Jackie Ormes (1911-1985)

The first nationally syndicated African American woman cartoonist in the US and the only one for decades. Beginning in 1937, her comics were published in black newspapers, the Pittsburgh Courier and Chicago Defender. Her Torchy Brown and Patty-Jo and Ginger characters were well-educated and fashionably dressed. They helped break down racial and gender stereotypes common in popular culture of the time. Ormes grew up in Monongahela. (Dedicated: Sunday, October 2, 2016)