Annie G. Nelson
*Annie Nelson was born on this date in 1902. She was a Black writer.
Born in Darlington County, S.C., Annie Green Nelson was the oldest of 14 children of Sylvester and Nancy Greene. Her parents instilled in their children honesty, truth, devotion, and love. Her education started at a five-month school on the Parrot's Plantation in her home state; later, she attended Benedict College and Voorhees College. Nelson's first published work, a poem titled "What Do You Think of Mother?" appeared in the Palmetto Leader newspaper in 1925.
Nelson's books, "After the Storm" (1945), The Dawn Appears, "Don't Walk on My Dreams," and "Shadows of the South Lan" portray the lifestyles of ordinary Black people. Her plays, "Weary Fireside Blues," "T the 'Parrots' Plantation," as well as her book, "To Paw With Love," are autobiographical, revealing aspects of her triumphs and tragedies growing up in South Carolina. She is known for turning sorrow into laughter. Nelson studied drama at the University of South Carolina when she was 80. Her manuscript, "Eighty, So What," is about how great life can be at 80.
Green gave readings all over her home state. She received many honors, including the Lucy Hampton Bostick Award and the P. Scott Kennedy Award for dedication and devotion to African American theater. Annie Greene Nelson is South Carolina's first known, published female African American author.
