of this vibrant and evolving location. A
prizewinning student in elocution and debate dur-
ing his college years, Fisher continued to demon-
strate his facility with language in his writing. As
scholars like Leonard Deutsch have noted, person-
ification was the figurative device that Fisher used
most, and he used it to bring the city alive. Most of
his works contain evocative descriptions of well-
known Harlem locations and underscore the vital-
ity and personality of the place.
Like writers JESSIE FAUSET,NELLA LARSEN,
WALLACETHURMAN, and others, Fisher explored
issues of intraracial tension and racial passing in his
works. His prizewinning short story “High Yaller” is
part of the significant body of Harlem Renaissance-
era work on passing, assimilation, and race pride.
Like Hurston, Fisher also was known for crafting
memorable portraits of the African-American folk.
His focus on the ways in which ordinary people
grappled with the transition from rural southern life
to the fast-paced and often unfeeling urban world
contributed much to ongoing discussions of
African-American assimilation and advancement.
Fisher also developed intense portraits of class
struggle and difference. During 1927, his most pro-
lific year, he published “BLADES OFSTEEL,” a grim
story that introduced readers to the seedy and vi-
cious world of pool halls and bars. In addition to his
extensive collection of published works, Fisher also
completed but did not publish at least two other
dramas and several short stories. The plays The Vici
Kidand Golden Slippersand the short fiction that
includes undated works such as “Across the Air-
shaft,” “The Lindy Hop,” “One Month’s Wages”
and “Skeeter” are held in the John Hay Library at
Brown University and also by his family. Fisher took
great pride in his ability to portray African-American
life, and as Fisher scholar John McCluskey notes,
Fisher took great pleasure in the prospect of being
regarded as “Harlem’s interpreter.” While Fisher
was quite frank about his desire to protect his cre-
ative freedom and avoid obligatory race fiction just
because of his own racial identity, he recognized the
value of probing and evocative stories about people
of color. “If I should be fortunate enough to become
known as Harlem’s interpreter,” he declared in
1933, “I should be very happy” (McCluskey, xxxix).
His literary example continued to inspire writers in
the years beyond the Harlem Renaissance. Fisher’s
surviving kin note that he aspired to generate a
novel that would tell the story of African-American
migration, assimilation, and success. While his life
was cut short and Fisher was prevented from realiz-
ing the trilogy of great African-American novels
that he had envisioned, he did succeed in modeling
for many the innovative and compelling methods
by which one could document the significant mi-
grations and transformations of American people of
color.Bibliography
“The Walls of Jerichoand Other Works of Fiction.” New
York Times,5 August 1928, 54.
Boyd, Herb. “Once a Harlemite, Always a Harlemite.”
Amsterdam News(10 April 2003): 35.
Boyle, Sheila Tully, and Andrew Buni. Paul Robeson: The
Years of Promise and Achievement.Amherst: Univer-
sity of Massachusetts Press, 2001.166 Fisher, Rudolph John Chauncey