Orrin Cromwell Evans
| Orrin C. Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1902 Steelton, Pennsylvania |
| Died | August 6, 1971 (aged 68–69) Mercy-Douglass Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | journalist, comic book publisher |
| Known for | All-Negro Comics |
| Spouse(s) | Florence |
| Children | Hope |
| Parent(s) | George J. Evans, Sr. and Maude Wilson Evans |
| Family | George J. Evans, Jr. (brother) |
Orrin Cromwell Evans (1902–1971) was a pioneering African-American journalist and comic book publisher. Considered "the first black writer to cover general assignments for a mainstream white newspaper in the United States," he also published All-Negro Comics, the first known comics magazine written and drawn solely by African-American writers and artists.
Evans' father was light-skinned and could "pass" for white, but his dark-skinned mother sometimes had to pretend to be the family maid when strangers came to visit. Young Orrin was forced to confront racism at an early age due to his parents' difficult juggling act. Evans dropped out of school in eighth grade.
Evans' began work in journalism as a teenager at the well-regarded African-American newspaper the Philadelphia Tribune.
In the early 1930, Evans became the only African-American on staff at The Philadelphia Record, where he wrote about segregation in the armed services during World War II. At The Record he faced death threats and discrimination, including being removed from a Charles Lindbergh press conference because of the color of his skin.
In addition to The Record, Evans wrote for The Chicago Defender, The Philadelphia Independent, and The Crisis, the journal of the NAACP.
A strong proponent of racial equality, Evans thought he could reach a wider audience with a comic book. When The Record closed after an extended strike action in 1947, Evans partnered with former Record editor Harry T. Saylor, Record sports editor Bill Driscoll and two others to found the Philadelphia publishing company All-Negro Comics, Inc., with himself as president. In mid-1947, the company published the only known issue of All-Negro Comics, a 48-page, standard-sized comic book with a typical glossy color cover and newsprint interior. The comic's press run and distribution are unknown, and as one cultural historian notes of the era, "[W]hile there were a few heroic images of blacks created by blacks, such as the Jive Gray comic strip and All-Negro Comics, these images did not circulate outside of pre-civil rights segregated black communities."
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