Bibliography
Andrews, William, ed. Bursting Bonds: Enlarged Edition of
The Heir of Slaves: The Autobiography of a ‘New
Negro.’Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.
Avery, Sheldon. Up from Washington: William Pickens and
the Negro Struggle for Equality, 1900–1954.Newark:
University of Delaware Press, 1989.
Picture-Poetry Book, The Gertrude
Parthenia McBrown(1935)
The only collection of poetry by the South Car-
olina poet and playwright GERTRUDEPARTHENIA
MCBROWN. Associated Publishers, the WASHING-
TON, D.C., group with which CARTERG. WOOD-
SONand ALAINLOCKEwere associated, published
the volume. The Picture-Poetry Book,which was re-
published in 1946, also included illustrations by
the accomplished artist Lois Maillou Jones.
Pierce, Billy (1890–1934)
A HOWARDUNIVERSITYgraduate and journalist
who enjoyed professional success during the
Harlem Renaissance as a dance teacher, Pierce
managed the Broadway Dancing School, a popu-
lar venue in which many white patrons sought
out lessons in the dance styles of the day such as
the Charleston. His students included CARLand
FANIAMARINOFFVANVECHTENand many other
celebrities. In the years before he immersed him-
self in the entertainment business, Pierce worked
as a reporter for well-known newspapers such as
the CHICAGODEFENDERand the INTER-STATE
TATTLER.
Bibliography
Cunard, Nancy, ed. Negro: An Anthology.1925, reprint,
New York: Ungar Publishing Company, 1970.
“Pink Hat, The” Caroline Bond Day(1926)
A short story by Caroline Bond Day that addressed
the issue of PASSINGand self-acceptance in an in-
triguing manner. Published in the December 1926
issue of OPPORTUNITY,the story traced the adven-
tures, misfortune, and newfound life of an anony-
mous narrator whose pink hat obscures her
African-American identity.
In an engaging first-person account, the story
chronicles the moment when the female narrator
finds that she “had been mistaken for other than a
Negro” despite the fact that she “look[ed] like
hundreds of other colored women—yellow-
skinned and slightly heavy featured with frizzy
brown hair.” The hat, which she refers to as an “Al-
addin’s lamp,” grants her access to previously pro-
hibited places. Shopkeepers cater to her, and life
seems much easier to manage. When she realizes
what she can gain, she makes the conscious deci-
sion to pass. “I deliberately set out to deceive,” she
declares. “Now, I decided, I would enjoy all that
had previously been impossible.” The farce ends
abruptly when the narrator’s body betrays her.
Anxious about being found out and the kind of vi-
olence brought on by “hooded figures and burning
crosses” that might ensue, she attempts to hurry
her way through a crowd. Unfortunately, she
breaks an ankle, is taken home, and thus is rein-
stated as a woman of color with her family, “a col-
ored family—in a colored section of the town.” As
she manages her painful recuperation and deals
with substandard medical care, the narrator redis-
covers the joys of her community. “Who’d want a
hat?” she asks at the story’s end.
Day’s analysis of passing was part of a substan-
tial canon of Harlem Renaissance literature that
grappled with the implications of segregation, so-
cial mobility, and personal ambition. Like JESSIE
FAUSET,NELLALARSEN, and RUDOLPHFISHER,
Day considered the private and public dimensions
of passing and provided readers with a provocative
meditation on the subject.Piranean Club
A Harlem Renaissance–era literary club based in
PHILADELPHIA. Its members included BESSIECAL-
HOUNBIRD, a writer who hosted gatherings at her
Philadelphia home.
The Piranean Club, like the Beaux Arts Club,
contributed to local publications such as the
BLACKOPALSliterary magazine as well as to na-
tional magazines such as THECRISIS,OPPORTU-
NITY,and THEMESSENGER.Like its counterparts
in NEWYORKCITY,BOSTON, and WASHINGTON,
D.C., the Piranean Club provided writers, intellec-
tuals, and professionals an opportunity to meetPiranean Club 421