Charles Scribner IV - Authorship

Authorship

In his book In the Company of Writers, Charles Scribner discusses the publication of The Secret River by Marjorie Rawlings, noting that Rawlings never mentions the race of the character, Calpurnia. Since the book went into production after her death, Rawlings could not be consulted about her final intentions. At this time the depiction of black children in American children's literature had decreased, until it was almost non-existent.

While a few books were still appearing, "White (children's) publishers were still not open to books with Black themes", according to Joyce Braden Harris on "African and African-American Traditions in Language Arts". Scribner pointed out that "Whatever our decision, we could land on the wrong side of the school boards", and claims it was his idea to use dark paper in the book as a way to suggest Calpurnia's race, calling it "one of my silent contributions to dissolving the color barrier in the 1950s." The book received a Newbery Honor Award in 1956 for "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children", and was honored by the American Society of Graphic Arts.