Saturday Evening Quill

Saturday Evening Quill

Notable Contributors: headers in sentence case per MOS:Head

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In July of 1925, Boston-based journalist Eugene Gordon organized an African-American literary group, the Saturday Evening Quill Club (also known as the Boston Quill Club). Every aspect behind the Saturday Evening Quill's startup was thanks to Eugene Gordon. Out of this club grew an annual literary magazine, ''Saturday Evening Quill'', which Gordon edited. With Gordon's prior experiences writing for the ''Boston Post,'' it supported that he was very qualified to edit the magazine and lead literary workshops. Gordon made the connections and communicated with multiple aspiring African American artists around the Boston area. He then asked each of them if they would be interested in joining his literary workshop. With this he created a learning space for artists to help each other improve their writings. The first ever meeting of the club was at the Women's Service Club in Boston. After that, Eugene and his wife, Edythe, offered their home as a place for the literary club's weekly meet ups. The club had at least twenty three members, the treasurer was Alice Chapman Furlong, the secretary was Grace Vera Postles, and the creator of the monogram was Roscoe Wright.
In July of 1925, Boston-based journalist Eugene Gordon organized an African-American literary group, the Saturday Evening Quill Club (also known as the Boston Quill Club). Every aspect behind the Saturday Evening Quill's startup was thanks to Eugene Gordon. Out of this club grew an annual literary magazine, ''Saturday Evening Quill'', which Gordon edited. With Gordon's prior experiences writing for the ''Boston Post,'' it supported that he was very qualified to edit the magazine and lead literary workshops. Gordon made the connections and communicated with multiple aspiring African American artists around the Boston area. He then asked each of them if they would be interested in joining his literary workshop. With this he created a learning space for artists to help each other improve their writings. The first ever meeting of the club was at the Women's Service Club in Boston. After that, Eugene and his wife, Edythe, offered their home as a place for the literary club's weekly meet ups. The club had at least twenty three members, the treasurer was Alice Chapman Furlong, the secretary was Grace Vera Postles, and the creator of the monogram was Roscoe Wright.


== Notable Contributors ==
== Notable contributors ==
A majority of authors of the Saturday Evening Quill were African American Women. In fact two of the founding members were women. The two were [[Dorothy West]] and [[Helene Johnson]], not only were these two founders, but they were also the youngest people to contribute to the newspaper's annual.{{Cite journal |last=Davis |first=Cynthia |last2=Mitchell |first2=Verner D. |date=2009 |title=Eugene Gordon, Dorothy West, and the Saturday Evening Quill Club |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44325505 |journal=CLA Journal |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=393–408 |issn=0007-8549}} The secretary , Grace Vera Postles, and the treasurer, Florence Harmon were also women.{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Abby Ann Arthur |last2=Johnson |first2=Ronald M. |date=1974 |title=Forgotten Pages: Black Literary Magazines in the 1920s |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27553130 |journal=Journal of American Studies |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=363–382 |issn=0021-8758}} Other female writers like [[Florida Ruffin Ridley]], [[Gertrude Schalk]], [[Alvira Hazzard]], [[Edythe Mae Gordon]], [[Gertrude P. McBrown|Gertrude Parthenia McBrown]], [[Lois Mailou Jones]], and Alice Chapman Furlong also contributed to the newspaper. Florida Ridley, born and raised in Boston, posted only very few items within the Saturday Evening Quill's annual. Her works included an essay named ''Other Bostonians'' and a biographical sketch. Additionally, Gertrude McBrown, who graduated from [[Boston University]], wrote poems for the newspaper. In the 1929 Annual she posted her poem ''Fire-Flies,'' it was paired with a drawing of angels with lanterns under the night sky made by Lois Jones. Alice Furlong shared her poem ''Awaiting'' with the 1929 Annual.  There were also male members of the club: [[Lewis Grandison Alexander]], Ralf Meshack Coleman, [[Waring Cuney|Waring Cuney,]] Eugene Gordon. Ralf Meshack Coleman curated two plays and published a poem, ''Song of the Youth.'' Waring Cuney, another prominent writer for Saturday Evening Quill, published a total of nine poems. Lastly, the founder Eugene Gordon who created a club from the ground up, found and made connections with all the authors, mentored many of the members, and edited and published all of the annuals.
A majority of authors of the Saturday Evening Quill were African American Women. In fact two of the founding members were women. The two were [[Dorothy West]] and [[Helene Johnson]], not only were these two founders, but they were also the youngest people to contribute to the newspaper's annual.{{Cite journal |last=Davis |first=Cynthia |last2=Mitchell |first2=Verner D. |date=2009 |title=Eugene Gordon, Dorothy West, and the Saturday Evening Quill Club |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44325505 |journal=CLA Journal |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=393–408 |issn=0007-8549}} The secretary , Grace Vera Postles, and the treasurer, Florence Harmon were also women.{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Abby Ann Arthur |last2=Johnson |first2=Ronald M. |date=1974 |title=Forgotten Pages: Black Literary Magazines in the 1920s |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27553130 |journal=Journal of American Studies |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=363–382 |issn=0021-8758}} Other female writers like [[Florida Ruffin Ridley]], [[Gertrude Schalk]], [[Alvira Hazzard]], [[Edythe Mae Gordon]], [[Gertrude P. McBrown|Gertrude Parthenia McBrown]], [[Lois Mailou Jones]], and Alice Chapman Furlong also contributed to the newspaper. Florida Ridley, born and raised in Boston, posted only very few items within the Saturday Evening Quill's annual. Her works included an essay named ''Other Bostonians'' and a biographical sketch. Additionally, Gertrude McBrown, who graduated from [[Boston University]], wrote poems for the newspaper. In the 1929 Annual she posted her poem ''Fire-Flies,'' it was paired with a drawing of angels with lanterns under the night sky made by Lois Jones. Alice Furlong shared her poem ''Awaiting'' with the 1929 Annual.  There were also male members of the club: [[Lewis Grandison Alexander]], Ralf Meshack Coleman, [[Waring Cuney|Waring Cuney,]] Eugene Gordon. Ralf Meshack Coleman curated two plays and published a poem, ''Song of the Youth.'' Waring Cuney, another prominent writer for Saturday Evening Quill, published a total of nine poems. Lastly, the founder Eugene Gordon who created a club from the ground up, found and made connections with all the authors, mentored many of the members, and edited and published all of the annuals.