Edward Scobie
{{Short description|Dominican-born journalist and historian (1918–1996)}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2016}}
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{{Infobox person
| name = Edward Scobie
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Vivian Edward George Dalrymple
| birth_date = {{birth date|1918|05|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = Roseau, Dominica
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1996|11|14|1918|05|23|df=y}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| nationality =
| other_names = Edward Vivian Scobie
| education = Dominica Grammar School
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Journalist, magazine publisher and historian
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works = Black Britannia: A History of Blacks in Britain (1972)
}}
Edward Vivian Scobie (23 May 1918 – 14 November 1996){{cite journal|url=https://www.thedominican.net/articles/scobie.htm|title=Dr Edward Scobie Authority on the Presence of Africans in Britian [sic]|first=Thomson|last=Fontaine|website=TheDominican.net|volume=1|issue=28|date=13 September 2002|access-date=3 April 2022}} was a Dominican-born journalist, magazine publisher and historian. He is best known for his research into the history of black people in Western Europe and his 1972 seminal book Black Britannia: A History of Blacks in Britain.
Early life and career
Scobie was born Vivian Edward George Dalrymple in Roseau, Dominica. He was educated at the Dominica Grammar School. At school, he displayed an aptitude for athletics, eventually representing the national teams in cricket and football. He first went to England during World War II to join the Royal Air Force (RAF), where he served as a pilot in Bomber Command, holding the rank of flight lieutenant.{{cite web|url=http://www.thedominican.net/articles/scobie.htm|title=Dr Edward Scobie: African Presence in Early Britain: Dominica political figure|publisher=thedominican.net}}{{cite news|last= Martin |first = S. I. |url=http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/pilots-caribbean|title=Pilots Of The Caribbean|date=23 October 2013|work=The Voice}}
After the war, Scobie became a correspondent for the Chicago Defender and other Johnson Publishing Company titles with a largely African-American readership.{{cite magazine|title=About books and authors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MjoDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA93|magazine=Black World/Negro Digest|date=January 1973|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|pages=93–}}
In 1948, Scobie published Checkers, calling itself "Britain's Premier Negro Magazine"; the magazine only lasted five issues, folding in January 1949.{{cite web|last1=Simon|first1=Andy|title=Black History at the British Library|url=http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/untoldlives/2013/10/black-history-at-the-british-library.html|website=Untold Lives blog|publisher=British Library|access-date=9 March 2016|date=18 October 2013}}
By 1960, Scobie joined with Charles I. Ross and Patrick Williams to produce monthly magazine Tropic. Published in London, the magazine announced that it intended to be "the voice of 250,000 coloured people in Britain", aligning itself with "coloured people everywhere in their struggle for Independence. In their fight to live with dignity and freedom". In addition to covering politics and current affairs in Britain, Africa and the Caribbean, the magazine published short stories by the likes of Samuel Selvon, Jan Carew and Winston Whyte,{{cite web|url=https://blogs.bl.uk/americas/2017/11/winston-whytes-barber-shop-trial.html|title=Winston Whyte's Barber Shop Trial|first=Naomi|last=Oppenheim|publisher=British Library|date=29 November 2017|access-date=3 April 2022}} and included among its contributors George Lamming and Donald Hinds. Tropic ceased publication at the end of 1960.
In September 1961, Scobie launched Flamingo as editor; a monthly London-based magazine aimed at Black people in Britain and internationally, focusing on glamour, culture, sex advice and international politics, it was one of the first magazines to target Britain's African-Caribbean community. Flamingo was part-funded by the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), through founder Peter Hornsby and publisher Chalton Publishing, who along with the CIA wanted to support left-leaning writers and politicians who would oppose communism. It is unclear if Scobie was aware of this funding.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/26/west-indians-flamingo-magazine-m6-anti-communist-mission |title=Sex, ska and Malcolm X: MI6's covert 1960s mission to woo West Indians |last=Doward |first=Jamie |newspaper=The Guardian |date=26 January 2019 |access-date=26 January 2019}} The second issue claimed to have sold 20,000 copies in Britain and 15,000 in America. By 1964, Flamingo political articles had become more serious, and were similar to media releases from the British Foreign Office's semi-secret Information Research Department. Flamingo closed in May 1965.{{cite book|last1=Hoyles|first1=Asher|last2=Hoyles|first2=Martin|title=Caribbean Publishing in Britain: A Tribute to Arif Ali|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74alZwEACAAJ|year=2011|publisher=Hansib Publications|isbn=978-1-906190-42-2}} In 1968, he was one of the founders of Dominica Freedom Party.{{cite web |last1=Myers |first1=Robert A. |title=A Resource Guide to Dominica, 1493-1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=huAmAQAAIAAJ |publisher=Human Relations Area Files |language=en |date=1987}}
Scobie's first book, Black Britannia: The History of Blacks in Britain published in 1972, brought him "international acclaim". Black Britannia is the first book-length history of African presence in Britain.{{cite book|last1=Duffield|first1=Ian|editor1-last=Killingray|editor1-first=David|title=Africans in Britain|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136300066|page=77|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=inu7UxDROZoC&q=%22+scobie%22+&pg=PA77|access-date=1 April 2016|chapter=Skilled Workers or Marginalised Poor? the African Population of the United Kingdom, 1812–52}} He was also the author of Global African Presence (1994), and wrote many articles and essays, including for the Journal of African Civilizations.
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At the time of his death in 1996, Scobie was Professor Emeritus of History in the Black Studies Department at City College of New York.{{cite book|editor1-last=Asante|editor1-first=Molefi Kete|editor-link=Molefi Kete Asante|title=Encyclopedia of Black Studies|date=2004|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=9781452265445|page=227|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VL91AwAAQBAJ&q=edward+scobie+city+of+new+york+college&pg=PT259|access-date=9 March 2016|chapter=Elder Scholars, Edward V Scobie}}{{cite book|last=Chung|first=Clairmont|title=Walter A. Rodney: A Promise of Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRuD5CuCAy8C&pg=PA134|year=2012|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-1-58367-329-4|pages=134–}}
Legacy
In 1998, Scobie was honoured on a commemorative postage stamp, which featured portraits of five notable Dominicans who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II, to mark the 80th anniversary of the RAF.{{cite web|title=Edward Scobie Dalrymple|url=http://www.caribbeanaircrew-ww2.com/?p=6|website=Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2|access-date=1 April 2016}}
Selected bibliography
- Black Britannia: The History of Blacks in Britain (1972), Johnson Press, {{ISBN|978-0874850567}}.
- Global African Presence (1994), A & B Books, {{ISBN|9781881316725}}.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
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Category:20th-century British historians
Category:British magazine editors
Category:British World War II bomber pilots
Category:British World War II pilots
Category:Dominica expatriates in the United Kingdom
Category:Dominica expatriates in the United States
Category:Dominica male writers
Category:Historians of slavery
Category:Magazine publishers (people)