Effie Lee Newsome (1885–1979), a writer associated with the Harlem Renaissance, wrote poetry that was widely published in journals and anthologies of the 1920s. Notably, these included NAACP’s The Crisis and the Urban League’s Opportunity, and Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets, edited by Countee Cullen.

Mary Effie Lee was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in Wilberforce, Ohio. She took classes at Wilberforce University, Oberlin College, the Philadelphia Academy of the Arts, and the University of Pennsylvania, exploring her dual interests in writing and art. Effie and her sister Consuelo both did illustration for children’s magazines.

As the editor of the children’s column “Little Page” in The Crisis, Effie Lee was one of the first  to write poems expressly for Black children. Her poetry encouraged younger readers to appreciate their worth and beauty. Read More→