page_title: The Crisis
section_title: Advertisement
hierarchical_section_title: The Crisis / Advertisement
caption_attribution_description: English: An advertisement in The Crisis magazine for a plot of land
context_page_description: The Crisis is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois, Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Miller, William Stanley Braithwaite, and Mary Dunlop Maclean. The Crisis has been in continuous print since 1910, and it is the oldest black oriented magazine in the world. Today, The Crisis is "a quarterly journal of civil rights, history, politics and culture and seeks to educate and challenge its readers about issues that continue to plague African Americans and other communities of color."
context_section_description: Advertisements in The Crisis showcase jobs, education, and businesses in the African-American community. These advertisements often reflected the views of the current editor. Under Du Bois, advertisements on education are most prevalent. All types of schools, institutions, training courses, colleges and universities. Some of the schools advertised are Howard University, Fisk University, Paine College, The Cheyney Training School for Teachers and many others. The number one thing these schools had in common was they were all only for colored students. Another popular advertisement under Du Bois was job advertisements. Some of the jobs advertised were teachers, vendors, nurses, dentists, civil service and stenographers. There was always a need for advertising agents. The Crisis even had its own ad for agents specifically for the magazine. The advertisement section also includes ads for other magazines and books to read. One of these magazines is The Brownies' Book, a magazine for children; a double subscription to The Brownies' Book and The Crisis for a special price is even offered. Another was Locoma Magazine, an adult magazine featuring such topics as marriage, divorce, eugenics, and birth control. The Crisis also advertised books that claimed to be necessary reading for all African Americans. Some of these books included Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by Du Bois, Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the Great War by Emmett Jay Scott, and As Nature Leads by J. A. Rogers. As the magazine continued its growth and influence, they added a table of books readers could buy from the magazine, which was called "The Crisis Book Mart". This range of books included influential writers including Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, Claude McKay and many others. Many of the books and magazines advertised in The Crisis are all aimed to culture as well as educate African Americans. Real Estate was also included in the Advertisements of The Crisis magazine. Plots of land for building homes and even for vacationing in various locations such as Orchardville, Idlewood, Pleasantville and Atlantic City. This showed the spread of African Americans across different cities as well as their prospering wealth.
  Other types of advertisements in The Crisis promoted music as well as vocalists and musicians. Some of those promoted were lyric soprano Cleota Collins, concert violinist Wesley I. Howard, and high-class entertainers Invincible Concert Co. There were also advertisements for phonograph records as well as hymn books, and plays.
  Other advertisements of The Crisis magazine covered a variety of topics: a Booker T Washington bust, colored dolls, hair grower/preparation (Madam C. J. Walker's preparations for the hair/ Nile Queen), wigs (fashion book), tooth polish (Dr. Welters antiseptic tooth powder), tuxedos, NAACP membership, Christmas Seals (for the NAACP/ protecting against tuberculosis), "On Health's Highway" to support cancer patients, laundry, Negro art photo calendar, undertaking and embalming, life health and accident insurance. Many of these advertisements showed the push for African Americans, women especially, to focus on their looks. One such advertisement even stated: "It is the duty of human beings to be attractive."
caption: A 1920 advertisement in The Crisis magazine for a plot of land
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