Adam McKible, a professor in the John Jay College English Department, spoke about his new novel “Circulating Jim Crow: The Saturday Evening Post and the War Against Black Modernity” at a book talk on October 16 at John Jay College.
McKible’s new book is now available online to purchase Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books.
At the book talk on October 16, Jesse W. Schwartz, a professor of English at LaGuardia Community College, was a discussant for McKible’s talk. His interest in periodical studies was sparked after taking a course taught by Mckible.
Schwartz praised McKible for the stamina and dedication he gave to writing “Circulating Jim Crow” at the book talk.
“Adam was never once worried about self-promotion or jealousy. He’s always too busy helping others,” said Schwartz.
Schwartz insisted that the research for the project was not easy because of its harsh content. He mentioned how constantly reading “The Post” began to affect McKible negatively.
“He looked out of it,” Schwartz said.
While evaluating McKible’s work, Schwartz gave the event attendees a brief insight into the man at the center of the book talk.
“Adam is a very good guy who wrote a very good book,” said Schwartz.
The Sentinel interviewed McKible prior to his book talk.
McKible’s educational journey began at State University of New York Binghamton, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in English. McKible pursued a graduate education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned both his Masters of Arts degree and Doctor of Philosophy degree in English.
McKible has dedicated over 20 years to being a professor. McKible began teaching at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a graduate student in 1992. McKible began teaching at John Jay during 1998.
Teaching at the college level was the career he always dreamed of, but becoming a published writer was something he did not realize he wanted until he wrote his “life-changing” Ph. D dissertation.
McKible has taught a variety of classes at John Jay College including “LIT 290: Immigration, Migration, and the American Experience” and “LIT 233: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s.”
His passion for American Modernism, a movement in the 20th century that reflected cultural transformations in the United States, is evident in his recently published book that took 11 years to complete.
McKible explained that “Circulating Jim Crow” originated from a series of short articles, but once he began developing these articles into a book, he would wake up at 3 a.m. just to write.
“You just wanna get to it. You only get to know something when you write it,” said McKible.
McKible has always held a special interest in periodical studies, which is the study of published magazines and journals from a particular time period.
McKible’s interest includes “little magazines,” which were noncommercial literary writings that were published from approximately 1880 through the 20th century.
As he delved further into his studies, McKible noticed that people did not read little magazines as much as they read commercial magazines. This realization made McKible want to better understand periodical studies. This fascination lead to his evaluation of “The Saturday Evening Post” — the largest circulated magazine in the United States during the early 20th century.
Throughout the duration of his research, McKible questioned how “The Saturday Evening Post” responded to the Harlem Renaissance.
McKible discovered that “It responded terribly.”
In his research, McKible discovered that “The Saturday Evening Post” released anti-Black content while attempting to label it as humor. “The Post” also included distasteful Black dialect fiction written by white authors.
In his research, McKible discovered that George Horace Lorimer, who was the editor of the periodical, allowed stereotypical, degrading stories to be published.
McKible explained that Lorimer “had his finger on the pulse of America” and tried to normalize racism.
At the time of Lorimer’s work with the magazine, it reached about three million people in circulation.
The second chapter of McKible’s “Circulating Jim Crow” describes how “The Post” mirrored the racism that dominated the United States in the 1920s.
McKible claimed that his book shows the ways in which “The Post” undermined Black humanity. His book also shows how Black writers and their writings during the time of the Harlem Renaissance were a way to assert modernity.
“I want to tell the truth. I want to show the truth,” said McKible.
McKible believes that his work will mostly be read by academics interested in periodical studies. However, he wants all who read his novel to be “more aware of history.”
McKible’s book shows all dimensions of “The Saturday Evening Post.” McKible claimed that a close reading of its issues proves that “humor is not just purely fun.”
“The Saturday Evening Post [was a] programmatic effort to dehumanize African Americans and support White supremacy,” said McKible.
McKible also believes there is room for improvement when it comes to recognizing the truth of American history.
“I want people to think more clearly about our past,” said McKible.
McKible was not necessarily surprised by the harsh findings in his historical research. However, he found himself disgusted by the literature.
“Reading the material is really hard because it’s just horrible,” said McKible.
Most of the articles in “The Saturday Evening Post” contained racial slurs and belittled Black characters.
McKible’s goal while writing “Circulating Jim Crow” was to “leave an accurate record of the past that has been covered up.”
Outside of the classroom, McKible plans to continue writing and researching. He also plans on publishing another book in the future.
McKible offered a few words of wisdom for any college students or aspiring writers
“College allows you to become fully human. You have opportunities where thinking for yourself will allow you to grow; embrace writing to become a fully rounded human being.”
McKible continued.
“A diploma and $2.90 will get you on the subway; try using your diploma alone to get on the train. What you learn and how you grow are what is important,” said McKible.
