Literary Ladies Guide

Presented here are twelve Black American suffragists whose contributions shouldn’t be overlooked. This is just a small sampling of the many Black women who fought for women’s right to vote.

The women’s suffrage movement in the United States led to the establishment of the legal right for women to vote nationally when the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920. 

As the women’s suffrage movement gained momentum in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Black women were often marginalized. They dealt with the political concerns of white suffragists who were aware that they needed the support of  Southern legislators both on the state and federal levels. Read More→

If you or someone you love is both an Emily Dickinson aficionado and an avid gardener, Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life by Marta McDowell is a book to treasure. This 2019 publication (Timber Press, Portland, OR) is a full color, lushly illustrated homage to an enigmatic woman who was not only a brilliant poet, but a keen observer of the natural world around her.

Organized by season, this gorgeous book is revised from an edition first published in 2004, by an author whose expertise in gardens dovetails with an avid interest in classic women authors who cultivated them. From the publisher: Read More→

Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888) may be best known as the author of Little Women and its sequels, but there was more to her than these genteel (yet gently subversive) domestic tales. The fascinating facts about Louisa May Alcott that follow might surprise those who don’t know a lot about the woman behind Little Women.

From her teen years on, Louisa was determined to make a living as a writer. She became the Alcott family’s primary breadwinner at a young age, mostly by writing and selling anonymous thrillers, or what she called “blood and thunder” tales.

And from there her writing life unfolded, often in unexpected ways. She was a complex woman whose views were reflected in her literary output.  Read More→

Hilda Doolittle (1886 – 1961), known by her nom de plume H.D., was an American-born poet, novelist, translator, and essayist. Following is a selection of poems by H.D. that speak to her experimental and innovative approach to the craft. 

Modernism, psychoanalysis, and feminism were all influences on her work, as were the effects of World Wars I and II. H.D earned her place among iconic modernist writers including T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, and William Carlos Williams.

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Anne Spencer, born Annie Bethel Bannister (February 6, 1882 – July 27, 1975), was a poet, teacher, librarian, gardener, and civil rights activist. In this sampling of poems by Anne Spencer, we experience her affinity for nature, love, and life itself.

Anne Spencer was a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Her literary career began as she was a student in Virginia Seminary with her first poem, “The Skeptic.” After creating this poem, she continued to write on any surface she could find to record her thoughts, including the walls of her home and random scraps of paper.

This talented poet and gardener was an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, and granting the right of respect to everyone.

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Hilda Doolittle (September 10, 1886 – September 27, 1961) was an American-born poet, novelist, translator, and essayist who wrote under the pen name H.D.

She was profoundly influenced by the effects of World War I, and the subsequent trends of modernism, psychoanalysis, and feminism.

Her work is often framed within the context of other important modernist writers such as T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, and William Carlos Williams. Today, she’s best remembered for her innovation and experimental approach to poetry. Read More→

Anne Spencer (born Annie Bethel Bannister; February 6, 1882 – July 27, 1975) was an American poet, teacher, librarian, gardener, and civil rights activist.

She’s best remembered as an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance and  as the second African-American poet to be included in the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.

Anne was born in Henry County, Virginia, to  Joel Cephus Bannister and Sarah Louise Scales. Both parents were part of the first generation of African Americans born into bondage whose childhood followed the end of slavery. As an only child, she was the center of her parents’ lives, and they were determined to make a better life for her.
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Zora Neale Hurston (1891 – 1960), the African-American author and anthropologist, was a natural storyteller. Presented here is a survey of books by Zora Neale Hurston — her novels, folklore collections, and essays.

Zora’s love of story resulted in an array of novels and short stories as well as compilations gathered from oral traditions of the Black cultures of the American South and the Caribbean.

Zora made a name for herself during the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 1920s, when she began producing novels, short stories, plays, essays, and a modest output of poetry. Upon graduating from Barnard College in 1928, she embarked on a parallel career as an anthropologist. Read More→