Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life

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Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life
Cover of Opportunity A Journal of Negro Life, January 1925.jpg
Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life Volume 3, cover dated January 1925
CategoriesCulture, Sociology
FrequencyMonthly
Publisher National Urban League
Founded1923
Final issue1949;76 years ago (1949)
Country United States
LanguageEnglish

Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life was an academic and literary journal published by the National Urban League (NUL). The journal acted as a sociological forum for the emerging topic of African-American studies and was known for fostering the literary culture during the Harlem Renaissance. It was published monthly from 1923 to 1942, and then quarterly through 1949.

Contents

History

Opportunity was the official journal of the National Urban League (NUL) and first published in 1923. [1] It served as a major social and literary hub for writers and thinkers involved in the Harlem Renaissance. [2] [3] The name of the journal came from the NUL slogan, "Not alms, but opportunity." [4]

First editor-in-chief, Charles S. Johnson, wrote in the first issue of Opportunity, "Accurate and dependable facts can correct inaccurate and slanderous assertions that have gone unchallenged… and what is most important, to inculcate a disposition to see enough of interest and beauty of their own lives to rid themselves of the inferior feeling of being Negro." [5] Johnson tasked his secretary, Ethel Nance, to identify creative talent among Black people and to encourage them to submit to the journal. [6]

Ruth Standish Baldwin, the white widow of a railroad magnate, and George Edmund Haynes were two patrons that helped fund the creation of the journal. [7] Haynes, a graduate of Fisk University, Yale University, and Columbia University, became the NUL's first executive secretary. The interracial character of the League's board was set from its first days; it was the template for Charles Johnson's approach to fostering interest, support, and occasion for African-American art and artists. Critics of the journal, as well as of the Harlem Renaissance, thought that Johnson's literary content may have been pandering to his white audience and patrons. Wallace Thurman said, "The results of the Renaissance have been sad rather than satisfactory, in that critical standards have been ignored and the measure of achievement has been racial rather than literary" [8]

Under Johnson's editorship the journal's circulation rose to 11,000 in 1928. [9] Johnson stepped down as chief editor of Opportunity but continued to contribute to the journal through 1931. [10]

Elmer A. Carter took over as chief editor from 1928 to 1942. [11] [12] Under his leadership, the journal remained an important literary and research outlet for Black Americans. [13] Madeline L. Aldridge took over as "acting editor" after Carter left, starting in January 1943. [14]

In 1943, the journal went to a quarterly publication schedule due to rationing on paper and printing. [15] During her tenure as editor, Aldridge created a special issue focused on Black women and their work towards the war effort. [16] Dutton Ferguson was the editor from 1947 to 1949. [17]

The leadership of the National board of the Urban League chose to end publication of the journal in 1949 due to rising publication costs. [14]

Content

The studies published in the early issues of Opportunity were conducted and funded by the NUL and supported the social mission of an academic journal connected with the missions of the NUL and Fisk University. Topics centered on the social challenges faced by Black people at the time, including access to employment, housing, sanitation and education. [18]

"Opportunity is a venture inspired by a long insistent demand, both general and specific, for a journal of Negro life that would devote itself religiously to an interpretation of the social problems of the Negro population.... The policy of Opportunity will be definitely constructive. It will aim to present, objectively, facts of Negro life. It hopes, thru an analysis of these social questions, to provide a basis of understanding; encourage interracial co-operation in the working out of these problems." [5]

Johnson believed that misunderstanding led to racial discrimination and that highlighting Black achievement and art would help bridge this gap. [19] Starting in 1925, Opportunity began to publish short fiction. [1] Writers such as Gwendolyn B. Bennett and Countee Cullen had regular "social columns" in the journal. [1] Under Johnson's editorial command, he regularly wrote editorial columns and used facts to counter racial prejudice. [18]

Literary contests

Johnson is credited for organizing and promoting literary parties, which successfully brought together African-American artists and white patrons of money and letters. [1] [19] It also exposed Black talent to major publishing houses. [20] Starting in 1924, Johnson sponsored literary contests in order to showcase the creative talent of Black people. [18] The first of contest received 732 entries. [18] The May 1925 issue of Opportunity lists a number of prizewinners who went on to enjoy successful publishing careers including Sterling Brown, Cullen, E. Franklin Frazier, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston. [18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brown 2006, p. 406.
  2. ↑ Brown 2006, p. vii.
  3. ↑ Stroman 1990, p. 159.
  4. ↑ Whit 2007, p. 399.
  5. 1 2 Johnson, Charles, ed. Opportunity the Journal of Negro Life, January 1923: N. pag.
  6. ↑ Witalec 2003, p. 12.
  7. ↑ "Opportunity Magazine is Published". African American Registry. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  8. ↑ Ikonne, Chidi. "Opportunity and Black Literature", Phylon . 40.1 (1979): 86–93. Print.
  9. ↑ N. W. Ayer And Son's American Newspaper Annual And Directory. Library of Congress, n.d. 29 Feb. 2012. N. W. Ayer & Son's Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals.
  10. ↑ Stroman 1990, p. 162.
  11. ↑ Weiss 1974, p. 247.
  12. ↑ "N.Y. GOP Backs Negro for Manhattan Borough President". Call and Post. 1953-08-01. p. 17. Retrieved 2025-10-18– via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "How a Harlem Library and Journal Changed the World | Fine Books & Collections". Fine Books & Collections. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
  14. 1 2 Pendergast, Tom (2000). Creating the modern man : American magazines and consumer culture, 1900-1950. Missouri University Press. Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri Press. p. 205. ISBN   978-0-8262-1280-1 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ↑ Johnson, Abby Arthur (1991). Propaganda and aesthetics : the literary politics of African-American magazines in the twentieth century. Internet Archive. Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press. p. 127. ISBN   978-0-87023-402-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  16. ↑ Savage, Barbara Dianne (1999). Broadcasting freedom : radio, war, and the politics of race, 1938-1948. Internet Archive. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press. p. 173. ISBN   978-0-8078-2477-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  17. ↑ "Opportunity". Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 Stroman 1990, p. 161.
  19. 1 2 Witalec 2003, p. 14.
  20. ↑ Beckman 2014, p. 7.

Sources

Further reading

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