Eugene Gordon

Eugene Gordon (November 23, 1891 – March 18, 1974) was a journalist, editor, fiction writer, World War I officer, and social activist. He cofounded and edited the Harlem Renaissance literary magazine Saturday Evening Quill and edited a magazine put out by the Boston John Reed Club. He wrote primarily on subjects related to racial discrimination and social justice. He published some fiction under pseudonyms, using Egor Don (which combines his first initial and last name) and (more rarely) Clark Hall and Frank Lynn.

He was married to prominent Harlem Renaissance writer Edythe Mae Gordon and mentored writers Dorothy West and Helene Johnson. in Oviedo, Florida. He grew up in Hawkinsville, Georgia

In 1925, Gordon organized an African-American literary group, the Saturday Evening Quill Club. Its founding members included fellow writers Helene Johnson and Dorothy West, and Gordon served as its president. Out of this grew an annual literary magazine, Saturday Evening Quill, which Gordon edited during its brief existence from 1928 to 1930. about the differences between the white and Black portrayal of Black characters in media.

Gordon joined the American Communist Party in 1931 and co-founded the Boston John Reed Club, becoming the first editor of the club magazine, Leftward. was first published in the American Mercury in June 1926. Gordon explained Black journalism was divided into three distinct phases: pre-Civil War, post-Civil War, and post-World War. The pre-Civil War era was marked by abolition journals. After the war, writing shifted to focus on gaining citizenship for the formerly enslaved. Finally, after World War I, Black publications wrote about democracy as it pertained to Black citizens.

Freedom's Journal, established in 1827, was the first Black newspaper. It published the writings of formerly enslaved people and supported abolition. Gordon notes that early Black newspapers would not meet the journalistic standards of the 1920s. The content was well-written but opinionated. Publications at the time shared mostly essays, editorials, and biographies. Anti-slavery publications were influential but not profitable.

After the Emancipation Proclamation, abolition was accomplished and Black publications struggled to find new purpose. Pamphlets became a popular way to share information because they were inexpensive and effective. Gordon observes that churches sponsored the Black press at this time. Churches were "the units of Negro life" and used the press to "establish contact with their congregations."