Bessye J. Bearden - Club Woman, Social Worker
A pencil drawing combines a portrait of Bessye J. Bearden with three small scenes and short captions on her club work, her federal appointment and her wartime volunteering. The technique is testimonial in the loose sense of an exemplary-person profile: a named individual's record is offered as a model; it is a weak fit, since she is not quoted endorsing anything.
Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Office of War Information (cartoon artwork; artist Charles Alston)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Gender and suffrage, Race and ethnicity, Home front
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 208, Artworks and Mockups for Cartoons Promoting the War Effort (NAID 535594), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Office of War Information. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 208, 208-COM-85 (NAID 535628).
Text on the object
BESSYE J. BEARDEN CLUB WOMAN, SOCIAL WORKER ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVE CLUB WOMEN IN AMERICA, SHE WAS FOR YEARS A PROGRESSIVE LEADER AND FIGHTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF NEGRO WOMEN. SHE WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY NEGRO WOMAN TO BE APPOINTED DEPUTY COLLECTOR OF INTERNAL REVENUE SERVING SINCE 1935 IN THE THIRD DISTRICT, NEW YORK. HER ONLY SON A MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES, SHE DEVOTED MUCH OF HER TIME TO WAR TIME ACTIVITIES, SUCH AS THE UNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND CIVILIAN DEFENSE. Alston OWI
