Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882–1961) was an American novelist, poet, essayist, and editor who played a pivotal but often underrecognized role in the Harlem Renaissance. As the literary editor of The Crisis, the magazine of the NAACP, from 1919 to 1926, she discovered and published the early work of many of the movement’s most important voices, including Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay. Langston Hughes himself called her one of the “three people who midwifed the so-called New Negro literature into being.”
Born on April 27, 1882, in Fredericksville (now Lawnside), New Jersey, Fauset was one of seven children in a prominent African American family. She graduated from Cornell University in 1905, likely the first Black woman to do so, and later earned an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and was fluent in French. Before joining The Crisis, she taught French and Latin at the M Street High School (later Dunbar High School) in Washington, D.C., one of the most prestigious Black secondary schools in the country.
At The Crisis, Fauset worked closely with W.E.B. Du Bois and used her editorial role to shape the literary direction of the Harlem Renaissance. She solicited, edited, and published the early work of writers who would define the movement, and she created The Brownies’ Book (1920–1921), the first magazine for African American children.
Fauset was also a prolific novelist. She published four novels: There Is Confusion (1924), Plum Bun (1929), The Chinaberry Tree (1931), and Comedy: American Style (1933). Her fiction focused on the lives of educated, middle-class Black Americans — a world she knew intimately — and explored themes of racial identity, passing, ambition, and the constraints placed on Black women by both racism and sexism.
Despite her enormous contributions, Fauset’s reputation suffered during her lifetime and for decades after. Her focus on the Black middle class was sometimes dismissed as bourgeois, and her editorial contributions were overshadowed by the fame of the writers she helped launch. Feminist scholars began recovering her work in the 1980s, and she is now recognized as one of the most important intellectual figures of the Harlem Renaissance.
Fauset died on April 30, 1961, in Philadelphia. Her legacy as both an editor and a novelist has been increasingly celebrated as scholars have recognized the essential role she played in creating the conditions for the Harlem Renaissance to flourish.
Frequently Asked Questions about Jessie Redmon Fauset
Who was Jessie Redmon Fauset?
Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882–1961) was an American novelist, poet, and literary editor who played a central role in the Harlem Renaissance. As literary editor of The Crisis (1919–1926), she discovered and published the early work of Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay. She also wrote four novels exploring the lives of educated, middle-class Black Americans.
What did Jessie Fauset do for the Harlem Renaissance?
Fauset served as literary editor of The Crisis, the NAACP’s magazine, from 1919 to 1926. In this role, she solicited, edited, and published the early work of many of the Harlem Renaissance’s most important writers. Langston Hughes called her one of the “three people who midwifed the so-called New Negro literature into being.”
What novels did Jessie Fauset write?
Fauset published four novels: There Is Confusion (1924), Plum Bun (1929), The Chinaberry Tree (1931), and Comedy: American Style (1933). Her fiction focused on the lives of educated, middle-class Black Americans and explored themes of racial identity, passing, ambition, and gender constraints.
What is The Brownies' Book?
The Brownies’ Book (1920–1921) was the first magazine created specifically for African American children. Founded by W.E.B. Du Bois and edited largely by Fauset, it aimed to instill racial pride and provide positive representations of Black children and culture at a time when such images were rare in American media.
Where did Jessie Fauset go to college?
Fauset graduated from Cornell University in 1905, likely the first Black woman to do so. She later earned an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. She was fluent in French and taught French and Latin before becoming a literary editor.
Why was Jessie Fauset overlooked?
Fauset’s focus on the Black middle class was sometimes dismissed as bourgeois by critics who favored more radical or folk-oriented writing. Her editorial contributions were also overshadowed by the fame of the writers she helped launch. Feminist scholars began recovering her work in the 1980s, recognizing her essential role in creating the conditions for the Harlem Renaissance.
What is Plum Bun about?
Plum Bun (1929) tells the story of Angela Murray, a light-skinned Black woman from Philadelphia who moves to New York and passes as white to pursue her ambitions as an artist. The novel explores the costs of passing, the limitations placed on Black women, and the tension between racial loyalty and personal ambition. It is often considered Fauset’s best novel.
How is Jessie Fauset remembered today?
Fauset is now recognized as one of the most important intellectual figures of the Harlem Renaissance. While her editorial work — discovering and nurturing the careers of Hughes, Toomer, Cullen, and McKay — may be her greatest legacy, her four novels are also studied for their sophisticated exploration of race, gender, and class in Black middle-class America.