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Vincent Lushington "Roi" Ottley

ヴィンセント・ラシュントン（ロイ）・オトリー

Vincent Lushington "Roi" Ottley

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1906-08-02 （New York City, New York, United States）
Died
1960-10-02 age 54
Nationality
American
Languages
English

Career

Occupations
writer, journalist, broadcaster
Active Years
1931-1960

Education

St. Bonaventure University
Period: 1926-1928
Country: United States
Attended on a track scholarship; wrote and cartooned for the campus newspaper.
University of Michigan
Journalism
Period: 1928-不明
Country: United States
Transferred to concentrate on journalism.
St. John's Law School (part-time studies)
Period: 一時的・非常勤
Country: United States
Studied part-time.
Columbia University (part-time studies)
Period: 一時的・非常勤
Country: United States
Studied part-time.

Awards

Life in America prize
Work: New World A-Coming: Inside Black America
Result: winner
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
Work: New World A-Coming: Inside Black America
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf Foundation
Result: winner
Peabody Award
Work: New World A-Coming (adapted radio broadcasts)
Organization: George F. Peabody Awards
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

New World A-Coming: Inside Black America

1943 non-fiction, social history, journalism

A reportage-driven study of Black life in Harlem and broader American society in the 1920s–1930s, combining Ottley's reports and material from the New York City Writer's Project.

raceurban historycommunity and cultureemergence of civil rights
Adaptations
  • [radio] New World A-Coming (radio series) (1944)

Black Odyssey: The Story of the Negro in America

1948 history/non-fiction

An overview of African American history and its social developments in the United States.

historyracesocial structures

No Green Pastures

1951 novelistic non-fiction

A work addressing African American experiences in the 1950s (detailed information not specified).

racesocial critique

Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S. Abbot

1955 biography/non-fiction

A biography of Robert S. Abbott, founder of the Pittsburgh Courier.

biographyjournalism

White Marble Lady

1965 novel/unknown (posthumous)

Published posthumously in 1965; further details unspecified.

The Negro in New York: An Informal Social History, 1626–1940

1967 social history/non-fiction (posthumous)

A social history of Black communities in New York, published posthumously in 1967.

urban historycommunityrace

Bibliography

  • New World A-Coming: Inside Black America (1943)
  • Black Odyssey: The Story of the Negro in America (1948)
  • No Green Pastures (1951)
  • Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S. Abbot (1955)
  • White Marble Lady (posthumous, 1965)
  • The Negro in New York: An Informal Social History, 1626–1940 (posthumous, 1967)

Adaptations

  • New World A-Coming (adapted as a radio anthology series broadcast on WMAC)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
reportage-driven styleblend of historical narrative and personal observation
Recurring Motifs
Black community life in urban settingsracism and social struggletestimony through journalism

Health

  • heart attack
    1960
    Died suddenly of a heart attack in 1960, ending his activities.

Legacy

Roi Ottley was a prominent mid-20th-century African American journalist and writer, notable as one of the early Black war correspondents in WWII and for documenting urban Black life in New World A-Coming. He is recognized as an important chronicler prior to the Civil Rights era in both academic and broadcasting contexts, though he has become less remembered in popular memory.

Archives

  • Roi Ottley Collection (St. Bonaventure University Archives)

In Popular Culture

  • Radio series based on New World A-Coming (1940s)

Trivia

  • One of the early African American war correspondents to cover World War II for major newspapers.
  • Reportedly the first African American to interview a pope when he met Pope Pius XII in 1945 (per sources).
  • New World A-Coming was adapted for radio and is associated with awards such as the Peabody.