Welcome to the NPR Books tumblr, curated by Petra Mayer. Sit down and stay awhile!

Image: Mary Ann Jackson, Alan “Farina” Hoskins, Joe Cobb, Harry Spear, Jean Darling and Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins in a 1929 Our Gang comedy, later to be known as The Little Rascals. (CBS via Getty Images) y

The kids in the Our Gang comedies, also known as The Little Rascals, enjoyed as long a run on screen as anyone, starting in 1922. The child actors would age out of the comedies, and they’d be replaced. But there was this constant: While most of the gang were white, there was always at least one black child in the cast. Author Julia Lee dug deep into the lives of the African-American actors who performed in Our Gang, and she’s written a book about them called Our Gang: A Racial History Of The Little Rascals.

‘Our Gang’ Chronicles Lives Of African-American Actors In 'The Little Rascals’

Notes

  1. yuiharunaai-hoshikouruk reblogged this from nprbooks
  2. daniyellinn reblogged this from nprbooks
  3. lunar-girl40 reblogged this from nprbooks
  4. boricuan-moonbaker reblogged this from nprbooks
  5. victoriousscarf reblogged this from meddalarksen
  6. fangirl-who-dreams reblogged this from nprbooks
  7. authors-choice-blog reblogged this from nprbooks
  8. nprbooks posted this