Golden Legacy #8 (1970)

“Golden Legacy magazine represents a pioneering effort in dispelling some of the misconceptions relating to the role that people of African descent have played in world history..”  The Golden Legacy website.

Growing up in Harlem in the 1930’s and ‘40s, Bertram A. Fitzgerald found a passion for history and literature through the Classics Illustrated comic series. He realized quickly, however, that stories of people of color and their real-life experiences were not included. In 1966, Fitzgerald leaped into comic book publishing with no prior experience in writing or publishing to produce The Golden Legacy series. Specifically targeted towards young people, the Golden Legacy series uses engaging and visually stunning images to directly confront topics like the realities and horrors of slavery, the Black experience beyond the American context, and significant but often marginalized personages and events in Black History. 

Frustrated by this lack of visibility, Fitzgerald enlisted his buddy Leo Carty in 1966 to draw up his first comic—a visual biography of leader of the Haitian Revolution, Toussaint L’ouverture. While sifting through a box of assorted publications in the papers of former professor and scholar of education, Elias Blake Jr., at Howard University’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, I came across this brightly-colored inaugural comic, titled The Saga of Toussaint L’ouverture and the Birth of Haiti owned and inscribed by Blake’s wife, Mona. Mona Blake was a public school history and literature educator for much of her life. In order to get his illustrated history magazine into the hands of readers, Fitzgerald financially partnered with major corporations like the Coca-Cola company, AT&T, and Columbia Pictures who ensured that the comics were available in schools and libraries for free. 

After delving into the magazine, Fitzgerald’s achievement—establishing corporate, mainstream backing for these historically unacknowledged stories and people—becomes vastly more impressive. The narratives are readable, but thoroughly and easily translate complex yet very real facts of Black History to young readers. Over a decade of publishing the series grew to 16 volumes, but production was derailed in 1983 when Fitzgerald found himself embroiled in a copyright battle. Although the conflict was settled in Fitzgerald’s favor, production of new volumes has yet to recommence. Fitzgerald still serves as the Golden Legacy Publisher at the age of 83 from his home in New York. 

One can purchase the 16-volume pack in various forms from the Golden Legacy Website. 

For more black voices on comics and other nerdy things, check out Black Nerd Problems.

Biographical Information Here

Selected Images:

1. Cover of “The Saga of Toussaint L’ouverture and the Birth of Haiti”, Leo Carty, Fitzgerald Publishing Co., 1966. From the papers of Elias Blake, Jr. Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

2. Subscription information,” The Saga of Toussaint L’ouverture and the Birth of Haiti”, Leo Carty, Fitzgerald Publishing Co., 1966. From the papers of Elias Blake, Jr. Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

3. Opening Frame, “The Saga of Toussaint L’ouverture and the Birth of Haiti”, Leo Carty, Fitzgerald Publishing Co., 1966. From the papers of Elias Blake, Jr. Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

4. First page, “The Saga of Toussaint L’ouverture and the Birth of Haiti”, Leo Carty, Fitzgerald Publishing Co., 1966. From the papers of Elias Blake, Jr. Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.