Field of excellence
Literature
Poets, novelists, and essayists.
On the timeline
- August 25, 1746· debatedLucy Terry composes "Bars Fight"
The earliest known work of literature by an African American.
- December 3, 1847Frederick Douglass launches The North Star
Douglass founds his abolitionist newspaper under the masthead "Right is of no Sex — Truth is of no Color."
- 1853William Wells Brown publishes "Clotel"
The first novel published by an African American.
- July 1919Claude McKay's "If We Must Die"
Published amid the Red Summer's racial violence, McKay's defiant sonnet becomes a touchstone of Black resistance poetry.
- March 1940Richard Wright's "Native Son"
A searing bestseller reshapes American literature on race.
- April 14, 1952Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man"
Ralph Ellison's novel of Black invisibility in America wins the National Book Award and becomes a cornerstone of American literature.
- 1969Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
Angelou's memoir becomes a defining work of American letters.
- 1982Alice Walker's "The Color Purple"
Walker's novel wins the Pulitzer Prize the following year.
- May 18, 1993Rita Dove named US Poet Laureate
Dove becomes the first Black US Poet Laureate.