Marvel Cooke (1901-2000) was an investigative reporter dedicated to telling the stories of working people—communities who were otherwise forgotten by media narratives.
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today’s journalist spent much of her life breaking barriers. As an investigative reporter, she was dedicated to telling the stories of working people — of communities who were otherwise forgotten by media narratives. In the newsroom, she was often the only woman, the only African-American — or both.
Let’s talk about Marvel Cooke.
In 1901, the first African-American baby was born in Mankato, Minnesota. Her name was Marvel Jackson. It would be the first of a litany of firsts for the little girl with the hopeful name.
Marvel’s father was the son of a free Ohio farmer, and a graduate of the Ohio State Law School. But due to racism at the time, no one would hire a Black lawyer, so he made a living as a railroad porter instead. Marvel’s mother, Amy, was a teacher.
In 1907, the family moved to Prospect Park, in Minneapolis. They were the first Black family to live there. Their neighbors launched a campaign to evict them from their home, but the Jackson’s stayed put.
Marvel soon became the first African-American student to attend her local elementary school. Her little sisters were the second and third.
For college, Marvel headed to the University of Minnesota. She majored in English. And when she graduated in 1925, she was just one of five Black students in her class.
Having spent her entire life surrounded by white people, having watched childhood friends push her away once they’d grown up and bought into bigotry, Marvel was tired of being in spaces dominated by racism.
In 1926, she moved to Harlem.
After arriving in New York, Marvel worked as an editorial assistant for W.E.B. DuBois, at The Crisis, an NAACP publication. In 1928, she became the first woman reporter at the New York Amsterdam News, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in the country.
Marvel soon got involved in unionizing the offices. She organized an eleven week strike, and was arrested twice for picketing. In coverage of the strike, she was quoted as saying, “The bosses are not necessarily in your corner, even if they are your own color.” In 1931, the Amsterdam News became the first Black newspaper to successfully unionize.
In 1929, Marvel married Cecil Cooke, a Bahamian runner and, in 1964, an Olympic Gold Medalist in sailing.
Marvel’s reputation among the media elite took off. She was hired by the Compass, a white-owned newspaper. She was the only woman, and the only African-American, on staff.
There, Marvel investigated the exploitative world of domestic help. Throughout New York, designated street corners would function as unregulated hiring spots, where white housewives would hire Black women as domestic help for the day. Abusive practices were common. Workers were often bargained down to a fraction of what they asked for — and needed. In 1950, Marvel published a series of articles after going undercover, called: I Was Part of the Bronx Slave Market.
She wrote,
“The women of the ‘paper bag brigade’ still stand around in all sorts of weather in order to get a chance to work…
They are still humiliated, day after day, by men who frequent the market area and make immoral advances. Pointing to this shameful fact, civic and social agencies have warned that Slave Market areas could easily degenerate into centers of prostitution.
So they could, were it not for the fact that the women themselves resent and reject these advances. They are looking for an honest day’s work to keep body and soul together.”
In 1953, Marvel left the Compass to serve as the New York Director of the Council of Arts, Sciences, and Professions. She became even more politically active, ultimately joining the Communist party. Her politics, though, soon got her in hot water.
Over the next year, Marvel was forced to testify twice as part of the McCarthy Hearings. In the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Senator Joseph McCarthy led a series of so-called investigations. He often targeted journalists, artists and other creatives. Being called to testify often meant the destruction of one’s career.
But Marvel emerged relatively unscathed. She became the National Legal Defense secretary for Angela Davis, and later, national vice chairman of the American-Soviet Friendship Committee.
As a journalist, Marvel Cooke was fearless in her advocacy for underserved, under-covered communities and other reporters. As an activist, she held fast to her beliefs, even when voicing them was dangerous. And as a Black woman, she often shouldered the burden of being the first, be it in the newsroom or at an elementary school, paving the way for future generations.
On November 29th, 2000, Marvel died from leukemia. She was ninety-nine years old.
All month, we’re talking about journalists.
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Talk to you tomorrow!