Pulitzer Prize Recipient, Poet. She received world-wide recognition as a 20th century American poet with her collection of poems in the book "Annie Allen," which received the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. She was the first Black writer to receive the Pulitzer Prize. Raised in Chicago, Illinois, her writings focused on life in Chicago's South Side with insight into civil rights issues from a Black person's viewpoint. After publishing her first poem, “Eventide,” in “American Childhood,” a children's magazine, at age thirteen, she published over 75 poems in Chicago's African American newspaper, “Chicago Defender.” By 1945 she started writing poems about the Black community and continued throughout her lifetime. Her education consisted of attending Wilson Junior College and attending poets' workshops. Her first award was in 1943 at the Midwestern Writers' Conference. In 1960 she started her teaching career at Columbia College of Chicago, which followed with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, City College of New York, Northeastern Illinois University, and Elmhurst College. At the time of her death, she was the Distinguished Professor of English at Chicago State University and the Poet Laureate of Illinois. She was awarded over 75 honorary doctorates during her lifetime and won numerous literary awards. She was the poetry consultant to the United States Library of Congress and the first Black woman to hold that position. She married and was the mother of two children. Her cause of death was cancer. Her unique grave marker is a large upright marker in the shape of a book. Titles of “Selected Works” are listed on the back and the spine of the book-like marker.

Pulitzer Prize Recipient, Poet. She received world-wide recognition as a 20th century American poet with her collection of poems in the book "Annie Allen," which received the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. She was the first Black writer to receive the Pulitzer Prize. Raised in Chicago, Illinois, her writings focused on life in Chicago's South Side with insight into civil rights issues from a Black person's viewpoint. After publishing her first poem, “Eventide,” in “American Childhood,” a children's magazine, at age thirteen, she published over 75 poems in Chicago's African American newspaper, “Chicago Defender.” By 1945 she started writing poems about the Black community and continued throughout her lifetime. Her education consisted of attending Wilson Junior College and attending poets' workshops. Her first award was in 1943 at the Midwestern Writers' Conference. In 1960 she started her teaching career at Columbia College of Chicago, which followed with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, City College of New York, Northeastern Illinois University, and Elmhurst College. At the time of her death, she was the Distinguished Professor of English at Chicago State University and the Poet Laureate of Illinois. She was awarded over 75 honorary doctorates during her lifetime and won numerous literary awards. She was the poetry consultant to the United States Library of Congress and the first Black woman to hold that position. She married and was the mother of two children. Her cause of death was cancer. Her unique grave marker is a large upright marker in the shape of a book. Titles of “Selected Works” are listed on the back and the spine of the book-like marker.

Bio by: Oliver