Story 01
Torchy
On May 1, 1937, Ormes established her career as a cartoonist with her first published comic strip for the Pittsburgh Courier.
The strip was called Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem, and it ran for a year. It chronicled the adventures of a Black heroine who moved to New York to become an entertainer at Harlem's famous Cotton Club. The cartoon reflected the contemporary struggles of many African Americans who moved from the Jim Crow South to the urban north in search of social, economic, and political opportunities. In 1950, Ormes re-invented her Torchy character in a new comic strip, the full-color Torchy in Heartbeats. Ormes used this comic strip to advance her views on serious topics—alongside depictions of romance, adventure, and fashion, Torchy tackled timely issues such as violence against women and the impact of environmental racism.
Jackie Ormes, Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem, 1938, Sam Milai Collection, The Ohio State University, Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum
