Tolson, Melvin Beaunorus

Biographical Note

• 1898, Feb 6: Born, Moberly, Mo.
• 1918: Graduated, Lincoln High School, Kansas City, Mo.
• 1919: Enrolled in Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.
• 1920 - 1923 : Student, Lincoln University, Oxford, Pa.; received A.B. with honors
• 1922: Married Ruth Southall
• 1923 - 1947 : English instructor and debate coach, Wiley College, Marshall, Tex.
• 1925: Founder, Log Cabin Theater, Wiley College, Marshall, Tex.
• 1938: Rockefeller fellowship
• 1940: M.A., Columbia University, New York, N.Y.; thesis on the Harlem Renaissance
• 1944: Published Rendezvous With America. New York: Dodd, Mead
• 1945: Omega Psi Phi award for creative literature
• 1947: Appointed poet laureate, Republic of Liberia
• 1947 - 1965 : Professor, creative literature, Langston University, Langston, Okla.
• 1948: Founder, Dust Bowl Theater, Langston, Okla.
• 1951: Bess Hokim Award, Poetry magazine, for "E. & O.E."
• 1953: Published Libretto for the Republic of Liberia. New York: Twayne
• 1954 - 1962 : Mayor, Langston, Okla.
• 1954: Fellow in poetry and modern drama, Bread Loaf Writer's Conference of Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt.
• 1965: Published Harlem Gallery: Book 1, The Curator. New York: Twayne
• 1965 - 1966 : Avalon Chair in Humanities, Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala.
• 1966: Annual Poetry Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters (National Institute of Arts and Letters)
• 1966, Aug. 28: Died, Dallas, Tex.

From the guide to the Melvin Beaunorus Tolson Papers, 1932-1975, (bulk 1940-1966), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)