works depicted lives “full of strong colors, of pas-
sions, deep and fierce, of struggle, disillusion—the
whole gamut of life free from the wrappings of in-
tricate sophistication.” The second grouping was
specifically historical and included biographical
profiles that examined “long gone figures who
flashed like bright comets across a black sky” and
“some of the rare and curiously interesting frag-
ments of careers and art which constitute that ab-
sorbing field of the past now being revealed
through the zeal and industry of Negro scholars.”
The third category of works were devoted to
“racial problems and attitudes,” and the final sec-
tion included essays that “touch boldly and with a
striking candor some of the ancient racial foibles:
and “lack[ed] conspicuously the familiar tears of
self-pity and apology.” Ebony and Topazreasserted
the legitimacy of the Harlem Renaissance by plac-
ing it in the larger context of an African-Ameri-
can literary and arts tradition.
Bibliography
Johnson, Charles. Ebony and Topaz: A Collectanea.1927;
reprint, North Stratford, N.H.: 2000.
“Ebony Flute, The”
The monthly column that GWENDOLYNBENNETT,
a talented artist, poet, and teacher, published in
OPPORTUNITYfrom September 1926 through May
- CHARLESS. JOHNSON, the magazine’s edi-
tor, commissioned Bennett to provide up-to-date
and informal commentary on the literary events,
personalities, and news of the day. The title of her
column was taken from a line in the poem
“Harlem” by William Rose Benet, in which the
speaker declares his desire “to sing Harlem on an
ebony flute.”
Bennett used the column to publicize poetry
competitions, to honor literary prizewinners, to re-
view books and plays, and to provide information
about black literary clubs in and beyond NEW
YORKCITY.
Bibliography
Johnson, Abby Arthur, and Ronald Maberry Johnson.
Propaganda & Aesthetics: The Literary Politics of
African American Magazines in the Twentieth Cen-
tury.Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1979.
Echoes from the HillsBessie Woodson
Yancey (1939)
The first and only collection of poems by Bessie
Woodson Yancey, a Virginia teacher. The volume re-
flected Yancey’s love of nature, included works writ-
ten in dialect, and offered positive, encouraging
meditations on the beauty and strength of African
Americans. Yancey may have published more in the
years after the Renaissance; indeed, at least one
poem appeared later in the PITTSBURGHCOURIER.Bibliography
Roses, Lorraine Elena, and Ruth Elizabeth Randolph.
Harlem Renaissance and Beyond: Literary Biographies
of 100 Black Women Writers, 1900–1945.Boston: G.
K. Hall & Co., 1990.“Echo from Tolouse, An”Idabelle Yeiser
(1926)
An engaging travel essay by IDABELLEYEISER,a
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Ph.D., published in the
July 1926 issue of THECRISIS.
The two-page narrative focuses primarily on
her impressions of the city and does not include
any specific details about how she fared as a
woman of color. Frustrated by the fact that she was
socializing with Americans and English-speakers in
Paris, she readily pursued the opportunity to study
at the University of Toulouse. Yeiser readily offered
her perspectives to Crisisreaders and provided his-
torical, political, and cultural details about the city.
She outlined its impressive educational history,
praised its multicultural population, and celebrated
the rich social life that could be enjoyed. “Never
once have I regretted coming to Toulouse,” she de-
clared. “On the contrary I shall regret leaving it. It
is like a magic bag. One can draw at random, but
the result is always a prize.”
Yeiser was a graduate of the UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA, a writer, and a teacher who trav-
eled throughout Europe and North Africa in 1925
and 1926. She published additional articles about
her encounters with Africans, including the
prizewinning “Letters” in OPPORTUNITY.Bibliography
Jubilee, Vincent. Philadelphia’s Afro-American Literary
Circle and the Harlem Renaissance. Ann Arbor,
Mich.: University Microfilms, 1982.“Echo from Tolouse, An” 135