Arthur Fauset facts for kids
Arthur Huff Fauset (born January 20, 1899 – died September 2, 1983) was an American civil rights activist, anthropologist, folklorist, and educator. He was born in Flemington, New Jersey, but grew up in Philadelphia, where he went to Central High School.
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Family and Early Life
Arthur Fauset was born in 1899. He was the middle child in a family with parents from different backgrounds. His father, Redmon Fauset, was African American and a minister. His mother, Bella, was a white woman from a Jewish family who became Christian.
Arthur's parents believed that education was very important. His father thought writing was a key skill. His mother strongly believed in people of all backgrounds living and working together. She encouraged her children's schooling after Redmon died when Arthur was only four years old. Even though his father was a minister, Arthur later became a "free thinker," meaning he didn't follow a specific religion.
In society at the time, even though he had parents from different backgrounds, Arthur and his siblings were seen as Black. They were known as people of color.
Education and Career
Arthur Fauset went to Central High School, a top school for boys in Philadelphia. After that, he studied at the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy for Men. There, he earned his teaching qualifications and started teaching in 1918. He did so well on his principal's exams in the 1920s that he was able to get promoted.
He also started studying and practicing anthropology, which is the study of human societies and cultures. A writer named Alain Locke helped him, showing him how to use an academic approach in his work for civil rights. Arthur earned his first college degree in 1921 and a master's degree in 1924 from the University of Pennsylvania. After many years of teaching and studying, he earned his Ph.D. (a very advanced degree) in 1942.
Arthur loved learning and wanted to teach at a university. However, because of his race, there were fewer opportunities for people of color in university teaching jobs. Despite this, he taught and was a principal at Joseph Singerly Public School, an elementary school in North Philadelphia, for 20 years.
Working for Civil Rights
In 1931, Arthur Fauset married Crystal Dreda Bird. She was also a civil rights activist. In 1938, she made history by becoming the first African American woman to be a state lawmaker in the United States, representing Philadelphia.
In 1935, Arthur Fauset became a leader for the National Negro Congress (NNC) in Philadelphia. This group worked to give African Americans more power in politics and the economy. Arthur was chosen as vice president at the NNC's first national meeting. For the next three years, he helped lead efforts in Philadelphia to get better jobs, housing, and laws against lynching. He also worked to make sure Pennsylvania's Equal Rights Bill of 1935 was followed.
Arthur and Crystal Fauset later separated and divorced in 1944.
Studying Folklore
Arthur Huff Fauset was very interested in folklore, which includes traditional stories, songs, and jokes passed down through generations. He traveled to the South, the Caribbean, and Nova Scotia to collect these tales. During the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African American art and culture thrived, he helped people learn about African American folklore.
Fauset was known for letting the voices of African Americans be heard. He told their stories exactly as they were told to him, without adding his own opinions. This made his writings popular. His first story, "The Tale Of The North Carolina Woods," was published in 1922 while he was still in college.
He wanted to help African Americans feel proud of their culture again. In his first book, Folklore from Nova Scotia (1931), he explored how African American folklore changed over time. He showed how it included parts of other cultures, like Irish or French traditions. Fauset believed this happened because African Americans contributed to the main culture, not just by fitting in.
When he visited Nova Scotia in 1923, Fauset noticed something interesting. The traditional stories told by Black people there were different from those told in the United States. It was like each group had only a part of a bigger cultural puzzle. Fauset helped bring these stories together to educate all Black people about their heritage. He also used these stories to challenge unfair ideas about African Americans. For example, some Black people in Nova Scotia told him they would visit the U.S. if it wasn't so hot there. This showed that not all Black people preferred warm climates, which went against common stereotypes at the time.
Achievements and Contributions
Arthur Fauset was an important person during the Harlem Renaissance. His older half-sister, Jessie Redmon Fauset, was also famous as a writer and editor for The Crisis magazine.
In 1926, Arthur Fauset's essay "Symphonesque" won first prize in a competition held by Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life. It also won an O. Henry Memorial Award that same year.
In the 1920s, Fauset was part of a writing group in Philadelphia called the Black Opals. This group was like many others forming in East Coast cities, inspired by the creative energy in Harlem. In 1927, they started a literary magazine called Black Opals. Arthur Fauset co-edited this magazine with Nellie Rathbone Bright, who was also a teacher. Other writers like Mae V. Cowdery published poetry in the magazine. The group's artistic director was Allan Randall Freelon, a painter. They published the magazine for one year.
Fauset met Frank G. Speck, who introduced him to the growing field of anthropology. In 1923, Fauset went to Nova Scotia to collect folklore. He continued his work in this field. In 1925, he interviewed Cudjo Lewis in Mobile, Alabama. Lewis was believed to be the last survivor of over 100 African people illegally brought to the U.S. in 1860 on the slave ship Clotilde. This happened 52 years after the U.S. banned the Atlantic slave trade. Fauset published two of Lewis's traditional stories and his account of hunting in Africa in a 1927 issue of the Journal of American Folklore.
Fauset focused on his anthropology work. He was part of the Philadelphia Anthropology Society, the American Anthropological Association, and the American Folklore Society. The American Folklore Society published his findings from Nova Scotia in 1931. A wealthy woman named Elsie Clews Parsons supported Fauset's work in anthropology. With her help, he published his Ph.D. study about Black religious groups in Philadelphia, New York City, and Chicago. This book was called Black Gods of the Metropolis (1944).
From 1932 to 1933, Fauset was the vice-president of the Philadelphia teachers' union and helped reorganize it. He also joined the National Negro Congress.
Published Works
- For Freedom; A Biographical Study of the American Negro. Franklin Pub. and Supply Co., 1927.
- Folklore from Nova Scotia, Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, Vol. 24, 1931.
- Black Gods of the Metropolis; Negro Religious Cults of the Urban North. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1944.
- Sojourner Truth; God's Faithful Pilgrim. Russell & Russell, 1971.
- with Nellie Rathbone Bright: America: Red, White, Black, Yellow. Franklin Pub. and supply Co., 1969.
