Created by Josephine Sloman and Savita Maharaj
Introduction
The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company (1900-1904) was an African-American-owned publishing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. This exhibit explores how the company played an integral role in the growth of an increasingly intellectual and politically active black readership during the Twentieth Century.1
“The Colored American Magazine 1900,” Colored American Magazine, vol 1, no.1, June 1900, Photograph.
Background Information
The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company was founded in May of 1900 by Walter William, Harper Fortune, Jessie Watkins, and either Peter Gibson or Walter Alexander Johnson.2 All of the founders came from Virginia to Boston, a place that was known for its exceptional educational, medical, scientific, and cultural communities.3 Its headquarters were located at 232 West Canton Street, Boston, Massachusetts.4 The founders wanted to provide a space for and produce politically, racially, and mentally charged material. The company's initial focus was on producing a monthly periodical, but it rapidly expanded its interest to books as well.5
Reuben S. Elliot, a white Bostonian(?) was an important contributing member of the publishing cooperative and played an integral role in helping the company move to book publishing.6 He also penned an extensive history of The Colored American Magazine, which was the Colored Cooperative Publishing Company's most successful publication.7 One author also cited a letter from a white subscriber to the magazine who questioned its portrayal of interracial marriage, which spurred a dialogue between her and the editor.8 The company's publication provided a forum for discussions on race for its mixed readership.
“The Home of the Colored American Magazine,”1992, Colored American Magazine, Photograph.
“A Corner of the Shipping Room of the Colored American Magazine,” the Colored American Magazine. January- February 1902, pg 436, Photograph.
Editor Pauline Hopkins
The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company's first issue of The Colored American Magazine came out in May 1900 and was widely distributed to black communities throughout the United States.9 The editor for the magazine, Pauline Hopkins, was a black female intellectual, former singer, and award-winning writer whose work was also published throughout the magazine. Her novels Hagar’s Daughter: A Story of Southern Caste Prejudice, Winona: A Tale of Negro Life in the South and Southwest, and Of One Blood; Or, The Hidden Self were all published serially in the magazine.10 The first and only stand-alone-novel that the company published was also by Hopkins, the widely read, Contending Forces: A Romance Illustrative of Negro Life, North, and South.
“Pauline Hopkins,” Colored American Magazine, January 1901, pg 218, Photograph.
Legacy
In 1902, the publisher released an announcement that both the magazine and the book were doing extremely well and that the company planned on expanding.11 The plan for expansion, unfortunately, never came to fruition. In the middle of 1903, Fred Moore bought The Colored American Magazine and relocated it to New York City, where it continued to be published until 1909.12 Fred Moore was the agent of Booker T. Washington, who had ideological differences with Pauline Hopkins. Shortly after 1909, The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company disbanded due to financial difficulties.13 Though short-lived, the Colored American Magazine was one of the most notable publications produced by the company produced and offers an engaging resources for analysis of AfricanAmerican culture at the dawn of Twentieth Century.14
“Booker T. Washington,”Colored American Magazine. March 1909, pg 436, Photograph.
Endnotes
1 Kelly, Gary, Joad Raymond, and Christine Bold. "The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company." The Oxford History of Popular Print Culture. (Oxford: 2011), 447-53.
2 Ibid; Joyce, Donald F. "The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company." Black Book Publishers in the United States: A Historical Dictionary of the Presses, (Greenwood Group:1991), 80-83.
3 Ibid; Cannon, Katie G. “Jots and Tittles: Dotting Every i, Crossing Every t.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, (2000) 97–101.
4 Hayden, Robert C. "The African-American Business Tradition in Boston," (1994) Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 3.
5 Kelly, Gary, Joad Raymond, and Christine Bold. "The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company." The Oxford History of Popular Print Culture. (Oxford: 2011), 447-53.
6 Ibid
7 Ibid
8 Ihara, Rachel.“‘Between Scylla and Charybadis’: Pauline Hopkins, Winnifred Eaton, and the Racial Politics of Serial Publication.” Novels on the Installment Plan: American Authorship in the Age of Serial Publication, from Stowe to Hemingway. (New York: 2007), 111- 152.
9 Joyce, Donald F. "The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company." Black Book Publishers in the United States: A Historical Dictionary of the Presses, (Greenwood Group:1991), 80-83.
10 "Biography." The Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins Society. (2014).
11 Ibid
12 Joyce, Donald F. "The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company." Black Book Publishers in the United States: A Historical Dictionary of the Presses, (Greenwood Group:1991), 80-83; Kelly, Gary, Joad Raymond, and Christine Bold. "The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company." The Oxford History of Popular Print Culture. (Oxford: 2011), 447-53.
13 Ibid
14 Joyce, Donald F. "The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company." Black Book Publishers in the United States: A Historical Dictionary of the Presses, (Greenwood Group:1991), 80-83.
Bibliography
“A Corner of the Shipping Room of the Colored American Magazine.”January- February 1902. Colored American Magazine. Photograph. http://coloredamerican.org/?page_id=685
"Biography."The Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins Society. N.p., 15 Dec. 2014.
“Booker T. Washington.” March 1909. Colored American Magazine. Photograph. http://coloredamerican.org/?page_id=548
Cannon, Katie G. “Jots and Tittles: Dotting Every i, Crossing Every t.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, vol. 16, no. 1, 2000, pp. 97–101.
Hayden, Robert C. "The African-American Business Tradition in Boston," Trotter Review: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 3. 1994.
Ihara, Rachel.“‘Between Scylla and Charybadis’: Pauline Hopkins, Winnifred Eaton, and the Racial Politics of Serial Publication.” Novels on the Installment Plan: American Authorship in the Age of Serial Publication, from Stowe to Hemingway. City University of New York, 2007. 111- 152. Ann Arbor: ProQuest.
Joyce, Donald F. "The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company."Black Book Publishers in the United States: A Historical Dictionary of the Presses,1817-1990. N.p.: Greenwood Group, 1991. 80-83.
Kelly, Gary, Joad Raymond, and Christine Bold. "The Colored Cooperative Publishing Company."The Oxford History of Popular Print Culture. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2011. 447-53.
“Pauline Hopkins.” January 1901. Colored American Magazine. Photograph. http://coloredamerican.org/?page_id=548#hopkins
“The Colored American Magazine 1900.” 1900. Colored American Magazine. Photograph. http://coloredamerican.org/?page_id=685
“The Home of the Colored American Magazine.”1992. Colored American Magazine. Photograph. http://coloredamerican.org