Julian Elihu Bagley (December 10, 1892 – October 17, 1981) was an American author, World War I veteran, and

concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the errands of ...

. In 1922, he moved to San Francisco in hopes of opening a waterfront hotel. He was a well-known concierge at the San Francisco

War Memorial Opera House The War Memorial Opera House is an opera house in San Francisco, California, located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the west side/rear facade of the San Francisco City Hall. It is part of the San Francisco War Memorial and ...

where he worked for 39 years, starting on opening night on October 15, 1932. During this time, Bagley wrote a children's book called ''Candle-lighting Time in Bodidalee'', which was a book filled with animal folklore.

Early life

Bagley served in the Army during World War I and later earned a degree in agriculture from Hampton Institute.

Career

In 1922, Bagley moved to San Francisco in hopes of opening a waterfront hotel. Instead, he ended up working at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. He worked there for 39 years beginning on opening night on October 15, 1932. While he served as a concierge, Bagley wrote his first book called ''Welcome to the San Francisco Opera House in 1923.'' He also wrote for The Crisis magazine under the editorship of

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

from 1910 to 1923. During this time, Bagley wrote three different stories for the Crisis, and out of those three, ''Vagabonding in a City of Opera Seats,'' was nominated as an honorable mention for the magazine's contest. He spent much of his time writing short stories for the Crisis focusing specifically on issues of that time including racism and education for blacks. These themes can be seen in his short story "Niggers". Bagley also wrote for other publications, including ''New Outlook''. He also contributed stories for '' The Brownies' Book''. On January 1, 1971, Bagley wrote a book called ''Candle-lighting Time in Bodidalee''.

Wallace Tripp Wallace Whitney Tripp (June 26, 1940 – September 9, 2018) was an American illustrator, anthologist and author. He was known for creating anthropomorphic animal characters of emotional complexity and for his great visual and verbal humor. He wa ...

illustrated the book alongside Bagley. Tripp has illustrated over 40 children books and is also one of the illustrators of Amelia Bedelia. ''Candle-lighting Time in Bodidalee'' is a book based on animal folklore from Africa. There are 18 stories and

Uncle Remus Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post-Reconstruction era Atlanta, a ...

writes about Br'er Rabbit,

Br'er Fox Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear (also spelled Brer Fox and Brer Bear, ) are fictional characters from African-American oral traditions popular in the Southern United States. These characters have been recorded by many different folklorists, but are most ...

, and

Br'er Bear A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

in one of the stories.

Selected writings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagley, Julian 1892 births 1981 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I Writers from San Francisco Hampton University alumni 20th-century American male writers

Early life

Career

Selected writings

Further reading

References