Jackie Ormes: Pioneering black comic industry with Patty Jo

After World War II morale across the country was depleted from the loss of manufacturing jobs. To spread hope and cheer Jackie Ormes pitched a comic about a spunky little girl and her silent sister to the Pittsburgh Courier.

Patty Jo ‘n’ Ginger debuted September 1^st, 1945. The comic ran in fourteen editions of the Courier touching more than a million people a week. Themes from the comic strip included African American life experiences, World War II, and social justice.

In 1947 Ormes contracted with the Terri Lee doll company of Lincoln, Nebraska to create a doll of her character Patty Jo. A mold was used to create the doll’s body. The faces were painted by hand. Patty Jo was the first African American doll to have an extensive upscale wardrobe.

Ormes was the first nationally syndicated African American woman cartoonist. Her strips and comics ran in black owned newspapers such as the Chicago defender. She retired in 1956 as her rheumatoid arthritis got the best of her.

She remained married to Earl Clark Ormes until his death in 1976. They had a daughter, but she passed away due to a brain tumor at the age of three.

Posthumously in 2014 Ormes was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame. In 2018 she was selected for the Will Eisner Hall of Fame award. Regarded as the most prestigious and significant award in the comic industry.

She passed away on December 26, 1985.

Cartoon Characters Gregory and his biological daughter Key-Low-Low are created by Sterling Haynes.