Rudolph Fisher

Rudolph Fisher
Born	Rudolph John Chauncey Fisher (1897-05-09)May 9, 1897 Washington, D.C., United States
Died	(1934-12-26)December 26, 1934 New York, N.Y., United States
Occupation	Physician radiologist novelist short story writer dramatist musician orator
Alma mater	Classical High School Brown University Howard University

Rudolph John Chauncey Fisher (May 9, 1897 – December 26, 1934) was an American physician, radiologist, novelist, short story writer, dramatist, musician, and orator. His father was John Wesley Fisher, a clergyman, his mother was Glendora Williamson Fisher, and he had two siblings. Fisher married Jane Ryder, a school teacher from Washington, D.C. in 1925, and they had one son, Hugh, who was born in 1926 and was also nicknamed "The New Negro" as a tribute to the Harlem renaissance. Fisher had a successful career as an innovative doctor and author, who discussed the dynamics and relationships of Black and White people living in Harlem. This racial conflict was a central theme in many of his works.

Early life[]

Born on May 9, 1897, in Washington, D.C., Rudolph Fisher grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. He was the youngest of three children born to Reverend John Wesley Fisher, a Baptist pastor, and Glendora Williamson Fisher.

Fisher – on April 14, 1923, in Manhattan – married Jane Ryder, a public school teacher – a year after meeting her. They had one child, a son, Hugh Ryder Fisher (1926–1964).^[1]

School[]

Fisher graduated from Classical High School in 1915 with honors and further went to Brown University where he studied English and biology, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Sigma Rho, and Sigma Xi.^[3][4] During this time, he earned his Bachelor of Arts from Brown in 1919, where he delivered the valedictory address and received a Master of Arts a year later.^[2]

After graduating from Brown, Fisher took part in a Manhattan-based program titled "Four Negro Commencement Speakers" where he read his Brown commencement speech, "The Emancipation of Science". At Howard Medical School, he studied Radiology.

He later attended medical school at Howard University in Washington D.C, graduating with honors in 1924. Then, he came to New York City in 1925 to take up a fellowship of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University's college, during which time he published two scientific articles of his research on treating Bacteriophage viruses with ultraviolet light.^[3]

In addition to researching and writing in medical and literary fields, Fisher also pursued his love for jazz. He played the piano and wrote musical scores. Fisher's ability to use all of his talents simultaneously was evident during his college years. The summer after his college graduation, he and Paul Robeson toured along the East Coast as a band.^[4]

Medical career[]

Fisher was successful in both the English and medical field. During the 1920s, he published his research on the effect of ultraviolet rays on viruses in medical journals. He was a head researcher at Manhattan's International Hospital. During this time, he continued to write his novels, poetry, and articles, mainly about experiences throughout his life.^[5] His experience in the medical field helped him to get ideas for his writing on mystery, and it helped him to create illustrations of the human body.^[6] Fisher completed an internship at Freedman's Hospital in one year during 1925. In 1926, he and his wife moved to New York. Fisher then joined a prestigious board called the Fellow at the National Research Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons.^[5] Fisher soon after became superintendent of the International Hospital in Harlem in 1927, and set up his private practice as a radiologist, with an X-ray laboratory of his own, in New York.^[3]

Literary career[]

Fisher started his professional writing career by contributing to his articles and to journals, such as "National Association for the Advanced of Colored People's (NAACP)"^[7] and his first contribution to magazines "The Crisis".^[8] Fisher's first novel "Walls of Jericho" came out in 1928. He was inspired by a friend's challenge to write this novel treating both the upper and lower classes of black Harlem equally. This novel presents a vision that African American men and women can both get ahead in life if they come together and form a bond against centuries of oppression. He then went on in 1932 to write "The Conjure Man Dies", the first novel with a black detective as well as the first detective novel with only black characters. This novel was also set in Harlem.^[19] His novel was publicized by Covici-Friede making him the second African American to write a detective novel in the United States. He also wrote two short stories, the first of the two "City of Refuge", appeared in the Atlantic Monthly of February 1925, and the second, "Vestiges" both appeared in Alain Locke's anthology. These two short stories accurately depicted life and events during the Harlem Renaissance. Fisher's last published work, "Miss Cynthie" appeared in story magazine in 1933. It was a short story about a Southern migrant grandmother, Miss Cynthie. She arrived in Harlem to meet her successful grandson. She was a hard-working and religious woman who had raised her grandson in the South. She expected him to have established himself as a member of the black professional society. What she did not know was that his success emerged from being an entertainer in a theater which she viewed to be a sinful place. Although she is against what he does, she comes to realize that he has developed into an honest young man. Other short stories written by Rudolph Fisher are "High Yaller" in 1926, "Blades of Steel" in 1927, "Ringtail", "The South still lingers on", "Fire by night", "The promise land", "The Caucasian storms Harlem" in 1927 and "Common meter" in 1930.^[20]

As Oliver Henry states, "Fisher writes about black people in a manner which expresses their kinship with other peoples. He underscores and highlights the fundamental human condition of black Americans. ... He captures the historically induced unique qualities of black people; but, and perhaps even more importantly, he writes of them basically as people."^[21]

Participation in Pan-Africanism[]

Throughout his career, Fisher had an interest in Pan-Africanism, which is a movement that aims to encourage and strengthen unity of all African-Americans. It started in 1900.^[6]

Fisher supported the Pan-African Congress, whose participants promoted self-determination for colonized Africans as a necessary prerequisite for complete social, economic and political emancipation.^[7][8] Unlike Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, and W.E. B. DuBois who tried to incorporate stereotypes of black exoticism into Pan-Africanism, Fisher focused on the broader struggle for black labor privilege and women's empowerment.^[9]

Principal works[]

"The City of Refuge" (1925)[]

Rudolph Fisher's story "The City of Refuge" is centered on a Southern black man named King Solomon Gillis and his migration to Harlem, New York from North Carolina to escape lynching. Gillis is amazed by the opportunity and freedom he sees when he first arrives in Harlem. Gillis meets a man named Uggam who helps him settle into Harlem and gets him a "job". Fisher presents the idea of a migrant's adjustment to the city during "Negro Harlem" and the race relations along the way. The story concludes with Gillis being duped by Uggam into selling "medicine" (drugs) for him and gets ratted on, leading him to be arrested.^[10]

An interpretation of the themes explored in this short story is similar to what is found in Alain Locke's anthology, The New Negro: transformation and self-expression. In comparison, Gillis transitions by the end of the story because when he first arrives in Harlem, "city of refuge", Gillis sees Harlem as a place of hope and freedom. He wanted to have the chance to achieve liberation and be set free from social and political restrictions from the place he originally came from. Instead, Gillis' experience with Harlem mirrors the South during the time as the beliefs of race and status fill the assumptions that the people of the city contain.

"The City of Refuge" and another short story, "Vestiges", were included in Alain Locke's anthology, The New Negro: An Interpretation.In 1991, a collection of Fisher's short fiction, City of Refuge: The Collected Stories of Rudolph Fisher, was published by the University of Missouri Press.

"High Yaller" (1925)[]

Story about light skin woman facing difficulties of cross-identity.^[11] In the short story the main character Evelyn Brown faces inner turmoil all her life as she is a black woman who looks white and because of her complexion she is accused of favoring fair skinned people. To combat that accusation she becomes more engaged in the Black community and begins dating a young Black man by the name of Jay Martin. Their relationship brings more problems as the public become judgemental and unpleasant at the idea of their relationship. Both black and white people assume Evelyn is a white woman and Jay is a black man and shame them for being together. Fisher uses this story to comment on societal pressure to fit into a category, and to highlight the intraracial conflict within the Black community on people who do not look conventionally Black.

"Ringtail" (1925)[]

This short story published in The Atlantic Monthly, has the central theme of intraracial conflict among black inhabitants in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. Fisher addresses how Southern blacks and Caribbean immigrant blacks treated each other during this time and the prejudice attitudes that each ethnic group internalized.^[5] He used the characters Cyril Best, a black man from the Caribbean, and Punch Anderson, from the South, in order to show the relationship between these two groups. Best is described as "superior-minded" and "self-esteemed," while Anderson is said to have "the gift of humor and laughter." Differences among the characters such as these are emphasized throughout the story.^[5]

"The Caucasian Storms Harlem" essay (1927)[]

“The Caucasian Storms Harlem” by Rudolph Fisher was published in 1927 in the American Mercury. This essay highlights a cultural change after the Harlem Renaissance from Fisher's point of view.^[12] Fisher returned to Harlem and was astounded by the drastic change in the cabaret night scene, what was once a Black dominated space due to segregation was now a White attraction. Fisher reflects on his early days in Harlem by detailing his experiences in popular cabaret's of the times. One being “The Oriental” where promising jazz figures like Henry Creamer and Turner Lyton frequented before becoming prominent names in Jazz. The next cabaret being Edmonds’ where Fisher details Ethel Waters talent and performances of genuine blues before she became a prominent figure in Blues. Fisher mentions other cabarets and the ambiance they provided for young African Americans at the time. He then explores the different reasons why caucasians are beginning to frequent these types of establishments, one being that White people have always had a fascination with Black entertainment, the next being the people that made these scenes lively were separating and moving to different countries for better job opportunities, and finally, that White people were finally understanding the allure of Black music and culture and want to be a part of it.^[12]

The Walls of Jericho (1928)[]

The Walls of Jericho, Fisher's first novel, is about Black life in Harlem. In this novel, he addresses the conflict and distrust among the "dickties" and "rats", or upper class and lower class Blacks living in Harlem. The "dickties" main goal is to assimilate to white culture and life in order to be accepted and prosper in New York. The "rats" are distrustful of White people and "dickties", as they believe the "dickties" want to desperately be White and are going against the Black community during this process.^[5] These two groups live in completely different neighborhoods and only interact in certain social spheres, such as during the annual G.I.A Ball. Fisher also states that "rats" and "dickties" have distinct physical features as well, making them even more different from each other. "Rats" tend to be described as darker in Fisher's novel while many "dickties" have lighter skin and lighter hair. These features also contribute to the tension between the upper and lower class in The Walls of Jericho, as it is easy for "dickties" to blend into the White community.^[5]

Fisher uses the interactions of several characters in this novel to display how intense the conflict between African Americans in Harlem was. Merritt is one of these characters. He is a "dicktie" and a successful Black lawyer who is making a bold choice by moving into a White neighborhood in Harlem. Many "rats" see this as betrayal, such as the characters Jinx, Bubber, and Shine. Merritt at first is one of the kinder and more humbled "dickties", who is respectful to these three men who help him move into his new home. We see later in the novel however, that Merrit has shown contempt and hate for "rats" in the past. He threatened to sue Henry Patmore, a lower-class man, for $10,000 after he accidentally hit a pedestrian. Patmore has hated "dickties" since this interaction, so much so that he burns down Merritt's new home. Merritt's White neighbors are blamed for this crime at first, and then later Patmore is discovered as being the culprit. The theme of intraracial conflict is presented in Fisher's first novel The Walls of Jericho.^[5]

The Conjure-Man Dies (1932)[]

Playbill for the Federal Theatre Project production of Conjur' Man Dies (1936), starring Dooley Wilson as Dart and Lionel Monagas as Archer

The Conjure-Man Dies is Fisher's last novel, about Harlem in 1930s. This novel is the most slightly cared of texts. The main character, "N. Frimbo", a mystical psychist and an old African King. He is discovered dead at his conjure table one evening. Perry Dart, a detective of the Harlem police department, and Dr. John Archer, a physician start to investigate the mysterious murder. The plot gets more complex when Frimbo's dead body is gone and comes back alive as Frimbo. Perry Dart and Dr. John keep searching for the murder suspect.

Fisher incorporates mystery and slight comedy in this story.^[13] The mystery is about N’Gana Frimbo's death, Frimbo is a West African King who studied at Harvard University, and decided to practice conjuring(which is a part of his culture) in Harlem. The other characters visited him during his final hours and they then become suspects in the murder. Jinx Jenkins was the last person to meet with frimbo and found his body, he alerted a friend Bubber Brown who was waiting for him in the waiting area. Brown notified Dart and Archer who took on the investigation. The pair discover Frimbo met with six other people before his death and began their investigation. The six characters being Mrs. Crouch, Mrs. Snead, Jinx Jenkins, Spider Webb, Doty Hicks, and Easley Jones. Bubber Brown was quickly eliminated as a suspect because he was the person who informed Dart and Archer about the murder, and he was more than willing to help in the investigation. As the detectives went down the list of suspects Fisher takes readers on a journey to understand who Frimbo was, the types of issues he helped with, and readers also get to see into light and the dark sides of Black people in Harlem. Fisher uses the stories of his characters to mirror the culture in Harlem at the time, he touches on relationship issues, night life, work life, and character building events. The story takes a big turn when Frimbo's body goes missing and Frimbo is discovered alive, but has no recollection of who attempted to kill him. Frimbo identifies the body to be one of his servants and aids detectives in finding answers. This novel was published in 1932, after Fisher's death in 1934 the novel was turned into a play in 1936.

"Miss Cynthie" (1933)[]

"Miss Cynthie" is a short story, published in 1933 in Story Magazine. In the story, Miss Cynthie, arrives in New York city from Waxhaw, South Carolina. She has come to Harlem to meet her proudful grandson, Dave Tappen, whom she raised after his mother's death. Miss Cynthie thought that her grandson was successful, so she expected him to be a doctor, a dentist, or an undertaker. However, her grandson has chosen a career in theater. As a religious old woman, she is heartbroken. One day, Dave saw Miss Cynthie singing in the other room. Dave decides to lead her to a theater. Dave left Cynthie on a stage and she didn't know he left. Dave appears on the stage and sings a song that Cynthie taught him when he was a child. Miss Cynthie realizes how much her grandson adores her and remembers their past. This story reflects issues of the Great Migration, music and theater of Harlem, religion, and the shift from the "old" to the new "youth" in the Harlem Renaissance.

Bibliography[]

Unless noted, Rudolph Fisher's bibliography is drawn from African American Authors, 1745–1945: Bio-bibliographical Critical Sourcebook, edited by Emmanuel Sampath Nelson.^{[3]:167–168}

Short stories[]

• "The City of Refuge". The Atlantic Monthly, February 1925.
• "The South Lingers On". Survey Graphic, March 1925.
• "Vestige". The New Negro: An Interpretation, 1925.
• "Ringtail". The Atlantic Monthly, May 1925.
• "High Yaller". The Crisis, October 1925.
• "The Promised Land". The Atlantic Monthly, January 1927.
• "The Backslider". McClure's, August 1927.
• "Blades of Steel". The Atlantic Monthly, August 1927.
• "Fire by Night". McClure's , December 1927.
• "Common Meter". Baltimore Afro-American, February 1930.
• "Dust". Opportunity, February 1931.
• "Ezkiel". Junior Red Cross News, March 1932.
• "Ezkiel Learns". Junior Red Cross News, February 1933.
• "Guardian of the Law". Opportunity, March 1933.
• "Miss Cynthie". Story, June 1933.
• "John Archer's Nose". Metropolitan Magazine, January 1935.

Novels[]

• The Walls of Jericho (1928)
• The Conjure Man Dies: A Mystery Tale of Dark Harlem (1932)

Essays[]

• "Action of Ultraviolet Light upon Bacteriophage and Filterable Viruses". Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine 23. (1926).
• "The Caucasian Storms Harlem". The American Mercury 11 (1927).
• "The Resistance of Different Concentrations of a Bacteriophage of Ultraviolet Rays". Journal of Infectious Diseases 40 (1927).

Awards[]

• 1919: Brown Beta Kappa Key
• 1919: Brown University commencement speaker
• 1924: Honors from Howard Medical School
• 1925: The Crisis Spingarn Prize
• 1927: Brown University Class Day Orator^[2]

Legacy[]

Fisher died in 1934 at the age of 37 from abdominal cancer likely caused by his own x-ray experimentation. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City.^[14] He left behind his wife formerly known as Jane Ryder and son Hugh Ryder Fisher. He also left behind an unfinished manuscript for “The Conjure Man Dies”, as he planned to develop the novel into a play. With the help of Fisher's close colleagues, the play graced the stage of the Federal Theater Project in Harlem in 1936.

Quotations[]

The rhythm persisted, the unfaltering common meter of blues, but the blueness itself, the sorrow, the despair, began to give way to hope.^[12]

See also[]

• Countee Cullen
• Langston Hughes
• Zora Neale Hurston
• Wallace Thurman

References[]

External links[]

• Fisher's biography at the D.C. Library website at the Wayback Machine (archived September 27, 2007)
• Rudolph Fisher Newsletter – includes helpful research resources on the Harlem Renaissance as well as Fisher himself.
• Rudolph Fisher at Find a Grave