Orrin Cromwell Evans (1902–1971) was a pioneering

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. Considered "the first black writer to cover general assignments for a mainstream white newspaper in the United States," he also published ''

All-Negro Comics ''All-Negro Comics'', published in 1947, was a single-issue, small-press American comic book that represents the first known comics magazine written and drawn solely by African-American writers and artists. Publication history African-American jo ...

'', the first known comics magazine written and drawn solely by

writers and artists.

Biography

Early life

Evans' father was light-skinned and could "pass" for white, but his dark-skinned mother sometimes had to pretend to be the family maid when strangers came to visit. Young Orrin was forced to confront racism at an early age due to his parents' difficult juggling act. Evans dropped out of school in eighth grade.

Journalism

Evans' began work in journalism as a teenager at the well-regarded African-American newspaper the ''

Philadelphia Tribune ''The Philadelphia Tribune'' is the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry published its first copy. Throughout its history, ''The Philadelphia Tribune' ...

'' In the early 1930, Evans became the only African-American on staff at ''

The Philadelphia Record ''The Philadelphia Record'' was a daily newspaper published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1877 until 1947. It became among the most circulated papers in the city and was at some points the circulation leader. History ''The Public Record'' ...

'', where he wrote about segregation in the armed services during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. At ''The Record'' he faced death threats and discrimination, including being removed from a

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

press conference because of the color of his skin. In addition to ''The Record'', Evans wrote for ''

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'', '' The Philadelphia Independent'', and ''

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 ...

'', the journal of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

''All-Negro Comics''

A strong proponent of

racial equality Racial equality is a situation in which people of all races and ethnicities are treated in an egalitarian/equal manner. Racial equality occurs when institutions give individuals legal, moral, and political rights. In present-day Western society, ...

, Evans thought he could reach a wider audience with a comic book. When ''The Record'' closed after an extended

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

in 1947, Evans partnered with former ''Record'' editor Harry T. Saylor, ''Record'' sports editor Bill Driscoll and two others to found the

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 ...

publishing company All-Negro Comics, Inc., with himself as president. In mid-1947, the company published the only known issue of ''All-Negro Comics'', a 48-page, standard-sized comic book with a typical glossy color cover and newsprint interior. The comic's press run and distribution are unknown, and as one cultural historian notes of the era, " ile there were a few heroic images of blacks created by blacks, such as the ''Jive Gray''

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

and ''All-Negro Comics'', these images did not circulate outside of pre-

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

segregated black communities." As writer Tom Christopher described, Evans ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine in 1947 described the villains in the lead feature, "Ace Harlem," as "a couple of zoot-suited, jive-talking Negro muggers, whose presence in anyone else's comics might have brought up complaints of racial 'distortion.' Since it was all in the family, Evans thought no Negro readers would mind." The protagonist of "Ace Harlem," however, was an African-American

police detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

; the characters in the "Lion Man and Bubba" feature were meant to inspire black people's pride in their African heritage. Evans attempted to publish a second issue but was unable to purchase the

newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...

required — which many believe he was blocked from doing by prejudiced distributors, as well as from competing, white-owned publishers (such as Parents Magazine Press and

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

) which began producing their own black-themed titles.

Later career

Orrin later worked art the ''

Chester Times The ''Delaware County Daily Times'' is a daily newspaper published in the Primos section of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is the only major newspaper in the state to be branded with a county name rather than a city. I ...

'', and then the ''

Philadelphia Bulletin The ''Philadelphia Bulletin'' was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the United ...

'' from 1962 until his death in 1971. He was deeply involved in Philadelphia-area journalism associations the Philadelphia Press Association, and was honored by

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

of Pennsylvania. As a journalist, he was a fixture at

National Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

and

conventions.

Awards

In 1971, shortly before his death, Evans was honored at the annual

convention in Minneapolis and a scholarship was created in his name. In 2011 he and his brother were posthumously given the

ECBACC The East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC) is the Philadelphia region's first black comic book convention, bringing together hundreds of comic book, science fiction, and fantasy creators, their colleagues, and their fans. The ECBACC is ...

Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award for the creation of ''All-Negro Comics''. In 2014, Evans was elected to the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame for his work as president of ''All-Negro Comics''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Orrin C. African-American comics creators American comics creators African-American journalists 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 1971 deaths 1902 births Comic book editors 20th-century African-American writers People from Steelton, Pennsylvania Journalists from Pennsylvania