Cullen, Countee, 1903-1946

African-American poet, anthologist, translator, playwright and an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Cullen was graduated from De Witt Clinton High School in New York City and from New York University in 1925. While attending NYU he held a part-time job as a doorman at the Grolier Club, a New York City bibliophile society. He took post-graduate work at Harvard University and received an M.A.

This collection was established in 1942 by Harold Jackman (b. 1901 d. 1961), a New York City teacher, theater director, and patron of the arts. Born in London, Jackman was educated in New York, where he began a lifetime friendship with Countee Cullen. Jackman received a B.A. degree from New York University in 1923 and then a master's degree from Columbia University. A dedicated teacher, Jackman was also active in many organizations including the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the NAACP, National Urban League and the American Society of African Culture. He was a life member and served on the executive board of the Negro Actors Guild. He was an editor of the Phylon from 1944-1961. Jackman was a friend of photographer Carl Van Vechten and helped him to build the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of Negro Arts and Letters at Yale University, making donations and asking others to do so. At the encouragement of a friend, Jackman decided to establish a similar program at Atlanta University where the Harold Jackman Collection of Contemporary Negro Life was established. In 1961, at the death of Harold Jackman, the collection was renamed to honor both Cullen and Jackman.

Countee Cullen was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Primarily known as a poet, he also wrote children's books, plays, and a novel. Among his best known works are Color, Copper sun, and Ballad of the brown girl. William Fuller Brown, Jr. was a research physisist and an electrical engineering professor at the University of Minnesota from 1957-1973.

Recognized at an early age for his poetic gift, Cullen became one of the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance. Following the success of his volumes of poems, he studied in France on a Guggenheim Fellowship, married Yolande DuBois, the daughter of W.E.B. DuBois, and taught in the New York City school system.

The Countee Cullen Collection contains Correspondence and Writings, including "The Black Christ" and "One Way to Heaven."

African American poet.

American author.

Countee Cullen--poet, columnist, editor, novelist, playwright, children's writer, and educator--was perhaps the most representative voice of the Harlem Renaissance.

Born in 1903, Countee Cullen was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Primarily known as a poet, he also wrote children's books, plays, and a novel. Born Countee Porter, he was adopted by Rev. Frederick Cullen, a Methodist minister, and attended DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City. He began writing poetry as a teenager and edited his high school newspaper and literary magazine. Cullen received degrees from New York University and Harvard. He married Yolande DuBois, daughter of W.E.B. DuBois, in 1928, but they divorced in 1930. He was a French teacher at Frederick Douglas Junior High School, where one of his students was James Baldwin. He married Ida Mae Roberson in 1940.

Cullen's poetry was in the lyric romantic tradition of Keats and Shelley, though he often (but not exclusively) touched upon racial concerns. Among is best known works are Color, Copper Sun, and The Ballad of the Brown Girl. He was writing the book of the musical St. Louis Woman when he died in 1946.

William Fuller Brown, Jr. was born in Lyon Mountain, N.Y. in 1904 and received degrees from Cornell and Columbia Universities. He was a research physicist at several firms including Sun Oil Co. and 3M. He later served as an electrical engineering professor at the University of Minnesota from 1957-1973. He died in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1983.