Arthur Huff Fauset (January 20, 1899 – September 2, 1983) was an American civil rights activist,

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

, folklorist, and educator. Born in

Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where he attended Central High School.

Family background

Fauset was born on January 20, 1899, and was the middle child of three children in an interracial family in

Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. His father, Redmon Fauset, was African American and likely of mixed race. He was a minister in the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

. Redmon Fauset's second wife, a white woman named Bella, was born into a Jewish family. Bringing three children from her first marriage, she converted to Christianity to marry Fauset. Redmon Fauset had seven children by his first marriage, before his wife Annie (née Seamon) died. As a person of known

mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

, Arthur Fauset never identified fully with either of his parents' ethnic groups as a child or adult. According to the

hypodescent In societies that regard some races or ethnic groups of people as dominant or superior and others as subordinate or inferior, hypodescent refers to the automatic assignment of children of a mixed union to the subordinate group. The opposite pract ...

practices of U.S. society, he and his siblings were considered Negro (or Black). They were

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

. Both Redmon and Bella Fauset were dedicated to the importance of education. Redmon believed that writing was an essential discipline while Bella was a devout integrationist, believing firmly in social integration. She encouraged the children in their schooling after Redmon died when Arthur was four years old. In his adult life, in contrast to his father, Fauset broke away from religion and identified as a "free thinker."

Education

Fauset attended Central High School, a top academic high school for boys in Philadelphia. He studied further at the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy for Men, where he received his teaching credentials, and started his first teaching position in 1918. In the mid-1920s, he took the principal's merit exams, scoring so highly that he qualified for promotion. He began studying and practicing anthropology. He was mentored by writer

Alain Locke Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect ...

, who also became a friend and emphasized an academic approach to guide his activism. Fauset earned a B.A. in 1921 and an M.A. in 1924 from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. After teaching for years and pursuing advanced studies, he earned a Ph.D. in 1942 from Penn. Fauset pursued education in order to feed and develop his intellect. He was discouraged because of his race from ambitions to teach at the university level. People of color had fewer opportunities in academia, but some men completed advanced degrees and obtained some college positions. Fauset taught and was principal at Joseph Singerly Public School, an elementary school in North Philadelphia, for 20 years.

Political activism and marriage

In 1931, Fauset married civil rights activist and race relations specialist Crystal Dreda Bird. Among other political activities, she would become the first female African American state legislator in 1938, based out of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. In 1935, Arthur Fauset became chairman of the Philadelphia Sponsoring Committee for the newly formed

National Negro Congress The National Negro Congress (NNC) (1936–ca. 1946) was an American organization formed in 1936 at Howard University as a broadly based organization with the goal of fighting for Black liberation; it was the successor to the League of Struggle for N ...

(NNC), an organization committed to political and economic empowerment. Fauset was elected vice president at the NCC's first national meeting. For the next three years in Philadelphia, he helped lead African American efforts for better jobs, housing, state anti-lynching legislation, and enforcement of Pennsylvania's Equal Rights Bill of 1935. Arthur and Crystal Fauset eventually separated and finalized their divorce in 1944.

Folklore

Arthur Huff Fauset was very interested in folklore and conducted fieldwork in the South, the Caribbean, and Nova Scotia to learn these tales. During the time of the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

, he brought awareness to African American folklore through tales, songs, conundrums, and jokes. Faust was also known for letting African American voices speak for themselves, telling them the way that they were told to him rather than imposing his own voice and theories on them. This approach led many to read and appreciate his writing. His first piece appeared in ''The Crisis'' while he was a college student at the University of Pennsylvania with his short story "The Tale Of The North Carolina Woods" in January 1922. He aimed to cultivate and revive African American culture through these tales and reestablish a sense of pride that had long been abandoned. The only time when Fauset did input his own theories and ideas about these stories was in his first book ''Folklore from Nova Scotia'', published in 1931. In this book, Fauset examines African American folklore through the diffusion model, which looks at how information spreads throughout a population. He spoke about how African American folklore had changed over time, and especially how it has integrated folklore from other cultures (such as Irish or French). Fauset believed that this was not because Negroes had assimilated to the dominant culture of their province, but because they had integrated aspects of the dominant culture through the process of contributing to the dominant culture. During his time in Nova Scotia in the summer of 1923, Fauset found that hardly any of the traditional stories told by Negroes in the United States were told in Nova Scotia, and the stories told in Nova Scotia were unheard of in the United States. It was as though each group only had small pieces of a larger puzzle and needed help in organizing and bringing all of their stories together to get a better sense of their whole culture. This is where Fauset helped, in tying together and spreading these stories to better educate all Negroes of their heritage. However, this was not the only role he played; Fauset also used these stories to debunk stereotypes of African Americans. For example, many Negroes in Nova Scotia told him that they would go down to visit the states if the weather was not as hot there. This debunked the stereotype that all Negroes enjoyed and were drawn to warmer climates, giving them a more authentic identity at a time when they were being portrayed as minstrels in the United States.

Accomplishments

Fauset was an active figure in the

. His older half-sister,

Jessie Redmon Fauset Jessie Redmon Fauset (April 27, 1882 – April 30, 1961) was an African-American editor, poet, essayist, novelist, and educator. Her literary work helped sculpt African-American literature in the 1920s as she focused on portraying a true image ...

(1882–1961), was better known as the Literary Editor of ''

The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Mi ...

,'' poet, essayist, and published novelist in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1926, Fauset's essay "Symphonesque" won first prize in a contest run by '' Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life.'' In 1926, it won an O. Henry Memorial Award.Sandra L. West Aberjhani , ''Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance''], Infobase Publishing, 2003, pg. 263 Black Opals literary journals

In the 1920s, Fauset was part of a Philadelphia literary group called the Black Opals, typical of African-American groups springing up in several major East Coast cities, and inspired by activities in Harlem. In 1927, they founded a literary magazine called '' Black Opals'', which he co-edited with Nellie Rathbone Bright. Elizabeth McHenry, ''Forgotten Readers: Recovering the Lost History of African American Literary Societies''
Duke University Press, 2002, pp. 292-294 She also published poetry in the magazine, as did Mae V. Cowdery; both their pieces were praised by

Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (born Countee LeRoy Porter; May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Childhood Countee LeRoy Porter ...

, the new literary editor of ''Opportunity''. Bright was a teacher in the Philadelphia schools. Another member of the intellectual group and artistic director of the magazine was

Allan Randall Freelon Allan Randall Freelon Sr. (September 2, 1895 – August 6, 1960), a native of Philadelphia, US, was an African American artist, educator and civil rights activist. He is best known as an African American Impressionist-style painter during the time ...

, a painter.Aberjhani (2003), ''Encyclopedia'', pg. 119 They published the magazine for one year. Fauset became acquainted with

Frank G. Speck Frank Gouldsmith Speck (November 8, 1881 – February 6, 1950) was an American anthropologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in the Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples among the Eastern Woodland Native Americans of ...

, who introduced him to the newly developing academic field of

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

. Fauset went to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in the summer of 1923 to collect folklore. He continued to study and work in the field. In 1925, he interviewed

Cudjo Lewis Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis ( – July 17, 1935), born Oluale Kossola, and also known as Cudjo Lewis, was the third to last adult survivor of the Atlantic slave trade between Africa and the United States. Together with 115 other African captives, he was ...

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, the last survivor of more than 100 African slaves brought illegally in 1860 to the US by the American slave ship ''

Clotilde Clotilde ( 474–545), also known as Clothilde, Clotilda, Clotild, Rotilde etc. (Latin: Chrodechildis, Chlodechildis from Frankish ''*Hrōþihildi'' or perhaps ''*Hlōdihildi'', both "famous in battle"), was a Queen of All the Franks. She was ...

.'' They were trafficked 52 years after the US banned the Atlantic trade. Fauset published two of Lewis' traditional stories, as well as his account of hunting in Africa in a 1927 issue of the ''Journal of American Folklore''. Fauset concentrated on his work in anthropology, participating in the Philadelphia Anthropology Society, the

American Anthropological Association The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ...

, and the

American Folklore Society The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the US-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada, and around the world, which aims to encourage research, aid in disseminating that research, promote the responsible ...

. The latter published his Nova Scotian findings in their ''Memoirs'' in 1931.

Elsie Clews Parsons Elsie Worthington Clews Parsons (November 27, 1875 – December 19, 1941) was an American anthropologist, sociologist, folklorist, and feminist who studied Native American tribes—such as the Tewa and Hopi—in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexi ...

, a wealthy white woman, supported Fauset as a patron throughout his career in anthropology. With her support, he published his Ph.D. dissertation on Negro cults of Philadelphia,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, as ''Black Gods of the Metropolis'' (1944). In 1932–33, Fauset served as vice-president of the Philadelphia teachers' union and participated in its reorganization. He also joined the

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. Reprint: Corinthian Press, 1988. * ''Black Gods of the Metropolis; Negro Religious Cults of the Urban North''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1944. Reprint 1971. Reprinted 2001 (with an introduction by

John Szwed John F. Szwed (born 1936) is the John M. Musser Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, African American Studies and Film Studies at Yale University and an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar in the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, where he ...

and a foreword by Barbara Dianne Savage). * ''Sojourner Truth; God's Faithful Pilgrim''. Russell & Russell, 1971. * with Nellie Rathbone Bright: ''America: Red, White, Black, Yellow''. Franklin Pub. and supply Co., 1969.

External links

* Finding aid to th
Arthur Huff Fauset papers
at th
University of Pennsylvania Libraries

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fauset, Arthur Harlem Renaissance 1899 births 1983 deaths People from Flemington, New Jersey Activists from Philadelphia 20th-century American educators American civil rights activists American people of Jewish descent Researchers of new religious movements and cults University of Pennsylvania alumni Philadelphia School of Pedagogy alumni Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Educators from Pennsylvania Educators from New Jersey 20th-century African-American educators