Occupation-Writer

Vincent Lushington (“Roi”) Ottley
Vincent Lushington “Roi” Ottley was born in Harlem in 1906 to parents Jerome P. and Beatrice (Brisbane) Ottley who were...
January 30th, 2007

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
Zora Neale Hurston, known for her audacious spirit and sharp wit, was a talented and prolific writer and a skilled...
January 29th, 2007

Margaret Walker (1915-1998)
Dr. Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander’s contributions to American letters—four volumes of poetry, a novel, a biography, and numerous critical essays—mark...
January 29th, 2007

Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (1858-1964)
Anna Julia Haywood Cooper was a writer, teacher, and activist who championed education for African Americans and women. Born into...
January 29th, 2007

Nichelle Nichols (1932-2022)
Nichelle Nichols was born Grace Nichols on December 28, 1932, in Robbins, Illinois. Discovered by Duke Ellington at the age...
January 23rd, 2007

Rufus P. Turner (1907-1982)
The unusual academic career of Rufus Paul Turner, born on Christmas Day 1907, was foreshadowed when the then 15-year-old Houston,...
January 23rd, 2007

James Baldwin (1924-1987)
James Arthur Baldwin, fiction writer, essayist, dramatist, and poet, was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York during...
January 23rd, 2007

Susie Revels Cayton (1870-1943)
Susie Sumner Revels, a daughter of Hiram Revels, the first U.S. Senator of African descent, arrived in Seattle, Washington from...
January 22nd, 2007

Richard Wright (1908-1960)
Best-selling author, social critic and influential literary figure Richard Wright was born on September 4, 1908, to Nathan Wright and...
January 21st, 2007