Dutton Ferguson

{{Short description|Former American civil servant (1904–1980)}} {{Infobox person | name = Dutton Ferguson | birth_date = 1904 | death_date = 1980 | education = Howard University (BA, 1929) | occupation = Newspaper editor, civil servant, civil rights activist }}

'''Dutton Ferguson''' (1904-1980)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lot - (ART.) Locke, Alain; editor. The Negro in Art, signed by many of the featured artists. |url=https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/art.-locke-alain-editor.-the-negro-in-art-si_B8C4019A34 |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=Swann Auction Galleries}}</ref> was an American editor, civil servant and civil rights activist.

Ferguson graduated from Howard University in 1929.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Joseph E. |url=https://archive.org/details/africanamericanr0000harr/page/46/mode/1up?q=%22dutton+ferguson%22 |title=African-American Reactions to War in Ethiopia, 1936-1941 |date=1994 |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |isbn=9780807118320 |pages=45-46}}</ref> He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-11-12 |title=Washington's Society Takes in Omega's All-Night Revel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/washington-afro-american/184238196/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |work=Washington Afro American |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Ferguson was a founding member of the New Negro Alliance.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Sandra |url=http://archive.org/details/guidetoblackwash00fitz |title=A Guide to Black Washington: Places and Events of Historical and Cultural Significance in the Nation's Capital |last2=Goodwin |first2=Maria R. |date=1990 |publisher=Hippocrene Books |isbn=978-0-87052-832-3 |location=New York |pages=219 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> While picketing against unfair hiring practices, Ferguson was arrested with James Ward on September 26, 1933.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Ware |first=Gilbert |url=http://archive.org/details/williamhastiegra00ware |title=William Hastie: Grace Under Pressure |date=1984 |publisher=New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-503298-7 |pages=75-76}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1933-10-07 |title=Alliance Says Store Pickets Will Continue |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-afro-american/184240513/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |work=The Afro-American |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Eventually, the court sided with lawyers who argued that the law against carrying picket signs was unequally enforced in the case of ''Ferguson and Ward''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Ware |first=Gilbert |date=1986 |title=The New Negro Alliance: "Don't Buy Where You Can't Work" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44176653 |journal=Negro History Bulletin |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=6 |issn=0028-2529 |url-access=registration |via=JSTOR}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

By 1936, he was the editor of the Washington, D.C. ''Tribune''.<ref name=":2" /> Ferguson was also an editor of ''Flash!'' magazine which ran between 1937 and 1939.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-05-28 |title=Former Editor of 'Flash' Gets WPA Appointment |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-chicago-defender/184293631/ |access-date=2025-11-04 |work=The Chicago Defender |pages=10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Starting in 1938, Ferguson served as an assistant to the Information Service of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Harry B. |date=1938-11-12 |title=Meet Your Neighbor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/washington-afro-american/184238196/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |work=Washington Afro American |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1942-10-26 |title=Dutton Ferguson New Editor of Opportunity |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/atlanta-daily-world/184239747/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |work=Atlanta Daily World |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> His position at the WPA involved Information Services where he worked as an editor, prepared layouts, and handled research requests.<ref name=":0" /> His office handled news releases for more than 250 Black newspapers throughout the country.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1940-10-26 |title=Information Man |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-phoenix-index-profile-the-phoenix-i/127843628/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |work=The Phoenix Index |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Later, he went on to work at the government's Office of Price Administration.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1944-06-03 |title=Article clipped from Atlanta Daily World |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/atlanta-daily-world/184238946/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |work=Dutton Ferguson, of OPA Staff, to Speak Here Sunday |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Starting in 1942, Ferguson became an editor of ''Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1942-08-15 |title=Opportunity Gets Dutton Ferguson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-phoenix-index/184293358/ |url-status= |access-date=2025-11-04 |work=The Phoenix Index |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1947, he became the new editor-in-chief of ''Opportunity.''<ref>{{Cite news |date=1947-07-05 |title=Redesigned Opportunity Mag. Under New Editor, Dutton Ferguson, On the Newsstands |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-age/184236997/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |work=The New York Age |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

During the 1950s, Ferguson was involved in community and neighborhood revitalization in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1947-07-05 |title=8 Men 2 Women on Afro Honor Roll |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-age/184236997/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |work=The New York Age |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He worked with the Midway Civic Association.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1954-12-17 |title=Star Trophy Given to Midway Group for Civic Achievements |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-award-to-ferguson-evening/127843679/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |work=Evening star |pages=18 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== References ==  {{Reflist}}

Category:1904 births Category:1980 deaths Category:Works Progress Administration workers Category:American editors Category:Howard University alumni Category:Civil rights activists from Washington, D.C.