In Harlem in the 1920s and ’30s, invitations to soirées hosted by Geraldyn Dismond, PhB 1915 (1894–1984), were much coveted. Dismond, known as “Harlem’s Hostess,” was a journalist and society columnist for Black newspapers as well as a radio announcer.

She wrote society columns for several newspapers under different titles, including “New York Social Whirl,” “Through the Lorgnette,” and “Between Puffs by Lady Nicotine.” In one of her columns she shared her own signature cocktail, the Green Skirt: two-thirds gin, one-third crème de menthe, a dash of lemon juice, and a minted cherry.

In 1953, by then known as Gerri Major, she was recruited by Johnson Publishing Company, which sent her to England to cover the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Major was less interested in the English royals than in the Black guests from Africa and the West Indies: “The 16-year-old Princess Goinapi from Swaziland,” Major noted, wore a coronet “of red feathers plucked from the wings of the Liqwalaqwala bird—feathers which only members of the Swazi Royal Family are allowed to wear.”

Major worked as an editor for Ebony and Jet magazines for more than 30 years, writing the weekly column “Gerri Major’s Society World.” “There is little about the state of the black nation-within-a-nation that society editors don’t know—and much that they can’t print,” she wrote in Black Society (Johnson Publishing Company, 1976).

Major was so well traveled, she was nicknamed “Gerri-Go-Round.” Ebony magazine described her as “a ‘jetsetter’ before there were jets,” someone who “celebrated her birthdays in such romantic places as Nassau, Paris, and Cairo.” Her one regret was that she had never had the chance to visit China.

She filed her final column at age 90, just days before she died. “Throughout her lifetime,” her obituary in Jet noted, “parties were an important part of her living.”

Green Skirt

2 ounces gin
1 ounce crème de menthe
Dash of lemon juice
Minted cherry (see recipe below)

Combine gin, crème de menthe, and lemon juice. Serve over crushed ice. Garnish with a minted cherry.

Minted cherries

1 c. water
1 c. white sugar
1 c. fresh mint leaves
1 c. fresh cherries

Combine water, sugar, and mint in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain mint leaves. Allow syrup to cool.

Put cherries in a flat bowl, stems up. Pour over enough syrup to cover the fruit, leaving the stems sticking out. Refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to infuse.