"A Moorish Maid, " cover photograph, The Crisis, May, 1925.

The methods Du Bois used to attract readers to The Crisis at times aroused controversy, including the use of images of beautiful light-skinned women. This unsigned photograph manages to display a modern sex appeal for the modern male reader, disguised in a study of a "primitive" African beauty.

The same necklace appears on the May, 1926 cover. In this 1925 cover, the necklace appears to have been added after the photo was taken - perhaps it was a stock prop the photographer owned.