Jessie Redmon Fauset facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jessie Redmon Fauset
Born	Jessie Redmona Fauset (1882-04-27)April 27, 1882 Fredericksville (now Lawnside), Camden County, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	April 30, 1961(1961-04-30) (aged 79) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater	Cornell University
Occupation	Poet, essayist, novelist, editor, and educator
Notable work	Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral (1928)

Jessie Redmon Fauset (born April 27, 1882 – died April 30, 1961) was an important African-American editor, poet, writer, and teacher. Her writing helped shape African-American literature in the 1920s. She focused on showing a true picture of African-American life and history.

Her fictional characters were often working professionals. This was a new idea for American society at the time. Her stories explored themes like unfair treatment based on race, identity, and women's rights.

From 1919 to 1926, Fauset worked as a literary editor for The Crisis. This was a magazine from the NAACP. Her role allowed her to help the Harlem Renaissance grow. She promoted writing that connected to the social changes of that time. She encouraged black writers to show the African-American community in a real and positive way.

Before and after working on The Crisis, she taught French for many years. She worked in public schools in Washington, D.C., and New York City. She wrote four novels in the 1920s and 1930s. These books looked at the lives of the black middle class. She also helped edit The Brownies' Book, a children's magazine for African-American kids.

Jessie Fauset is known for finding and guiding other African-American writers. Some of these famous writers include Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay.

Life and Early Education

Jessie Redmona Fauset was born on April 27, 1882. Her birthplace was Fredericksville, New Jersey, which is now called Lawnside, New Jersey.

She was the seventh child of Redmon Fauset, a minister, and Annie Fauset. Jessie's mother died when she was young. Her father later married Bella, who brought three more children to the family. Both parents believed that education was very important for their children. The civil rights activist Arthur Fauset was her half-brother.

Fauset grew up in a large family that faced poverty. She attended the Philadelphia High School for Girls. This was a top school in the city. She graduated as the best student in her class. She was likely the first African-American graduate from that school.

She wanted to go to Bryn Mawr College. Usually, the top student from her high school received a scholarship there. However, the president of Bryn Mawr College helped Fauset go to Cornell University instead.

She graduated from Cornell University in 1905. She earned a degree in classical languages. She later earned her master's degree in French from the University of Pennsylvania in 1919.

Teaching and Editing Career

After college, Fauset became a teacher at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. This school was for black students in a segregated public school system. She taught French and Latin. She also spent summers in Paris studying at the Sorbonne.

In 1919, Fauset stopped teaching to become the literary editor for The Crisis. This magazine was started by W. E. B. Du Bois of the NAACP. She worked there until 1926. Fauset also became a member of the NAACP. She represented them at the Pan-African Congress in 1921.

As literary editor, Fauset helped many famous writers of the Harlem Renaissance. These included Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Langston Hughes. She was the first person to publish Hughes's work. In his memoir, Hughes wrote that Fauset helped bring about the "New Negro Literature."

Fauset also wrote a lot for The Crisis and The Brownies' Book. She wrote poems, short stories, and essays. She also translated writings by black authors from Europe and Africa. She even wrote about her travels, including a trip to France and Algeria.

In 1926, Fauset left The Crisis. She went back to teaching, this time at DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City. She taught in New York City public schools until 1944.

In 1929, Fauset married Herbert Harris, an insurance broker. They moved to Montclair, New Jersey. Herbert died in 1958. Jessie Fauset moved back to Philadelphia. She passed away on April 30, 1961, from heart disease.

Her Novels

Between 1924 and 1933, Fauset published four novels:

• There is Confusion (1924)
• Plum Bun (1928)
• The Chinaberry Tree (1931)
• Comedy, American Style (1933)

Fauset believed that white authors could not truly show the lives of black people. She wanted to create positive and realistic stories about African-American life. She wrote about the middle-class life she knew as an educated person. She also explored questions of identity among African Americans, especially how skin color was viewed.

Many African Americans moved to cities during the Great Migration. Some people with mixed European and African ancestry sometimes chose to "pass" as white. They did this to gain advantages like better jobs or service. Fauset, who was light-skinned herself, explored this topic in her books.

• There is Confusion was praised when it came out. It tells the stories of Joanna Mitchell and Peter Bye. They both learn about their complex family histories.
• Plum Bun is her most studied novel. It explores the idea of "passing." The main character, Angela Murray, has mixed ancestry. She pretends to be white to get certain benefits. But later in the story, she accepts her African-American identity.
• The Chinaberry Tree is set in New Jersey. It looks at how African Americans in the middle class wanted to be seen as "respectable."
• Comedy, American Style was Fauset's last novel. It shows the harmful effects of "color mania" among African Americans. This was when some black people treated others differently based on their skin color.

How Her Work Was Received

Many literary thinkers admired Fauset in the 1920s. Her first novel, There is Confusion, was highly praised. People felt it was important because it showed a higher class of black people, not just the usual "servant" characters seen in other books.

However, not everyone liked her new way of writing. Some publishers even rejected her work. One publisher said that "white readers just don’t expect negroes to be like this." This shows how her books went against common stereotypes.

By the 1930s, people stopped talking about Fauset's work. She became a forgotten writer. This was partly because the Great Depression and World War II changed what people were reading.

Her Legacy Today

It wasn't until after the 1970s, during a time of feminist movements, that Fauset started to get praise again. Today, she is recognized as a very important contributor to the Harlem Renaissance. Critics admire her for showing African-American cultural history and celebrating black identity. She is also seen as a writer who expressed feminist ideas in her work.

Selected Works

Novels

• There Is Confusion (1924)
• Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral (1928)
• The Chinaberry Tree: A Novel of American Life (1931)
• Comedy, American Style (1933)

Poems

• "Rondeau." The Crisis. April 1912.
• "La Vie C'est La Vie." The Crisis. July 1922.
• "'Courage!' He Said." The Crisis. November 1929.
• "Dead Fires"

Short stories

• "Emmy." The Crisis. December 1912; January 1913.
• "My House and a Glimpse of My Life Therein." The Crisis. July 1914.
• "Double Trouble." The Crisis. August 1923; September 1923.

Essays

• "Impressions of the Second Pan-African Congress." The Crisis. November 1921.
• "What Europe Thought of the Pan-African Congress." The Crisis. December 1921.
• "The Gift of Laughter." In Locke, Alaine. The New Negro: An Interpretation. New York: A. and C. Boni, 1925.
• "Dark Algiers the White." The Crisis. 1925–26.

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See also

In Spanish: Jessie Fauset para niños