Socialite, Traveler, Activist: The Many Lives of Gerri Major

A doyenne of the 20^th century Black Press, civil servant and self-proclaimed socialite, Gerri Major traversed continents. Best known as a writer and editor for the Johnson Publication Company, where she created a “society beat” in 1953, Major also penned a “Travelogue” column for Jet magazine where she reported the global jottings of African Americans. At a time when Black elites were criticized for being out of touch with the burgeoning civil rights movement, I posit that Gerri Major used international leisure travel to legitimize a role for elite Black women to engage in activism at home and abroad.