EUGENEGORDON. Her works included the grip-
ping June 1928 short story “HEMUSTTHINKIT
OUT,” in which a white man grapples with his
newly revealed African-American heritage. As a
member of the Saturday Evening Quill Club, Rid-
ley discussed literature and the arts with WARING
CUNEY,EDYTHE MAE GORDON,ALVIRA HAZ-
ZARD,HELENEJOHNSON,DOROTHYWEST, and
others. Ridley’s writings, including those that ap-
peared in the Quill,frequently addressed issues of
PASSING, race pride, African-American history, and
personal integrity.
Ridley’s long-standing New England family
history prompted her involvement with the Society
of the Descendants of Early New England Negroes.
She was appointed president of the organization in
1931 and served in that capacity for several years.
Bibliography
Davis, Elizabeth. Lifting As They Climb.New York: G. K.
Hall, 1996.
Dorman, Franklin. Twenty Families of Color in Mas-
sachusetts. Boston: New England Historic Ge-
nealogical Society, 1998.
Wesley, Charles. The History of the National Association of
Colored Women’s Clubs: A Legacy of Service,Wash-
ington, D.C.: The Association, 1984.
“Ringtail”Rudolph Fisher(1925)
A gripping short story, by RUDOLPHFISHER,of
racial tension, West Indian immigrant life, and re-
venge. Published in the May 1925 issue of THE
ATLANTICMONTHLY, the story revolves around
Cyril Sebastian Best, a man proud of his British
West Indian heritage. Best, a native of Trinidad, is
a resourceful young man who thinks nothing of
being dishonorable in his efforts to reach America.
Once in the United States, Best prides himself on
what he regards as a superior identity, one that ele-
vates him above African Americans, who have no
claim on British history and civilization.
One Sunday afternoon, an extremely well-
dressed Best is targeted by an unruly group of
young men. Ready to make fun of his attire and at-
titude, they trip him up, assault him physically, and
finally hurl insults at him, calling him a “ringtail
monkey chaser.” Best, who fights back with curses
picked up during his time at sea, is ultimately un-
able to defend himself. Aggrieved and physically
wounded in the incident, he manages to extricate
himself from the scene. Despite his efforts and
compelling case, he fails to find a lawyer who will
protest the street brawl and prosecute the ruffians
on his behalf.
Best is distracted from the unpleasantness of
the melee by his job as an elevator operator and
switchboard operator. He soon comes to think that
Hilda Vogel, one of the building’s residents and a
Bermudan woman whom he has admired greatly,
may be in love with him. One afternoon, he inter-
cepts a call to Hilda from Punch, the man who at-
tacked him on Seventh Avenue. When Punch
comes to call, he suffers an awful accident in the
elevator that Best operates. The story ends as the
villain is taken away in an ambulance whose wails
sound like “receding derisive laughter.” Best has
achieved revenge and has done so without resort-
ing to public violence.
Fisher’s story, set in NEWYORKCITY, is a bit-
ing commentary on the tensions between West In-
dian immigrants and American-born people of
color. The insults to Best and the negative com-
ments about MARCUSGARVEYhint at the uneasy
relations that existed to some degree during the
Harlem Renaissance. “Ringtail” is compelling for
its detailed and eloquent presentation of the expe-
riences and aspirations of immigrants of color.Bibliography
McCluskey, John Jr. The City of Refuge: The Collected Sto-
ries of Rudolph Fisher.Columbia: University of Mis-
souri Press, 1987.
Perry, Margaret, ed. The Short Fiction of Rudolph Fisher.
New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.River GeorgeGeorge Washington Lee(1937)
The second in a series of three novels about Beale
Street in Memphis by GEORGEWASHINGTONLEE.
River Georgeappeared three years after Lee’s first
novel, BEALESTREET: WHERE THEBLUESBEGAN.
That novel, with its detailed portraits of respectable,
colorful, and sometimes unsavory life in Memphis,
was the first book by an African-American that the
BOOK-OF-THE-MONTHCLUBchose to advertise.
In River George,Lee, a southerner from Missis-
sippi, continues to explore the richness of the454 “Ringtail”