People, Locations, Episodes

Nella Larsen, Novelist born

Nella Larsen was born on this date in 1891. She was an African American novelist of the Harlem Renaissance and a landmark figure in the Black women’s literary tradition.

She was born Nellie Walker in Chicago. In 1909 Larsen left home to attend Fisk University. A year later she traveled to Denmark, and spent the next two years living with relatives and studying at the University of Copenhagen. Larsen studied nursing in New York, and in 1916 she returned south to Tuskegee Institute to become assistant superintendent of nurses.

Eugene Gordon, Journalist, and Writer born

*Eugene Gordon was born on this date in 1891. He was a Black journalist, editor, fiction writer, and social activist. Born in Oviedo, Florida, he was raised in New Orleans and lived through the Robert Charles riots. He attended Howard University and then Boston University, studying English and journalism. 1916, Gordon married Edythe Mae Chapman, a short […]

Frank Collymore, Writer born

*Frank Collymore was born on this date in 1893. He was a Afro Barbadian teacher, author, poet, stage actor and painter, whose nickname was “Barbadian Man of the Arts”.

Frank Appleton Collymore was born at Woodville Cottage, Chelsea Road (where he lived all his life). Collymore was close to his parents; he was a single child, for whom reading was a passion.

(Nathan) Jean Toomer, Author born

Nathan Eugene Pinchback Toomer was born on this date in 1894. He was an African American writer.

George Schuyler, Journalist born

*On this date, in 1895, George Schuyler was born.  He was a Black author, journalist, and conservative social commentator after he had supported socialism.   George Samuel Schuyler was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to George Francis Schuyler, a chef, and Eliza Jane Schuyler.  Schuyler’s paternal great-grandfather was believed to be a black soldier working for General Philip […]

Nancy Cunard, Political Activist born

*Nancy Cunard was born on this date in 1896.  She was a white-European writer, heiress, civil rights, and political activist.   Nancy Clara Cunard was born into the British upper class; her father was Sir Bache Cunard, an heir to the Cunard Line shipping businesses, a polo and fox hunting enthusiast, and a baronet. Her mother was Maud Alice Burke, an American heiress who adopted the first name […]

John Mason Brewer, Folklorist, and Teacher born

*John Mason Brewer was born on this date in 1896. He was an African American author, scholar, teacher, historian, folklorist, and storyteller.

Brewer was born in Goliad, Texas, the son of a cowboy J. H. and Minnie T. Brewer. His sister, Stella Brewer Brooks, an authority on Joel Chandler Harris and the Uncle Remus tales, shared his interest in folklore. Educated in Austin, he advanced through Wiley College to a master’s degree from Indiana and Ph.D. from Paul Quinn College.

Catherine Allen Latimer, Librarian born

*The birth of Catherine Allen Latimer is celebrated on this date in 1896.  She was a Black researcher and librarian.   Catherine Bosley Allen was born in Nashville, TN, in 1896 to Minta Bosley and H. W. Allen. Although she and her family were Black, Catherine was light-skinned and listed in the 1910 and 1930 […]

Roarck Bradford, Writer, and Editor born

*Roark Bradford was born on this date in 1896. He was a white-American short story writer and novelist. From Lauderdale County, Tennessee, Roark Whitney Wickliffe Bradford attended the University of California, Berkeley, and served as a first lieutenant in the Coast Artillery. He did most of his newspaper work for The Times-Picayune, where he worked or […]

Theodore Boone, Lawyer born.

Theodore Sylvester Boone was born on this date in 1896. He was an African American attorney, pastor, author, and editor.

Born in Winchester, Texas, Boone was the son of Alexander and Lillian (Chaney) Boone. He attended Terrell High School in Terrell, Texas, and a number of universities, including Prairie View A&M and Bishop College in Texas. From 1918 to 1920, he studied at Des Moines University and the University of Iowa. In 1921, one year after graduation, he wrote a book titled “Paramount Facts in Race Development.”

Rudolph Fisher, Writer, and Gastroenterology Specialist born

Rudolph Fisher was born in Washington, DC on this date in 1897. He was an African American physician, roentgen logy specialist, novelist, short story writer, dramatist, musician, and orator.

Josephine Schuyler, Author born

*Josephine Schuyler was born on this date in 1897.  She was a white-American author and poet.   Josephine Cogdell was born into a wealthy family in Granbury, Hood County, Texas. She was the youngest of seven children of Daniel Calhoun Cogdell and Lucy Norfleet Duke. She was a white woman born to great wealth and privilege in […]

Edythe Mae Gordon, Writer and Poet born

*The birth of n is celebrated on this date in 1897.  She was a Black writer of short stories and poetry during the era of the Harlem Renaissance. Edythe Mae Chapman was born in Washington, D.C. She was raised by members of her mother’s family, surnamed Bicks. She was educated at M Street School and graduated in […]

George Dawson, Author, and Laborer born

George Dawson was born on this date in 1898. He was an African American author and laborer and one of the oldest men in America to learn to read and write a book.

The grandson of a slave, Dawson was born in a log cabin in Marshall, Texas, the oldest of five children. The family lived in a three-room cabin, with an outhouse out back and a small barn. He started working full time for his father when he was just four, hauling water from the well, working the cotton fields, hand-combing the cotton, and feeding the family’s few chickens and lone mule. School was not an option.

Melvin Tolson, Poet, and Educator born

Melvin Tolson was born on this date in 1898. He was an African American writer, educator, politician, and poet.