Jackie Ormes (August 1, 1911 – December 26, 1985) is known as the first African American female cartoonist. Her strips, featuring the lovable characters Torchy Brown, Candy, Patty-Jo, and Ginger, appeared in the Chicago Defender and Pittsburgh Courier in the 1930s - 1950s.
Jackie Ormes said, “No more…Sambos…Just KIDS!” and she transformed her attractive, spunky Patty-Jo cartoon character into the first upscale American black doll. At long last, here was an African American doll with all the play features children desired: playable hair, and the finest and most extensive wardrobe on the market, with all manner of dresses, formals, shoes, hats, nightgowns, robes, skating and cowgirl costumes, and spring and winter coat sets, to name a few. (Jackie Ormes Online)
I finally got Nancy Goldstein’s biography of Jackie Ormes for Christmas, and it’s fascinating stuff. I love that we have this video (or gifset of a video) of her at work. It is rare enough to see footage of any women cartoonists from this era, even fewer with merchandise based on their work. Jackie Ormes’s importance to the history of both women cartoonists and black cartoonists cannot be understated.