Bonner, Marita, 1898-1971

Marita Odette Bonner (Occomy); an African American writer, essayist, and playwright associated with the Harlem Renaissance era; born June 16, 1899 to Joseph Andrew and Anne Noel Bonner in Boston, Massachusetts; she and her three siblings grew up in Brookline; attended Brookline High School, where she first began to write; also a talented pianist who played in school recitals; graduated from Brookline High School and enrolled in Radcliffe College in Cambridge, 1918; was forced to commute from Brookline because African American students were not allowed to live in campus dormitories; majored in both Comparative Literature and English; also studied German and music composition; won two music competitions; founder of the Boston-area chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; Bonner graduated from Radcliffe and began teaching at Bluefield Colored Institute (now Bluefield State University) in Bluefield, West Virginia, 1922; took a teaching position at all-black Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C., 1924; both parents died within a year of her relocation to Washington and Bonner turned to writing to address her grief; she was drawn into a circle of Washington, D.C. writers, poets, playwrights, and composers who met regularly at composer Georgia Douglass Johnson’s “S” street salon; for the next five years she wrote a series of short stories which appeared in Crisis and in Opportunity; met her future husband William Almy Occomy during this time; the couple married in 1930 and the following year moved to Chicago, where Bonner over the next decade enjoyed her greatest success as a short story writer; Bonner abandoned writing to care for her family, which now included three children, in 1941; she returned to teaching and remained in Chicago’s public school system until her retirement in 1963; Bonner died on December 7, 1971 of complications from smoke inhalation after her Chicago apartment caught fire

Marita Bonner (June 16, 1899 – December 7, 1971);, also known as Marieta Bonner; American writer, essayist, and playwright; commonly associated with the Harlem Renaissance; other names she went by were: Marita Occomy, Marita Odette Bonner, Marita Odette Bonner Occomy, Marita Bonner Occomy, and Joseph Maree Andrew; on December 29, 1921, along with 15 other women, she chartered the Iota chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority; was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Joseph and Anne Noel Bonner; was one of four children; brought up in a middle-class community in Massachusetts; attended Brookline High School, where she contributed to the school magazine, The Sagamore; excelled in German and Music, and was a very talented pianist; in 1917, graduated from Brookline High School; in 1918 enrolled in Radcliffe College; commuted to campus because many African-American students were denied dormitory accommodation; majored in English and Comparative Literature; participated in many musical club; also accepted to a competitive writing class with Charles Townsend Copeland; taught at Bluefield Colored Institute in West Virginia, approximately 1922-1924; taught at Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C., 1924-1930; while in Washington, Bonner became closely associated with poet, playwright and composer Georgia Douglas Johnson and met William Almy Occomy; they married and moved to Chicago; after marrying Occomy, she began to write under her married name; Bonner gave up publishing her works and devoted her time to her family, after 1941; she began teaching again in the 1940s and retired in 1963; died on December 7, 1971, from smoke-inhalation complications at 73

Marita Odette Bonner (Occomy); African American writer, essayist, and playwright associated with the Harlem Renaissance Era; other names: Marita Occomy, Marita Odette Bonner, Marita Odette Bonner Occomy, Marita Bonner Occomy, and Joseph Maree Andrew; perhaps most noteworthy for extending the cultural reach of the Harlem Renaissance to Washington D.C., and Chicago; published three plays, three essays, and seventeen short stories during her lifetime; born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Joseph and Anne Noel Bonner; one of four children, brought up in Brookline — a middle-class community; attended Brookline High School; excelled in German and Musical Composition; also an accomplished pianist; enrolled in Radcliffe College in 1918; was forced to commute to school from home, as African-American students were not permitted to board on campus; excelled both academically and socially at Radcliffe; majored in English and Comparative Literature, while continuing to study German and Composition; two years after completing her studies, Bonner took on a position at Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C. remaining through 1930; became closely associated with poet, playwright and composer Georgia Douglas Johnson whose “S Street Salon”; frequent contributor to The Crisis and Opportunity; wrote three playsL The Pot Maker (1927), The Purple Flower – A Play (1928) and Exit, an Illusion (19290; Bonner’s written work dealt with poverty, poor housing, and colorism in the black communities; Bonner married William Almy Occomy in 1930; the couple then moved to Chicago, where Bonner’s writing career took off; after 1941, Bonner gave up publishing her works and devoted her time to her family, including three children; began teaching again in the 1940s and retired in 1963; died from smoke inhalation during an apartment fire on December 7th, 1971; her daughter, Joyce, later found two unpublished stories her mother had written

Marita Bonner; African American writer, composer, and educator; born in Dorchester, Massachusetts on June 16, 1898, to Joseph Andrew and Mary Anne (Noel) Bonner; attended Brookline High School where she wrote for the school's magazine The Sagamore; and Radcliffe College where she graduated in 1922 with a B.A. in English and Comparative Literature; while at Radcliffe Bonner commuted from Brookline since the college did not allow African American students to live on campus; as a Radcliffe student Bonner founded the school's chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, a Black sorority; was a gifted musician and wrote the music for the winning songs in the Radcliffe song competition for 1919 ("The Heathen Song") and 1922 ("The China Lady"); held memberships in several clubs, including the Music, Mandolin, German, and English Clubs; also contributed short stories to the Harvard Review and the Boston Post; in her junior year, Bonner was admitted to Charles Townsend Copeland's writing seminar, and one of her sketches "Dandelion Season" was selected to be read annually to the Radcliffe classes; during her senior year she taught at Cambridge High School; continued teaching at the Bluefield Colored Institute, Bluefield, Virginia (1922-1924) and at Armstrong High School, an institution for Black students in Washington, DC. (1924-1931); in 1930 she married William Almy Occomy (1901-1968), an accountant; they moved to Chicago; had three children: William Almy (1931-2006), Warwick Gale (born 1934), and Marita Joyce (born 1939); sher published her writings until 1941 when she decided to focus on raising her children and involving herself in the First Church of Christ, Scientists; also resumed her teaching career after passing education classes required by the Chicago Board of Education (which discounted her previous teaching experience and Radcliffe degree qualifications); found teaching positions at Phillips High School (1944-1949) and the Doolittle School (1950-1963), where she taught students who were educationally disadvantaged; died in Chicago on December 6, 1971, from complications of smoke inhalation after a fire in her Chicago apartment