Poets and Libraries: Countee Cullen Visits the Indianapolis Public Library, 1927

Countee Cullen (1903-1946), a graduate of New York University and Harvard University, was a renowned African American poet, author, and playwright who achieved fame during the Harlem Renaissance. He was also a Guggenheim Fellow, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, an instructor of French, English, and creative writing at Frederic Douglass High School in the Bronx, New York; and wrote a column for Opportunity Magazine called "The Dark Tower". Cullen's first wife, Nina Yolande Du Bois, was the daughter of W.E.B. Du Bois; his second wife was Ida Mae Robertson.


On Saturday, February 26, 1927, Countee Cullen made a visit to the Paul Laurence Dunbar Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library in Indianapolis, Indiana where a tea was held for him by the library's staff. Hallie Beachem Brooks (1907-1985), manager of the Dunbar Branch; and Lillian Haydon Childress Hall (1889-1958), head librarian at the Crispus Attucks Branch served as the program's hostesses. Other attendees present at the tea were Charles E. Rush, director of the Indianapolis Public Library; music teacher Lillian LeMon, singer Lucretia Mitchell, Ada Dodson, Lucille Armsted, Juanita Bobson, Dora Atkins, Murray Atkins, and Sophia Freeman. Attendees at the tea were treated to a poetry reading by Cullen.


Cullen had travelled to Indianapolis, Indiana at the invitation of the Senate Avenue YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association). The Senate Avenue YMCA was preparing its annual recital and wanted Cullen to give a poetry reading at the event. [Note: Founded in 1913, the Senate Avenue YMCA served the African American men and boys of Indianapolis. Madame C.J. Walker gave a gift of $1,000 to aide in the building's construction; Booker T. Washington attended the dedication ceremony].


The Senate Avenue YMCA's recital took place on Friday, February 25, 1927 at Caleb Mills Hall inside Shortridge High School. In addition to Countee Cullen, other performers at the recital included Walter M. Price, a baritone who studied under Oscar Seagel; and the Reginald DuValle Orchestra, also known as the "Ten Blackbirds" (the group's leader, Reginald DuValle worked with musician Hoagy Carmichael and was an alumni of Shortridge High School; DuValle also performed at the 1927 grand opening of the Madame Walker Theatre). [Note: YouTube has a video of Reginald DuValle's son, Reginald Jr. speaking about his father's work with Hoagy Carmichael: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-5ppnee7eU ].


Lillian Haydon Childress Hall of the Indianapolis Public Library; Lula Hoss of the All Souls Unitarian Church; Homer Borst of the Indianapolis Community Fund; the Kirshbaum Center; the  Kautz Stationary Company; the Senate Avenue YMCA Committee of Management along with Marimon Hansberry, Ada Dodson, Phyllis Waters, Daisy Payne, J.B. Coleman, J.K. Lilly, and Sue Artis successfully combined their efforts in selling as many tickets as possible to this historic event. [Note: Sue Artis was the wife of Lionel F. Artis. Lionel F. Artis was the assistant secretary of the Senate Avenue YMCA, served as an officer of the Indianapolis branch of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, served on the board of the Urban League of Indianapolis, worked with the Boy Scouts, and was a graduate of Indiana University and the University of Chicago. His papers are housed at the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis, Indiana]


Before leaving town, Countee Cullen visited his friend Hale A. Woodruff (1900-1980), an African American painter and muralist famous for the murals "Amistad Mutiny". Woodruff studied under artist Diego Rivera (his wife was painter Frida Kahlo), attended the John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis (now the Herron School of Art and Design), and once worked for the Senate Avenue YMCA. In addition, he taught art at Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University and New York University. Mr. Woodruff passed away in 1980 at the age of 80.


Sources: "Negro Poet to Read." Indianapolis News 12 Feb. 1927: 8. Print. ; "Gives Tea for Mr. Cullen." Indianapolis Recorder 5 Mar. 1927: 5 Print. ; Thompson, Aaron Belford. "Welcome to Countee Cullen." Indianapolis Recorder 26 Feb. 1927: 2. Print. ; "Cullen, Price, DuValle Orchestra Recital Promise Treat at Caleb Mills Hall." Indianapolis Recorder 19 Feb. 1927: 5. Print. ; "Author is to Speak at Monster Meeting." Indianapolis News 5 Feb 1927: 3 Print. ; Fenton, Michele T. "Stepping Out on Faith: Lillian Haydon Childress Hall, Pioneer Black Librarian." Indiana Libraries 33.1 (2014): 7. Print. ; Molesworth, Charles. And Bid Him Sing: A Biography of Countee Cullen. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2012. 162-163. Print. ; "Countee Cullen." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 17 May 2015. ; "Wavelengths - Bits of Static." Indianapolis News 10 Feb. 1927: 16. Print. ; Williams, David Leander. Indianapolis Jazz: The Masters, Legends, and Legacy of Indiana Avenue. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2014. 27-29. Print. ; Bolden, C. Nickerson. Indiana Avenue: Entertainment Boulevard. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009. Print. ; Bundles, A'Lelia. Madam Walker Theatre Center: An Indianapolis Treasure. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2013. Print. ; Warren, Stanley. "The Monster Meetings at the Negro YMCA in Indianapolis." Indiana Magazine of History 91.1 (1995): 57-80. Print. ; Burlock, Melissa Grace. "The Battle Over a Black YMCA and Its Inner-City Community: The Fall Creek Parkway YMCA As a Lens on Indianapolis' Urban Revitalization and School Desegregation, 1959-2003." MA thesis. Indiana University, 2014. PDF file. ; Jennings, Corrine. "Hale Woodruff: African-American Metaphor, Myth, and Allegory." A Shared Heritage: Art by Four African Americans. Ed. William E. Taylor and Harriet G. Warkel. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 1996. 78. Print. ; Dunkley, Tina. "Hale Woodruff (1900-1980)." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 6 Dec. 2013. Web. 24 May 2015. ; Yoon, Christina Jin. "Woodruff, Hale Aspacio (1900-1980)." BlackPast. BlackPast.org, n.d. Web. 24 May 2015. ; Davis, Donald F. "Hale Woodruff of Atlanta: Molder of Black Artists." Journal of Negro History 69.3-4 (1984):147-154. Print. ; Taylor, William E. "Woodruff, Hale Aspacio (Aug. 6, 1900-Sept. 6, 1980)." Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Eds. David J. Bodenhamer and Roger G. Barrows. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 1994. 1452. Print.; Taylor, William E. "Hardrick, John Wesley (1891-Oct. 18, 1968)." Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Eds. David J. Bodenhamer and Roger G. Barrows. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 1994. 660. Print. ; Pierce, Richard. "Little Progress 'Happens'": Faburn E. DeFrantz and the Indianapolis Senate Avenue YMCA." Indiana Magazine of History 108.2 (2012): 98-103. Print. ; Warren, Stanley. Senate Avenue YMCA: For African American Men and Boys, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1913-1959. Indianapolis: Donning, 2006. Print. ; "Lionel F. Artis Eulogized as Outstanding Leader in the Indianapolis Community." Indianapolis Recorder 11 Sept. 1971: 1, 15. Print. ; "Lionel Artis (Photo)." Indianapolis Recorder 4 Sept. 1971:1. Print. ; "Local Branch of N.A.A.C.P. Elects Officers." Indianapolis Recorder 7 Apr. 1928: 2. Print. ; "Governor Speaks to Y.M.C.A. Men." Indianapolis Recorder 20 Feb. 1926: 1. Print. ; "St. Philip's Episcopal Church." Indianapolis Recorder 18 Sept. 1915: 4. Print. ; "Indianapolis Business Association." Indianapolis Recorder 12 Mar. 1927: 3. Print. ; "Local N.A.A.C.P. Selects Committee for Conference." Indianapolis Recorder 12 Mar. 1927: 2. Print. ; "Y.M.C.A. Notes." Indianapolis Recorder 18 Sept. 1915: 4. Print. ; "Y.M.C.A." Indianapolis Recorder 15 Sept. 1911: 2. Print. ; "Twelfth Annual Lenton Tea to Be Given By Members of St. Monica's Guild." Indianapolis Recorder 6 Mar. 1937: 5. Print. ; "Simpson M.E. Will Observe Anniversary." Indianapolis Recorder 5 Nov. 1932: 3. Print. ; "Guidance Program for H.S. Seniors." Indianapolis Recorder 21 May 1932: 6. Print. ; "Kappas Will Give Prom Soon." Indianapolis Recorder 21 May 1932: 6. Print. ; "Lockefield Rents on Same Level as Slum Houses." Indianapolis Recorder 15 May 1937: 1.Print. ; Skeleton, Robert E. "Donations Received for Drum and Bugle Corps." Indianapolis Recorder 6 Mar. 1936. 5. Print.

Anne Spencer and the Dunbar Branch of the George M. Jones Memorial Library (Lynchburg, Virginia)

Anne Spencer was Lynchburg's first African American librarian. She was the first librarian of the Dunbar Branch of the George M. Jones Memorial Library, where she served from 1923 until 1945. The branch was located inside Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and served the African American residents of Lynchburg. Ms. Spencer was also a poet and part of the Harlem Renaissance. She passed away in 1975.

Sources: Wright, Joyce C. " Black Librarians as Creative Writers." The Handbook of Black Librarianship. Ed. E.J. Josey and Marva L. DeLoach. 2nd ed. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2000. 254-256. Print. ; Shockley, Anne Allen. "Librarians, Archivists, and Writers: A Perspective." The Black Librarian in America Revisited. Ed. E.J. Josey. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1994. 322. Print. ; Morrison, Ken. "A History of the Lynchburg Public Library." Virginia Libraries 52.4 (2006):2-3. Print. ; Doyle, Patricia K. "The Lynchburg Public Library Celebrates Its Fortieth Birthday." Lynch's Ferry (Fall 2005): 1. Print. ; Smith, Jessie Carney. "Black Women, Civil Rights, & Libraries." Untold Stories: Civil Rights, Libraries, and Black Librarianship. Ed. John Mark Tucker. Champaign: Board of Trustees of U of Illinois, 1998. 142-143. Print. ; Parkhurst, Erin. "Literary Luminary: Celebrating Poet Anne Spencer." Virginia Living 9.2 (2011): 17. Print.

Related Post:  Rachel Davis Harris and the Colored Branches of the Louisville Free Public Library, Louisville, Kentucky

Update 10/27/2019:

Anne Spencer will be one of several African Americans featured in the United States Postal Service's Voices of the Harlem Renaissance series of postal stamps to be issued in 2020:

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2019/1022-usps-unveils-2020-stamps.htm

Sources: Associated Press. "New Stamp to Honor Virginia Poet, Civil Rights Leader." Washington Post. 25 Oct. 2019. Web. 27 Oct. 2019. ; Gillis, Casey. "Anne Spencer, Harlem Renaissance Poet and Civil Rights Activist, to be Honored on Postage Stamp." News & Advance 23 Oct. 2019. Web. 27 Oct. 2019. ; "2020 Forever Stamp Program Offers Something for Everyone: Love, Arnold Palmer, Hip Hop and Earth Day Among Subjects Feature." USPS.com.  United States Postal Service, 22 Oct. 2019. Web. 27 Oct. 2019.