[4] This resulted in the then six-year old Jackie and her older sister Dolores being placed in the care of their aunt and uncle for a brief period of time.

[5] She also worked as an editor and as a freelance writer, writing on police beats, court cases and human-interest topics.

[9] The strip, starring Torchy Brown,[10] was a humorous depiction of a Mississippi teen who found fame and fortune singing and dancing in the Cotton Club.

She soon began writing occasional articles and, briefly, a social column for The Chicago Defender, one of the nation's leading black newspapers, a weekly at that time.

[8] By August 1945, Ormes's work was back in the Courier, with the advent of Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger, a single-panel cartoon which ran for 11 years.

[13] It featured a big sister-little sister set-up, with the precocious, insightful and socially/politically-aware child as the only speaker and the beautiful adult woman as a sometime pin-up figure and fashion mannequin.

[16] Ormes expressed her talent for fashion design as well as her vision of a beautiful black female body in the accompanying paper doll topper, Torchy Togs.

Torchy presented an image of a black woman who, in contrast to the contemporary stereotypical media portrayals, was confident, intelligent, and brave.

[20] Jackie Ormes' heroines faced challenges that were not dragons or evil stepmothers, but instead relatable and contemporary issues, such as smothering aunts or the dangers of being taken advantage of in an unfamiliar environment.

While she generated a fanciful career path for Torchy Brown, the young performer’s tale is woven with seeds of reality.

In each aspect of her life the cartoonist was involved in humanitarian causes, and her passion for left-wing ideologies post-World War II even led to an investigation by the FBI.

[23] She retired from cartooning in 1956, although she continued to create art, including murals, still lifes and portraits until rheumatoid arthritis made this impossible.

[5] She contributed to her South Side Chicago community by volunteering to produce fundraiser fashion shows and entertainments.