In 1916, she launched New Era Magazine, “An Illustrated Monthly Devoted to the World-Wide Interests of the Colored Race.” Unfortunately, the venture did not succeed, and New Era ceased publication after two issues. She published articles in other African American journals, including The Voice of the Negro, and founded her own publishing company.
1, February 1916Īfter leaving The Colored American Magazine in 1904, Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins continued to pursue her literary career. Hopkins clashed with the new publishers, who wanted to steer the magazine away from political issues to make it more palatable to white readers. In 1904, the magazine changed ownership and relocated to New York City. In addition to editorials, Hopkins wrote fiction and nonfiction pieces for the magazine, including three serialized novels, several short stories, and biographical sketches of prominent Black men and women. Under Hopkins’s leadership, the Colored American featured literary works as well as social news, political essays, and articles on historical and cultural topics. By the second issue, she had joined the staff as editor of the “Women’s Department,” though her role soon expanded to encompass the entire magazine. Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins, who had partnered with the company to publish her novel Contending Forces, contributed a short story for the premiere issue. Launched in Boston in 1900 by the Colored Co-operative Publishing Company, The Colored American Magazine was the first illustrated monthly magazine dedicated to African American culture. Her first published novel, Contending Forces: A Romance Illustrative of Negro Life North and South, drew on her own family history and explored themes of racism and the legacy of slavery. She also sang with her family’s theatrical group, the Hopkins Colored Troubadours, and was billed as “Boston’s Favorite Colored Soprano.” In the 1890s, Hopkins turned her interest to writing fiction. In 1879 she wrote and starred in a musical drama entitled Slaves’ Escape. She attended Boston’s public schools, and at age 15 received her first literary distinction-winning an essay contest sponsored by the antislavery activist and author William Wells Brown.Īs a young woman, Hopkins pursued a career on the stage. Her ancestors included prominent African American ministers, entrepreneurs, and other activists in the struggle for abolition and civil rights. Born in Portland, Maine, and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Hopkins had deep family roots in New England. Hopkins, Contending Forces: A Romance Illustrative of Negro Life North and South (Boston: Colored Co-operative Publishing Co., 1900)ĭuring her lifetime, Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins (1859–1930) achieved recognition as a playwright, actress, singer, orator, fiction writer, essayist, magazine editor, and publisher.
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