People, Locations, Episodes

Richard B. Nugent, Writer born

On this date, Richard Bruce Nugent was born in 1906. He was an African American writer.

Helen Johnson, Poet born

Helen (Helene) Johnson was born on this date in 1906. She was an African American poet during the Harlem Renaissance.

Roi Ottley, Writer, and Journalist born

*Roi Ottley was born on this date in 1906. He was an African American writer, and journalist.

Born in New York City, Vincent Lushington “Roi” Ottley was the second of three children of Jerome Peter and Beatrice Brisbane Ottley immigrated to New York from the island of Grenada. Young Ottley was educated at St. Bonaventure College (1926-1928), University of Michigan (1929), and St. John’s Law School (Brooklyn, New York).

Ellen Tarry, Writer, and Journalist born

*Ellen Tarry was born on this date in 1906.  She was a Black journalist and author.   Ellen Tarry was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Although raised in the Congregational Church, she converted to Roman Catholicism in 1922, after years of attending the St Francis de Sales school for girls on the former Belmead plantation property […]

Earl Conrad, Author, and Journalist born

*Earl Conrad was born on this date in 1906. He was a white Jewish-American author who penned at least twenty biographies, histories, and criticism works, including book collaborations. Earl Cohen (his birth name) was born to Eli and Minnie Cohen in Auburn, New York, into a Jewish family with nine siblings. He wished to be […]

Mollie Huston Lee, Librarian, and Administrator born

*Mollie Huston Lee was born on this date in 1907. She was a Black librarian and administrator. Mollie Huston was born in Columbus, Ohio, to Corrina Smith Huston and Rolla Solomon Huston, a private business owner and politician. As the only child of “learned parents,” there were always books around the family home, and growing […]

Dorothy West, Writer born

This date recalls the birth of Dorothy West in 1907. She was an African American writer, social activist, and prominent member of the Harlem Renaissance.

The Booker T. Washington Literary Club Begins

*On this date in 1907 we celebrate the origin of the Booker T. Washington Literary Club. Started in Ohio, the first President of the club was Rev. George Washington of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. The club was geared to cater to the Afro-Americans students at Ohio University.

The group photo (taken July 27, 1909) is at Minnie Bell’s Annual Reception in Honor of the Summer School. Later the club was called the B.T.W. Literary Society. The club disbanded in 1916.

Marguerite DeMond, Archivist born.

*Marguerite DeMond was born on this date in 1907. She was a Black archivist and curator. Born in Buxton, Iowa, her father was Abraham Lincoln DeMond, and her mother was Lula Irene Watkins. She lived in Macon, Bibb, Georgia, in 1910 and Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, in 1920.  Marguerite Lula DeMond attended Avery Normal Institute. She also […]

Juan Pablo Sojo, Author born.

*Juan Sojo was born on this date in 1907. He was an Afro Venezuelan author and activist. Juan Pablo Sojo was born in Curiepe, Brión Municipality, Miranda State. As a youth, he had his father, Juan Pablo Sojo B, as his primary teacher. His father was a musician and compiler of festivities of African origin […]

Hughes Allison, Author born

*The birth of Hughes Allison is celebrated on this date in 1908. He was a Black author.  Born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1919, his family moved north to Newark, New Jersey, where he attended high school and college. Although he initially wanted to become a doctor, Allison found writing to be his true calling, […]

Richard Wright, Author born

*Richard Nathaniel Wright was born on this date in 1908. He was an African American writer.

Virginia Brindis de Salas, Afro Latinx Poet born

*Virginia Brindis de Salas was born on this date in 1908.  She was an Afro Latinx poet of the Black community of Uruguay. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, the daughter of José Salas and María Blanca Rodríguez, little is known about her life; according to Joy Elizondo, she claimed to be the niece of Cuban violinist […]

Ann Lane Petry, Novelist born

Ann Lane Petry was born on this date in 1908. She was an African American writer of adult novels and children’s literature who chronicled the urban Black female experience.

Petry was born and raised in Seabrook, Connecticut. The daughter of a pharmacist, she majored in pharmacology at the University of Connecticut. After graduating, she worked at and managed the family drugstore.

Willard Motley, Novelist for Film born

*On this date in 1909, Willard Motley was born. He was an African American novelist who works have been adapted to visual media.