writing, with an emphasis on the short story, in the
Southwest. Scarborough was an energetic scholar
and pursued opportunities to attend summer ses-
sions at the UNIVERSITY OFCHICAGOand to study
at OXFORDUNIVERSITYin England during a sab-
batical. She earned her Ph.D. in English from
COLUMBIAUNIVERSITYin 1917 and, as she had at
Baylor, promptly joined the faculty. She moved up
the faculty ranks at Columbia, becoming an associ-
ate professor of English in 1931.
Scarborough was a recognized folklorist and
a writer with a demonstrated interest in ghost
stories. A member of the Texas Folklore Society,
she eventually served a one-year term as presi-
dent of the organization. She made her literary
debut in 1912 with Fugitive Verses.Scarborough’s
publications during the Harlem Renaissance pe-
riod included Famous Modern Ghost Stories
(1921), Humorous Ghost Stories(1921), and nov-
els that included In the Land of Cotton(1923),
The Wind (1925), Griselda (1927), and The
Stretch-Berry Smile (1932). African-American
culture was part of her folklore studies, and in
1925 she published On the Trail of Negro Folk-
Songs(1925).
In 1924, Scarborough was one of several
prominent individuals whom Charles Johnson in-
vited to serve as judges in the first Opportunity
literary contest. Scarborough accepted enthusiasti-
cally, noting that she was “very much interested in
the development of the talents, artistic and other-
wise, of the Negroes” and that she thought John-
son’s “plan excellent for arousing interest” in
African-American accomplishments and potential.
In 1927 Johnson included Scarborough in
EBONY ANDTOPAZ:A COLLECTANEA,the anthol-
ogy that appeared in 1927. Scarborough’s piece,
“New Light on an Old Song,” appeared alongside
works by LANGSTONHUGHES,GEORGIADOU-
GLASJOHNSON,ARTHURSCHOMBURG,DONALD
HAYES,BLANCHETAYLORDICKINSON, and many
others.
Dorothy Scarborough died prematurely, struck
down by influenza while living in New York City.
Bibliography
Scarborough, Dorothy. On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs.
1925, reprint, Hatboro, Pa.: Folklore Associates,
1963.
Schalk, Gertrude(Lillian Schalk)
(1906–unknown)
A writer, editor, and member of the SATURDAY
EVENINGQUILLCLUBof BOSTON, Lillian Schalk
was born in Boston in 1906 to Theodore and Mary
Wilkerson Schalk. She attended BOSTONUNIVER-
SITYin the early 1920s in order to study journal-
ism. In 1946 she married John Johnson.
As a member of the Saturday Evening Quill
Club, Schalk had the opportunity to discuss her
work and her professional goals with well-established
journalist EUGENEGORDON, an editor at the Boston
Post. According to scholars Lorraine Roses and
Ruth Randolph, Schalk began to use the name
Gertrude once she began to write and to publish.
Schalk published in the SATURDAYEVENING
QUILL,an annual literary magazine that was pro-
duced by members of the literary group that in-
cluded WARINGCUNEY, HELENEJOHNSON, JOSEPH
MITCHELL, FLORIDARUFFINRIDLEY, and DOROTHY
WEST. Her works included the tragic love story en-
titled “THEREDCAPE” (1929) and “FLOWER OF
THESOUTH” (1930), a stark story about LYNCH-
ING. The brief biographical note that appeared in
the magazine reveals that in 1929 Schalk was the
editor of a literary magazine named Sunburstthat
was “recently established in Boston.” She was also
identified as a “frequent contributor to the Illus-
trated Feature Sectionof the Negro Press and her
brief short stories have been widely distributed by
the Wheeler Syndicate, Inc., among scores of daily
and weekly newspapers of the country.” Schalk, who
went on to join the staff of the PITTSBURGH
COURIERas the editor of the women’s page, seems to
have slipped into obscurity following her marriage.Bibliography
Saturday Evening Quill(April 1929): 81.
Roses, Lorraine Elena, and Ruth Elizabeth Randolph.
Harlem’s Glory: Black Women Writing, 1900–1950.
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996.Schomburg, Arthur(Arturo Alfonso
Schomburg)(1874–1938)
A lawyer, cofounder of the Negro Society for His-
torical Research, and the celebrated bibliophile
whose unmatched collection of materials on peo-
ples of African descent formed the basis of the im-470 Schalk, Gertrude