Julian Elihu Bagley (December 10, 1892 – October 17, 1981) was an American author, World War I veteran, and

concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...

. In 1922, he moved to San Francisco in hopes of opening a waterfront hotel. He was a well-known concierge at the San Francisco

War Memorial Opera House The War Memorial Opera House is an opera house in San Francisco, California, United States, located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the west side/rear facade of the San Francisco City Hall. It is part of the San Francisco W ...

where he worked for 39 years, starting on opening night on October 15, 1932. During this time, Bagley wrote a children's book called ''Candle-lighting Time in Bodidalee'', which was a book filled with animal folklore.

Early life

Bagley served in the Army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and later earned a degree in agriculture from

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

Career

In 1922, Bagley moved to San Francisco in hopes of opening a waterfront hotel. Instead, he ended up working at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. He worked there for 39 years beginning on opening night on October 15, 1932. While he served as a concierge, Bagley wrote his first book called ''Welcome to the San Francisco Opera House in 1923.'' He also wrote for The Crisis magazine under the editorship of

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...

from 1910 to 1923. During this time, Bagley wrote three different stories for the Crisis, and out of those three, ''Vagabonding in a City of Opera Seats,'' was nominated as an honorable mention for the magazine's contest. He spent much of his time writing short stories for the Crisis focusing specifically on issues of that time including racism and education for blacks. These themes can be seen in his short story "Niggers". Bagley also wrote for other publications, including ''New Outlook''. He also contributed stories for ''

The Brownies' Book ''The Brownies' Book'' was the first magazine published for African-American children and youth. Its creation was mentioned in the yearly children's issue of '' The Crisis'' in October 1919. The first issue was published during the Harlem Renaiss ...

''. On January 1, 1971, Bagley wrote a book called ''Candle-lighting Time in Bodidalee''.

Wallace Tripp Wallace Whitney Tripp (June 26, 1940 – September 9, 2018) was an American illustrator, anthologist and author. He was known for creating anthropomorphic animal characters of emotional complexity and for his great visual and verbal humor. He wa ...

illustrated the book alongside Bagley. Tripp has illustrated over 40 children books and is also one of the illustrators of

Amelia Bedelia ''Amelia Bedelia'' is a series of American children's books that were written by Peggy Parish from 1963 until her death in 1988, and by her nephew, Herman, from 1995 to 2022. The stories follow Amelia Bedelia, a maid who repeatedly misunderstand ...

. ''Candle-lighting Time in Bodidalee'' is a book based on animal

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

from Africa. There are 18 stories and

Uncle Remus Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post–Reconstruction era Atlant ...

writes about

Br'er Rabbit Br'er Rabbit ( ; an abbreviation of ''Brother Rabbit'', also spelled Brer Rabbit) is a central figure in an oral tradition passed down by African Americans, African-Americans of the Southern United States and African descendants in the Caribbean ...

Br'er Fox Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear (also spelled Brer Fox and Brer Bear, ) are fictional characters from African-American oral traditions popular in the Southern United States. These characters have been recorded by many different folklorists, but are most ...

, and Br'er Bear in one of the stories.

Selected writings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagley, Julian 1892 births 1981 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I Writers from San Francisco Hampton University alumni 20th-century American male writers

Early life

Career

Selected writings

Further reading

References