- Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Gwendolyn B. Bennett (
July 8 ,1902 –May 30 ,1981 ) was anAfrican American writer who contributed greatly to "", which chronicled cultural advancements inHarlem . Though often overlooked, she herself made considerable accomplishments in poetry and prose. She is perhaps best known for her short story, "Wedding Day", which was published in the first issue of "Fire",Langston Hughes ,Zora Neale Hurston , andWallace Thurman 's radical 1926 periodical.Early Life and Work
Gwendolyn B. Bennett was born
July 8 ,1902 inGiddings, Texas to Joshua and Maime Bennett. She spent her early childhood inWadsworth, Nevada on thePaiute Indian Reservation . Her parents taught in the Indian Service for theBureau of Indian Affairs . In 1906, when Bennett was four years old, her family moved toWashington D.C. so Joshua could study law and Maime could train to be abeautician . The move eventually led to her parents' divorce when Bennett was seven years old. Maime gained custody of Bennett, however, her father kidnapped her and they lived in hiding, along with her stepmother, Marechal Neil, along the East Coast and Pennsylvania. Her father eventually took them to New York where she attended Brooklyn's Girls' High from 1918 till 1921. While attending Girls' High, Bennett was awarded first place in a school wide art contest, and was the firstAfrican American to join theliterary anddrama societies. Her high school play was written by Gwendolyn and also featured her as anactress . She also wrote both the class graduation speech and the words to the graduation song.After her graduation in 1921, she began to take art classes at
Columbia University and thePratt Institute . In her undergraduate studies, Bennett's poem "Heritage" was published in "Crisis" in November, 1923 and also in December of the same year, her poem "Heritage" was included in "Opportunity", a magazine published by theNational Urban League . She graduated from both institutes in 1924 and in June of that year, started teachingdesign ,watercolor andcrafts atHoward University . She graduated fromPratt Institute in 1924 and was hired as an Assistant Professor ofArt atHoward University . An scholarship enabling her to study abroad inParis , atSorbonne , was awarded to Bennett during December, 1924 Bennett then continued herfine arts education at Academic Julian and Ecole du Pantheon inParis . During her studies inParis , She worked with a variety of materials, includingwatercolor ,oil ,woodcuts ,pen andink , andbatik which was the beginning of her career as agraphic artist . Most of her pieces from this period of her life were destroyed, however, in 1926 during a fire at her stepmother's home.When Bennett left
Paris in 1926, she headed back to New York to become the assistant to the editor for "Opportunity". During her time employed at "Opportunity", she received theBarnes Foundation fellowship for her work. Later during the same year sheHoward University to once again teachfine arts . She remained the assistant to the editor at "Opportunity" and was given the chance to publish her own article to discussliterary andfine arts . She titled her columnThe Ebony Flute and used it to distribute news about the many creative thinkers that were involved with theHarlem Renaissance . In 1926, She was also a co-founder of theliterary journal"Fire"!! . She reviewed many writers' works and gave criticism on a regular basis through "Opportunity" and "Fire"!!Harlem
Gwendolyn B. Bennett was one of the prominent participants in the 1920s
Black American arts movement, which is also more commonly known as theHarlem Renaissance . Many of issues that plagued theAfrican American community are evident in her works. HerAfrican heritage is a main theme in her poetry. Her works reflected the shared themes and motifs of theHarlem Renaissance .Racial pride , rediscovery ofAfrica , recognition ofAfrican music anddance were common themes in Bennett's works.Her column,
The Ebony Flute , was Bennett's link to theHarlem cultural andsocial life. She used it to her advantage to network with otherpoets and to spread the news of theRenaissance . She would feature other writers' work and discuss them in her column. Although Bennett never published a collection of her own works andpoetry , she was a strong influence on theHarlem Renaissance by giving theAfrican American communityracial pride . She also created a romantic vision of beingAfrican through romantic lyric.Harlem Circles
During 1923 to 1931, Bennett started a support group that provided a warm, supportive place for the young writers of
Harlem that provided sustained association with their peers. Included in this group wereLangston Hughes ,Countee Cullen ,Eric Walrond ,Helene Johnson ,Wallace Thurman ,Richard Bruce Nugent ,Aaron Douglas ,Alta Douglass ,Rudolph Fisher andZora Neale Hurston . The group was designed to motivate these young writers to support and encourage each other and were also, in turn, encouraged to aspire to the levels of more established scholars such asCharles S. Johnson ,Alain Locke ,W.E.B. Du Bois ,Jessie Fauset , andJames Weldon Johnson . Bennett said in a 1979 interview that, "nothing like this particular life in which you saw the same group of people over and over again. You were always glad to see them. You always had an exciting time when you were with them." ThisHarlem circle that Gwendolyn developed helped her sustain her steady connection with theRenaissance inNew York throughout a period of her life.Criticism
Her work during this period of her life was very highly praised by her fellow writers in
Harlem . A very well-known playwright,Theodore Ward , declared that Bennett's work was one of the "most promising of the poets out of theHarlem Renaissance " and also called Bennett a "dynamic figure... noted for her depth and understanding." Very high praises for anAfrican American writer during this period of time.J. Mason Brewer , anAfrican American storyteller, called Bennett a "nationally known artist and poetess." Since Mason was also a native Texan, he further stated that as a result of Bennett'sTexas birthplace, "Texans feel that they have a claim on her and that the beautiful and poignant lyrics she writes resulted partially from the impression of her earlyTexas surroundings". Bennett was a breath of Texan airs breezing through the halls of theHarlem Renaissance .Later Life and Harlem Influence
Bennett moved farther away from
Harlem when she married Dr. AlBert Joseph Jackson in 1927 and moved toEustis ,Florida . Jackson died in 1936 and Bennett moved back toNew York . In 1940, Bennett became involved in an interracial marriage withRichard Crosscup which was not socially acceptable at Bennett's time.Harlem was Bennett's passion however and during the late 1930s and the 1940s she remained in the arts and also served as a member of theHarlem Artists Guild in 1935. TheHarlem Community Arts Center was under her leadership from 1939 to 1944. During this time, Bennett was also active on the board of theNegro Playwright's Guild and very involved with the development of theGeorge Washington Carver Community School .Bennett quietly faded from the public eye during the late-1940s but she remained close to the hub of busy
Harlem inNew York and her fellowwriters . She began working for theConsumers Union during the later years of her life. Her retirement occurred in 1968 and moved with her husband, Crosscup, toKutztown ,Pennsylvania where they opened anantique shop . Her husband died in 1980, due to heart failure, and Bennett died onMay 30 ,1981 at theReading County Hospital .Writings
hort Stories
* 1926 —
Wedding Day "Fire!"
* 1927 —Tokens "Ebony" & "Topaz"Nonfiction
* 1926-1928 — "
The Ebony Flute " (column) "Opportunity"
* 1924 — "The Future of the Negro in Art " "Howard University Record" (Dec)
* 1925 — "" "Howard University Record" (Feb)
* 1928 — "The American Negro Paints " "Southern Workman" (Jan)
* 1934 — "I go to Camp " Opportunity (Aug)
* 1934 — "Never the Twain Must Meet " Opportunity (Mar)
* 1935 — "" "Crisis" (June)
* 1937 — "The Harlem Artists Guild " "Art Front" (May)Poetry
* 1923 — "Heritage" "Opportunity" (Dec)
* 1923 — "Nocturne " "Crisis" (Nov)
* 1924 — "To Usward " "Crisis" (May) and "Opportunity" (May)
* 1924 — "Wind " "Opportunity" (Nov)
* 1925 — "On a Birthday " "Opportunity" (Sept)
* 1925 — "Pugation " "Opportunity" (Feb)
* 1926 — "Song " "Palms" (Oct)
* 1926 — "Street Lamps in Early Spring " "Opportunity" (May)
* 1926 — "Lines Written At the Grave of Alexandre Dumas " Opportunity (July)
* 1926 — "Moon Tonight " "Gypsy" (Oct)
* 1926 — "Hatred " "Opportunity" (June)
* 1926 — "Dear Things " "Palms" (Oct)
* 1926 — "Dirge " "Palms" (Oct)
* 1934 — "Epitaph " "Opportunity" (Mar)Her work is featured in numerous anthologies of the period, including the following:
*
Countee Cullen 's "Caroling Dusk " (1924)
*Alain Locke 's "The New Negro " (1925)
*William Braithwaite 's "Yearbook of American Poetry " (1927)References
* "Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets". Ed.
Countee Cullen :New York :Harper, 1927.
* Chaney, Michael A. "Traveling Harlem's Europe: Vagabondage from Slave Narratives to Gwendolyn Bennett's 'Wedding Day' and Claude McKay's Banjo." "Journal of Narrative Theory", 32:1 (2002): 52-76.
* "Ebony and Topaz: A Collectanea". Ed. Charles S. Johnson. New York: Opportunity, National Urban League, 1927. 140-150.
* Govan, Sandra Y. "A Blend of Voices: Composite Narrative Strategies in Biographical Reconstruction." "Recovered Writers/Recovered Texts". Ed. Dolan Hubbard. Knoxville, TN: U of Tennessee P. 1997. 90-104.
* Govan Sandra Y. "After the Renaissance: Gwendolyn Bennett and the WPA years." MAWA-Review 3:2 (Dec 1988): 27-31.
* Govan, Sandra Y. "Kindred Spirits and Sympathetic Souls: Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Bennett in the Renaissance." "Langston Hughes: The Man, His Art and His Continuing Influence". Ed James C. Trotman. New York, NY Garland Press, 1995. 75-85.
* Gwendolyn, Bennetta Bennett. "Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History". New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.
* Hine, Darlene Clark, ed. "Black Women in America." New York: Carlson Pres, 1993.
* Hoffman, Lenore. "The Diaries of Gwendolyn Bennett." "Women Studies Quarterly" 17.3-4 9 [1989] :66.
* Jones, Gwendolyn S. "Gwendolyn Bennett ( [1902] - [1981] )." "African American Authors, [1745] - [1945] : A BioBibliographical Critical Sourcebook." Ed. Emmanuel S. Nelson. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. 18-23
* Shockley, Ann Allen, Afro-American Women Writers 1746-1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide, New Haven, Connecticut: Meridian Books, 1989. ISBN 0-452-00981-2External links
* [http://college.hmco.com/english/heath/syllabuild/iguide/bennett.html Houghton Mifflin's Gwendolyn B. Bennett]
* [http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-5146 See Gwendolyn B. Bennett's poetry in J. Mason Brewer's "Heralding Dawn: an Anthology of Verse"] , published 1936 and hosted by the [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ Portal to Texas History]
* [http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bennett/bennett.htm Modern American Poetry]
* [http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/modern/bennett_gw.html Heath Anthology of American Literature]
* [http://www.dclibrary.org/blkren/bios/bennettg.html The Black Renaissance in Washington]
* [http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/LitMap/bios/Bennett__Gwendolyn.html A Biographical Sketch of Gwendolyn B Bennett]
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