Anne Spencer

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Ann Spencer
Study at Anne Spencer House, Lynchburg, Virginia

Anne Spencer (actually Annie Bethel Spencer ) (born February 6, 1882 in Henry County , Virginia , † July 27, 1975 in Lynchburg , Virginia) was an American writer and activist of the Harlem Renaissance .

She was the first Virginia woman and the first African American whose poems were published in the Norton Anthology of American Poetry . She worked to promote equality and educational opportunities for all and she welcomed personalities such as Langston Hughes , Marian Anderson , George Washington Carver , Thurgood Marshall , Martin Luther King , James Weldon Johnson and WEB Du Bois .

Life

The only child of Cephus Bannister and Sarah Louise Scales, she was born Annie Bethel Bannister in Henry County on February 6, 1882. Her parents separated when Annie was very young, and she and her mother moved to West Virginia , where she grew up under the care of William T. Dixie , a well-known member of the Black Community. Her mother noticed Annie's skillful use of the English language and sent her to Virginia University of Lynchburg . There she graduated in 1899. In the same year she met her future husband Charles Edward Spencer, whom she married in 1901. Together they had three children Bethel, Alroy and Chauncey.

The respected Harlem Renaissance poet James Weldon Johnson helped Annie Spencer discover her talent as a poet. He gave her the stage name Anne Spencer. Her works have appeared in The Crisis magazine, alongside works by other representatives of the Harlem Renaissance such as Claude McKay , Jean Toomer , Nella Larsen , Georgia Douglas Johnson and Countee Cullen .

plant

From 1903 until her death in 1975, Anne Spencer lived in her home at 1313 Pierce Street in Lynchburg. The Harlem Renaissance gave her the opportunity to get to know other people from this movement, who inspired her poetry through their ideas and works of art. Regular visitors to their home were Johnson and De Bois. Together they spent days in conversation and discussed various topics from art to politics. They all had similar likes and dislikes, and were all strong, independent personalities. Anne became increasingly involved in her community and in the NAACP. Although her poetry was mostly based on her own thoughts, her work was increasingly influenced by the ideas of the Harlem Renaissance . Anne taught English to Ota Benga , a Congolese pygmy , during his stay in Lynchburg.

Some of her letters are in the possession of Yale University . It is included in the Norton Anthology of Literature by Women and in Daughters of Africa . After its publication in 1923 during the Great Depression , "White Things" was not reprinted in the course of its lifetime. Nevertheless, because of its impact, Keith Clark in Notable Black American Women called this work “the quintessential protest poetry”.

Her papers, as well as the family papers and her personal library, are in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia .

Anne Spencer Museum

Anne Spencer House

Spencer lived and worked in her home at 1313 Pierce Street in Lynchburg. The local branch of the NAACP was established in her home. A garden and one-room retreat, where Anne Spencer created much of her work, are part of the property. A museum has now been set up in the house. The garden is also part of this museum. The furnishing of the rooms corresponds to the original condition.

literature

  • Times Unfading Garden: Anne Spencer's Life and Poetry (1977).
  • Afro-American Women Writers 1746-1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide (1989) Shockley, Ann Allen, New Haven, Connecticut: Meridian Books ISBN 0-452-00981-2
  • With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman , Thurman, Howard . Chicago: Harvest / HBJ Book, 1981. ISBN 0-15-697648-X
  • Anne Spencer: Ah, How Poets Sing and Die! , Spencer, Anne. Ed. Nina V. Salmon. Lynchburg: Warwick House Publishing, 2001
  • Shadowed Dreams: Women's Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance , Rutgers; 2 Rev Exp edition (October 25, 2006). ISBN 0-8135-38866

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap9/spencer.html
  2. ^ Contemporary Authors Online , Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich .: Gale, 2009.
  3. ↑ http://www.annespencermuseum.com/
  4. ^ Anne Spencer House
personal data
SURNAME Spencer, Anne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spencer, Annie Bethel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Henry County , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1975
Place of death Lynchburg , Virginia