Drawing on the Past

rtist Anya Davidson attended all 11 community conversations held as part of the Newberry’s Chicago 1919 series in 2019. Davidson distilled each event into a two-page cartoon, a form of documentation that some might not think to apply A to something as solemn as the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Chicago race riots. But Davidson’s cartoons treat the moment with warmth, respect, and humanity; they live on as a succinct record of the Chicago 1919 project as well as an homage to the people who came together throughout the year to confront the long history of racial division in Chicago.

Here, Davidson describes her artistic process and her experience documenting Chicago 1919: Confronting the Race Riots.

‘‘ Graphic journalism is a genre that goes back to the turn of the twentieth century. Recently it’s been getting a lot more ‘‘ attention, and it’s become a vital medium for documenting current events.

‘‘ ‘‘ I wouldn’t consciously outline the comics during the programs. It was only in retrospect, after a program had ended, that I’d return to my notes and realize that I’d flagged an important moment—something that let me know: Maybe this is one of the kernels I want to pull out of the event for the comic.

‘‘ ‘‘ At each event, I’d record the audio from the program while making sketches in a notebook. Listening back to my audio recordings, I can hear my pencil working furiously in the moment. I was basically in a fugue state, just trying to capture as much information as possible.

‘‘ I got into graphic journalism a few years ago while covering the Women’s March for the Chicago Reader. One of the aspects of the assignment that interested me was talking to people and understanding why they were there. Having a notebook gave me some legitimacy and some extra courage to approach people. I was struck by how open so many people were to talking to me. ‘‘ In addition to documenting the programs in the 1919 series, I wanted to represent who was attending the programs—and why. I thought that would add to the narrative and to the broader picture. ‘‘ ‘‘ I honestly enjoyed documenting all the programs in the 1919 series. But one of the highlights for me personally was “The Language of Bronzeville” [with poet/sociologist Eve Ewing and literary scholar Ken Warren]. As an artist, I relate to history via art and literature. Hearing about the creative responses to the 1919 race riots enabled me to feel that unbroken thread of artists and intellectuals through time. Access Anya’s comics at chicago1919.org Anya Davidson works in her home studio. The Newberry Magazine 19