Payne, Anne Blackwell, 1887-1969

Anne Blackwell Payne (1887-1969) was born in Concord, N.C. She attended Flora MacDonald College and taught in the graded schools of Washington, N.C. After her mother's death, Payne moved to New York to attend Columbia University and studied poetry under Joseph Auslander. She was a charter member of the Writer's Society at Columbia and an award-winning member of the Poetry Society of America. In 1930, the University of North Carolina Press published her only book of poetry, "Released." The book's favorable reviews made her well-known in her home state.

After spending summers with her brother's family at their home on the Pimlico River and a brief stint running a library in Wilmington, N.C., for the Federal Housing Administration during World War II, Payne left New York permanently to live in Charlotte, N.C. There she acted as hostess-housekeeper for her cousin Thomas Sparrow. Her writings were published steadily in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies until her death in 1969.

From the description of Anne Blackwell Payne papers, 1920s-1960s [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 40911133

Athough born in Concord, N.C., in October 1887, Anne Blackwell Payne, the daughter of Charles M. Payne, a Presbyterian minister, and Margaret Justice Sparrow Payne, always considered Washington, N.C., her hometown. She lived there from the age of six months until she attended Flora MacDonald College for two years. Returning to Washington, Payne taught in the graded schools and lived as a companion to her, by then, widowed mother.

Upon her mother's death, Payne moved to New York to attend Columbia Unviersity, where she began the serious study of poetry. At Columbia, Payne established several literary contacts, including Carl Van Doren and Joseph Auslander, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet in the twenties. During this time, Payne lived for several years with writer Kathryn Worth, a friend from Wilmington, N.C. Worth later became known as a writer of teenage novels based on North Carolina historical figures and locations.

Although she had been writing verse for many years, under Auslander at Columbia, Payne refined her skills in the art of song and sonnet. Subsequently, Payne became well-known through poems published a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including Century Magazine, the Virginia Quarterly Review, The Reviewer, Commonweal, the Boston Herald, the New York Herald, and the New York Times . Many of Payne's published works were children's poems, some of which were included in anthologies for children.

Payne's only published poetry book, Released (1930), was the first book of poetry published by the University of North Carolina Press. For the rest of her life, Payne published steadily in newspapers and magazines, although she continued to plan for the publication of one or more books, particularly one for children.

While at Columbia, Payne became active in the Writers' Club, where she was a charter member, as well as in the Poetry Society of America, through which she won several awards. She continued to win awards for her poetry, such as the Sidney Lanier Prize, and, in the sixties, was published in issues of Award Winning Poems, published by the North Carolina Poetry Society.

During her New York years, Payne returned to North Carolina in summers to spend time with her brother, Thomas Sparrow Payne, at his home on the Pamlico River. There she enjoyed visiting her niece and nephew, Mary and Tim, for whom she wrote much of her children's poetry. Payne also left New York for a time during World War II to run a library for the Federal Housing Administration in Wilmington, N.C.

With the publication of Released to favorable reviews, Payne's fame spread to her native state. She eventually returned there to make her home in Charlotte with her double first cousin, Dr. Thomas Sparrow, a prominent surgeon. Payne lived in Charlotte, acting as hostess-housekeeper for her cousin, until her death in March 1969. During this time, she continued to publish her work in national magazines and in local newspapers, such as the Raleigh News and Observer and the Charlotte Observer . She is buried in Oakdale Cemetery, Washington, N.C.

From the guide to the Anne Blackwell Payne Papers (#4934), 1920s-1960s, (Southern Historical Collection)