 | The book of American negro poetry, |  |
Biographical Index of Authors
Bohanan, Otto Leland. Born in Washington, D. C. Educated
in the public schools in Washington. He is a graduate
of Howard University, School of Liberal Arts, Washington,
D. C., and did special work in English at the
Catholic University in that city. At present he is engaged
in the musical profession in New York.
Braithwaite, William Stanley. Born in Boston, 1878.
Mainly self-educated. A critic of poetry and the friend of
poets. Author of Lyrics of Life, The House of Falling
Leaves, The Poetic Year, The Story of the Great War,
etc. Editor and compiler of The Book of Elizabethan
Verse, The Book of Georgian Verse, The Book of Restoration
Verse and a series of yearly anthologies of magazine
verse. One of the literary editors of the Boston Transcript.
Brawley, Benjamin. Born at Columbia, S. C., 1882. Educated
at the Atlanta Baptist College, the University of
Chicago and Harvard University. For two years he was
professor of English at Howard University, Washington,
D. C. Later he became dean of Morehouse College, Atlanta,
Ga. Author of A Short History of the American
Negro, The Negro in Literature and Art, A Short History
of the English Drama, A Social History of the American
Negro, etc. Now living in Boston and engaged in research
and writing.
Campbell, James Edwin. Was born at Pomeroy, Ohio, in the
early sixties. His early life was somewhat shrouded in
mystery; he never referred to it even to his closest associates.
He was educated in the public schools of his native
city. Later he spent a while at Miami College. In the
late eighties and early nineties he was engaged in newspaper
work in Chicago. He wrote regularly on the various
dailies of that city. He was also one of a group that
issued the Four O'Clock Magazine, a literary publication
which flourished for several years. He died, perhaps,
twenty years ago. He was the author of Echoes from The
Cabin and Elsewhere, a volume of poems.
Carmichael, Waverley Turner. A young man who had
never been out of his native state of Alabama until several
years ago when he entered one of the summer courses at
Harvard University. His education to that time had been
very limited and he had endured poverty and hard work.
His verses came to the attention of one of the Harvard
professors. He has since published a volume, From the
Heart of a Folk. He served with the 367th Regiment,
"The Buffaloes," during the World War and saw active
service in France. At present he is employed as a postal
clerk in Boston, Mass.
Corrothers, James D., 1869-1919. Born in Cass County,
Michigan. Student in Northwestern University, minister
and poet. Many of his poems appeared in The Century
Magazine.
Cotter, Joseph S., Jr., 1895-1919. Born at Louisville, Kentucky,
in the room in which Paul Laurence Dunbar first read his
dialect poems in the South. He was precocious as a child,
having read a number of books before he was six years
old. All through his boyhood he had the advantage and
inspiration of the full library of poetic books belonging to
his father, himself a poet of considerable talent. Young
Cotter attended Fisk University but left in his second year
because he had developed tuberculosis. A volume of verse,
The Band of Gideon, and a number of unpublished poems
were written during the six years in which he was an
invalid.
Dandridge, Ray G. Born at Cincinnati, Ohio, 1882. Educated
in the grammar and high school of his native city. In
1912, as the result of illness, he lost the use of both legs
and his right arm. He does most of his writing lying flat
in bed and using his left hand. He is the author of The
Poet and Other Poems.
Davis, Daniel Webster. Born in Virginia, near Richmond.
For a number of years he was a minister and principal
of the largest public school in Richmond. He died in that
city some years ago. He was the author of 'Weh Down
Souf, a volume of verse. He was very popular as an
orator and a reader of his own poems.
Dett, R. Nathaniel. Born at Drummondville, Canada, 1882.
Graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He is a
composer, most of his compositions being based on themes
from the old "slave songs." His "Listen to de Lambs" is
widely used by choral societies. He is director of music
of a Heart, a volume of verse.
Du Bois, W. E. Burghardt. Born at Great Barrington, Mass.,
1868. Educated at Fisk University, Harvard University
and the University of Berlin. For a number of years professor
of economics and history at Atlanta University.
Author of the Suppression of the Slave Trade, The Philadelphia
Negro, The Souls of Black Folk, John Brown,
Darkwater, etc. He is the editor of The Crisis.
Dunbar, Paul Laurence. Born at Dayton, Ohio, 1872; died
1906. Dunbar was educated in the public schools. He
wrote his early poems while working as an elevator boy.
His first volume of poems, Oak and Ivy, was published in
1893 and sold largely through his own efforts. This was
followed by Majors and Minors, Lyrics of Lowly Life,
Lyrics of the Hearthside, Lyrics of Love and Laughter,
Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow and Howdy, Honey,
Howdy. Lyrics of Lowly Life, published in New York in
1896 with an introduction written by William Dean
Howells, gained national recognition for Dunbar. In addition
to poetical works, Dunbar was the author of four
novels, The Uncalled, The Love of Landry, The Sport of
the Gods, and The Fanatics. He also published several
volumes of short stories. Partly because of his magnificent
voice and refined manners, he was a very successful reader
of his own poems and was able to add greatly to their
popularity.
Fauset, Jessie Redmon. Born at Snow Hill, New Jersey. She
was educated in the public schools of Philadelphia, at
Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.
For a while she was teacher of French in the Dunbar High
School, Washington, D. C. Author of a number of uncollected
poems and several short stories. She is literary
editor of The Crisis.
Hill, Leslie Pinckney. Born at Lynchburg, Va., 1880. He was
educated in the public schools at Lynchburg and at Harvard
University. On graduation he became a teacher of
English and methods at Tuskegee. Author of the Wings
of Oppression, a volume of verse. He is principal of the
Cheyney Training School for Teachers at Cheyney, Pa.
Holloway, John Wesley. Born in Merriweather County, Ga.,
1865. His father, who learned to read and write in
after the Civil War. Mr. Holloway was educated at
Clark University, Atlanta, Ga., and at Fisk University,
Nashville, Tenn. He was for a while a member of the
Fisk Jubilee Singers. Has been a teacher and is now a
preacher. He is the author of From the Desert, a volume
of verse.
Jamison, Roscoe C. Born at Winchester, Tenn., 1888; died
1918. He was a graduate of Fisk University.
Johnson, Charles Bertram. Born at Callao, Mo., 1880. He
was educated in the public schools of his home town and
at Western College, Lincoln Institute and at Chicago University.
He was a teacher for a number of years and is
now a pastor of a church at Moberly, Mo. He is the
author of Songs of My People.
Johnson, Fenton. Born at Chicago, 1888. He was educated
in the public schools and at the University of Chicago and
Northwestern University. The author of A Little Dreaming,
Songs of the Soil and Visions of the Dusk. He has
devoted much time to journalism and the editing of a
magazine.
Johnson, Georgia Douglas. Born in Atlanta, Ga., 1886. She
was educated in the public schools of that city and at
Atlanta University. She is the author of a volume of
verse, The Heart of a Woman and other poems.
Johnson, James Weldon. Born at Jacksonville, Fla., 1871.
He was educated in the public schools of Jacksonville, at
Atlanta University and at Columbia University. He
taught school in his native town for several years. Later
he came to New York with his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson,
and began writing for the musical comedy stage. He
served seven years as U. S. Consul in Venezuela and
Nicaragua. Author of The Autobiography of an Excolored
Man, Fifty Years and Other Poems, and the English
libretto to Goyescas, the Spanish grand opera, produced
at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1915.
Jones, Edward Smyth. Attracted national attention about ten
years ago by walking some hunderds of miles from his
home in the South to Harvard University. Arriving
there, he was arrested on a charge of vagrancy. While
in jail, he wrote a poem, "Harvard Square." The poem
created a sentiment that led to his quick release. He is
the author of The Sylvan Cabin.
Jones, Joshua Henry, Jr. He is engaged in newspaper work
in Boston and is the author of a volume of poems, The
Heart of the World.
Margetson, George Reginald. Was born at St. Kitts, British
West Indies, in 1877. He was educated at the Moravian
school in his district. He came to the United States in
1897. Mr. Margetson has found it necessary to work hard
to support a large family and his poems have been written
in his spare moments. He is the author of two volumes of
verses, Songs of Life and The Fledgling Bard and the
Poetry Society and, in addition, a large number of uncollected
poems. Mr. Margetson lives in Boston.
McClellan, George Marion. Born at Belfast, Tenn., 1860.
Graduate of Fisk University and Hartford Theological
Seminary, teacher, principal and author. He is the author
of The Path of Dreams.
McKay, Claude. Born in Jamaica, West Indies, 1889. Such
education as he gained in boyhood he received from his
brother. He served for a while as a member of the
Kingston Constabulary. In 1912 he came to the United
States. For two years he was a student of agriculture at
the Kansas State College. Since leaving school Mr. McKay
has turned his hand to any kind of work to earn a living.
He has worked in hotels and on the Pullman cars. He
is to-day associate editor of The Liberator. He is the author
of two volumes of poems, Songs of Jamaica and Spring in
New Hampshire, the former published in Jamaica and the
latter in London.
Moore, William H. A. Was born in New York City and received
his education in the public schools and at the City
College. He also did some special work at Columbia
University. He has had a long career as a newspaper
man, working on both white and colored publications.
He now lives in Chicago. He is the author of Dusk Songs,
a volume of poems.
Nelson, Alice Moore (Dunbar). Born at New Orleans, La.,
1875. She was educated in the schools of New Orleans
and has taken special courses at Cornell University, Columbia
University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Author of Violets and Other Tales, The Goodness of St.
Rocque, Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence, and The Dunbar
Speaker. She was married to Paul Laurence Dunbar in
1898. She has been a teacher and is well known on the
lecture platform and as an editor.
Rogers, Alex. Born at Nashville, Tenn., 1876. Educated in
the public schools of that city. For many years a writer
of words for popular songs. He wrote many of the songs
for the musical comedies in which Williams and Walker
appeared. He is the author of The Jonah Man, Nobody
and other songs made popular by Mr. Bert Williams.
Shackelford, Theodore Henry. Author of Mammy's Cracklin'
Bread and Other Poems, and My Country and Other Poems.
Spencer, Anne. Born in Bramwell, W. Va., 1882. Educated
at the Virginia Seminary, Lynchburg, Va. She lives at
Lynchburg and takes great pride and pleasure in her
garden.
Watkins, Lucian B., was born in Virginia. He served overseas
in the great war and lost his health. He died in 1921.
He was the author of a large number of uncollected poems.
| The book of American negro poetry, | |