The Book of American Negro Poetry/Biographical Index of Authors

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 at Hampton Institute. He is also the author of The Album 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, 1873; 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 slavery, became one of the first colored teachers in Georgia 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 Ex-colored 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.

Layout 2