1949 she wrote and produced, in cooperation with
the Jamaica, New York, branch of the NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION FOR THEADVANCEMENT OFCOL-
ORED PEOPLE, “Cavalcade of the American
Negro.” THE NEW YORK TIMES described the
show, which included a cast of 30 and a choral en-
semble of 40, as “a pageant depicting the history of
the Negro in America.”
Gilbert’s death was noted in The New York
Times.Her obituary, which listed her many theatri-
cal triumphs, also described her as “a well-known
Negro actress” whose credits included “one-
woman theatre recitals.” A resident of Jamaica,
Queens, Gilbert died in March 1952.
Bibliography
“Mercedes Gilbert, Stage, Radio Actress.” New York
Times,6 March 1952, 31.
“Negro Pageant in Jamaica.” New York Times,18 Febru-
ary 1949, 30.
Patton, Charlie. “Old Hospital in Critical Need of Life
Support.” Florida Times-Union,27 February 2002, B1.
Roses, Lorraine Elena, and Ruth Elizabeth Randolph.
Harlem’s Glory: Black Women Writing, 1900–1950.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996.
“Gilded Six-Bits, The”Zora Neale Hurston
(1933)
An engaging and moving story by ZORANEALE
HURSTONabout a married couple in EATONVILLE,
Florida, who survive betrayal and infidelity. The
work appeared in the August 1933 issue of Story
magazine. This Depression-era work, which helped
to sustain the financially strapped writer, quickly
led to a book contract with the J. B. Lippincott
Company and the 1934 publication of JONAH’S
GOURDVINE.
At the beginning of the tale, the protagonists
Missy May and her husband Joe Banks relish their
intimacy and the loving home that they have cre-
ated. The question with which Missy May greets her
husband Joe, “Who dat chunkin’ money in may
do’way,” sets the stage for the story’s stunning up-
heaval. Though the couple value each other and
the monies that they are saving for their future,
Missy May finds herself attracted to Otis D. Slem-
mons, a local ice-cream parlor owner known for the
gold accessories with which he adorns his suits. Joe
discovers his wife and Slemmons in the act of adul-
tery; in the chaos that follows, the gold watch
charm that Slemmons has used to entice Missy May
falls to the floor and is discovered to be nothing
more than a gilded six-bit and not the ten-dollar
gold coin that she imagined. The couple eventually
reunite and, much to their relief and that of Joe’s
watchful mother, become parents of a son.
The story closes as the couple, once again
represented as consumers in the southern public
sphere, browse in a white-owned shop. Joe uses
the gilded six-bits to buy candy for his wife. As
they leave, the proprietor, completely unaware of
the marital crises and rehabilitation that have
occurred, comments on what he believes to be
the perpetual happy-go-lucky personalities of the
race.Bibliography
Bordelon, Pamela. Go Gator Muddy the Water: Writings
By Zora Neale Hurston from the Federal Writers’ Pro-
ject with Biographical Essays.New York: W. W. Nor-
ton & Company, 1999.
Boyd, Valerie. Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora
Neale Hurston.New York: Scribner, 2003.
Chinn, Nancy, and Elizabeth Dunn. “The Ring of
Singing Metal on Wood: Zora Neale Hurston’s
Artistry in ‘The Gilded Six-Bits.’” Mississippi Quar-
terly49, no. 4 (fall 1996): 775–790.
Hemenway, Robert. Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biog-
raphy.Urbana: University of Illinois, 1977.
Jones, Evora. “The Pastoral and Picaresque in Zora
Neale Hurston’s ‘The Gilded Six-Bits,’” College
Language Association Journal35, no. 3 (March
1992): 316–324.GingertownClaude McKay(1932)
A collection of short stories. It appeared in the
same year as ARNA BONTEMPS’s GOD SENDS
SUNDAY,JESSIEFAUSET’s THECHINABERRYTREE,
and GEORGE SCHUYLER’s BLACK NO MORE.
McKay began writing the volume when he took
up residence in Tangier, Morocco. After weather-
ing some social upheaval brought on by the visit
of Anita Thompson, a Harlem socialite, he
moved to Xauen, Spain, and completed the col-
lection there. The work included some earlier
pieces on Harlem, new writings on rural Jamaica,Gingertown 183