Chapter 3: 1910-1919. Introduction
In terms of a general historical picture, the 1910s were a challenging period for African Americans. Though African American activists like Du Bois initially supported him, President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) proved to be a major disappointment. Most notably, President Wilson instituted the formal segregation of U.S. government employees, which effectively halted the prospects for advancement for Black federal employees. (This lack of opportunity affected some of our poets directly – Georgia Douglas Johnson’s husband, Henry Lincoln Johnson, had a prominent government posting that would later be rescinded due to racism.)
The main positive change in the 1910s for the African American community was the advent of a powerful new vehicle for activism and advocacy, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which was created in 1909 (and formally incorporated in 1911), and which grew rapidly throughout the 1910s.
In the late 1910s, one of the most prominent topics of conversation nationwide was the prospect of U.S. involvement in the Great War (World War I), which dragged on among European powers for four years before the U.S. finally sent its first major troop deployments to assist the British and French. In 1918 and 1919, there was a nationwide mobilization of African American men to encourage them to enlist in the army, often with the prospect of “uplifting the race” through service. However, Du Bois and other activists would later express disappointment at how poorly African American soldiers were actually treated in the racially segregated military in World War I. Most Black regiments were relegated to support roles as “stevedores” – cooks and transport – and few saw combat. That said, some African American regiments, often under French command, did engage in combat, most famously the 369th Infantry Regiment (the “Harlem Hellfighters”). These debates over patriotism and the role of Black folks in the war were also topics of conversation in African American poetry, including in poetry by women.
Poetry of the 1910s
The 1910s was an exciting period for poetry by African American women. While the number of published book-length collections remains somewhat modest, there appears a substantial increase in poetry published in national periodicals, especially The Crisis. As is well-known, The Crisis was a monthly magazine associated with the newly-formed National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and throughout this period it was edited by W.E.B. Du Bois. By the late 1910s, The Crisis had a national circulation well into the tens of thousands – peaking at close to 100,000 subscribers in 1919! As a result of its large reach, it was a powerful venue for publication, and dozens of women sent their poetry to the magazine during these years.
The most prolific poet (of any gender) to publish in The Crisis during this period was Georgia Douglas Johnson, who published at least eighteen poems in the magazine during this period. But writers like Jessie Fauset (who would later go onto serve as Literary Editor for the magazine), Angelina Weld Grimke, and Alice Dunbar-Nelson also all published poetry in the magazine in the 1910s.
Here, we’ll explore four main topics within the poetry of the 1910s, “Social Justice in Sonnet Form,” “Intersectional Themes,” “Challenging Institutional Racism,” and “Engaging World War I.”