The Paradox of Jessie Redmon Fauset: The Most Prolific and Most Forgotten Novelist of the Harlem Renaissance

Write

Apr 15

Episode #28 of the Reed, Write, & Create podcast is dedicated to the literary life and legacy of Jessie Redmon Fauset, the most prolific novelist of the Harlem Renaissance, and also, sadly, the most overlooked and under-appreciated. Her literary legacy is incredible, as she wrote novels, poems, short stories and content for a children’s magazine. And she was also known as the “midwife” of the Harlem Renaissance, as she was the one responsible for giving writers like Langston Hughes, their first big break by publishing their work in The Crisis magazine, where she served as literary editor. And therein lies the paradox. How could Jessie Redmon Fauset be so prolific, and so influential, yet be so forgotten?

Who Was Jessie Redmon Fauset?

Jessie Redmon Fauset was born on April 27, 1882, Snow Hill, N.J. into a middle class family. She was the seventh child in the family, but her mother died when she was young. Her father, a minister moved the family to Philadelphia and he made sure young Jessie had a good education and the family lived in relative comfort.

After high school, Fauset attended Cornell University and graduated with a degree in classical languages. For the next ten years, Fauset made a living as a high school French teacher, but she also stayed busy writing poems, short stories, and essays that were published in The Crisis magazine, the official magazine of the N.A.A.C.P. and founded by W.E.B. Dubois.

In 1919, the same year Fauset graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Master’s Degree in French, she received a job offer from DuBois to be the literary editor at The Crisis. Fauset was like, ‘say less,’ and she packed her bags and moved to Harlem, and thus began her entré into the Harlem Renaissance.

Over the course of the next several years, particularly through the years of the Renaissance, Fauset published numerous poems, short stories, critical essays and most of the content for a new children’s magazine called, The Brownie Book. She also was doing all of the editing for the literary section of The Crisis. And if this wasn’t enough, Fauset also penned four novels between 1924 and 1933.

Why Was Fauset Forgotten?

There are many theories and verified reasons Fauset has been forgotten or overlooked when conversation turns to the great writers of the Harlem Renaissance. To learn about those reasons, be sure to listen to the podcast episode all about The Paradox of Jessie Redmon Fauset. But two key reasons why Fauset’s literary light was dimmed have to do with basic sexism. In general, the female writers of the Renaissance received less attention and support than their male counterparts. In addition, Fauset tended to write about middle-class Black people, with an emphasis on the women and their interior lives. It is as true now as it was then, that “women’s issues” are not valued in real life or in literature, so women writers are almost guaranteed to have their work overlooked or not supported by the publishing industry or the reading public. And that’s exactly what happened to Fauset.

Jessie Redmon Fauset Deserves Her Flowers

Despite her struggles. Despite the obstacles placed in her way. Despite the no’s she received from the mainstream publishing industry, and from her contemporaries during the Renaissance, at the end of the day, Jessie Redmon Fasuset kept writing. And she kept traveling, a pastime she loved. And she kept her head up. Was she bitter and angry? Probably. But did she live her best life anyway? Yes. And she never gave up writing about the issues she wanted to write about and bring attention to, rather than caving into popular pressure. She did things her way and probably went to her grave a little salty, but surely without regrets. Jessie Redmon Fauset died on April 30, 1971 at the age of 79. If you do nothing else this month, take a moment to give Jessie her flowers, for they are most certainly due. You can also purchase a copy of her novels, There is Confusion and The Chinaberry Tree, which have recently been re-issued. And that makes me very happy for Jessie.