The Ormes Society is an online group that promotes black women who work in the comic book industry. The organization is named after Jackie Ormes, a pioneering African-American comic artist.
The Ormes Society was founded in 2007 by artist Cheryl Lynn Eaton. [1] Eaton was upset by the comic book industry's lack of diversity and wanted to help support black women and fans. [2] She named the organization after Jackie Ormes, a pioneer African-American comic illustrator and America’s first black female professional cartoonist. [3] The website for the group became a hub where comic book creators could network with one another. [1] The site itself also acted as an archive of members' artwork. [4]
The group ended briefly in July 2015, when Eaton felt that there was no longer a need for it. [1] It was briefly rebooted a year later [5] but as of 2021 it appears to be defunct once again as its website is gone and its social media has not been updated since 2017. [6]
Members of the group included Charlie Trotman, Carol Burrell, Afua Richardson and Alitha Martinez. [2]