(From left to right) Christopher Reed, Mrs. Jones, Dewey Roscoe Jones II, Richard Courage

On June 15, a panel was organized by the Black Chicago History Forum to launch the publication of Dewey Jones’ novel Dark Days: A Tale of Love Along the Color Line. Jones was a journalist and longtime book reviewer for the Chicago Defender. Written in 1935, the novel was self-published by Dewey Roscoe Jones II, who spoke about his father’s life. Literary scholar Richard Courage put Dewey Jones and his novel in the context of other works of African American literature from the 1920s and 1930s. This event marked the publication of one of the lost novels of the Black Chicago Renaissance. I bought a copy, had it signed, and it’s on my summer reading list.