front cover of The Third Door
The Third Door
The Autobiography of an American Negro Woman
Ellen Tarry
University of Alabama Press, 1992

Tarry relates her life against the background of a changing American society

In pursuit of her dream of becoming a writer, Tarry moved to New York, where she worked for black newspapers and became acquainted with some of the prominent black artists and writers of the day, particularly Claude McKay and James Weldon Johnson. Her devotion to the church found expression in social work activities, first in Harlem, then in Chicago, and, during World War II, in Anniston, Alabama, where she directed a USO for black soldiers stationed at Fort McClellan. Tarry wrote several books for young readers, including biographies of James Weldon Johnson and Pierre Toussaint. She continued her social work career after the war and now lives in New York.

Devoid of pronounced racial markings, Tarry’s interactions with white Americans were not characterized by fear or distrust. But when her own brown daughter was subjected to racial discrimination she wrote The Third Door in 1955 to tell America about the plight of her people. With prose that is both moving and powerful, Tarry relates her life against the background of a changing American society. She still awaits the third door, designated neither “white” nor “colored,” through which all American will someday walk.
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The Unruly Voice
Rediscovering Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins
Edited by John Cullen Gruesser
University of Illinois Press, 1996

The work and times of the Black writer, editor, and intellectual

John Cullen Gruesser edits essays that explore the literary and journalistic career of Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins. A Black woman writer at the turn of the twentieth century, Hopkins worked as the unacknowledged editor-in-chief of the Colored American Magazine but also wrote short fiction, novels, nonfiction articles, and a play believed to be the first by a Black woman. Versatile and politically committed, she was fired when her strong editorial stands and non-conciliatory politics offended the new owner of Colored American Magazine.

A rare examination of an overlooked figure in Black letters, The Unruly Voice explores Hopkins’s writing and her significance for contemporary readers.

Contributors: Elizabeth Ammons; Kristina Brooks; Lois Lamphere Brown; C. K. Doreski; John Cullen Gruesser; Jennie A. Kassanoff; Kate McCullough; Nelly Y. McKay; and Cynthia D. Schrager

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