The month of February is when the nation’s attention is focused on the lives, work and history of Black people in the United States. Obviously, the hundreds of years of history – both positive and negative – can not be sufficiently studied in the time frame of 29 days, so we are focusing on the works of a few as a representative of the many.

In the lobby of the library at 200 East Washington Street, we have created a display of several aspect of African American life in Jefferson County during the 150 years or so. There are examples of notable students of Storer College, the former landmark educational institution which was in Harpers Ferry; a map showing the primary 24 African American communities that existed in Jefferson County and then a focus on two men who were part of John Brown’s assault on Harpers Ferry in 1859.

Here we are looking at some of the most important Black writers of the 20th century and their work.

James McBride

Although author James McBride wasn’t born in West Virginia and hasn’t lived in the state, one of his books in particular has a very strong connection with Jefferson County.

Born on September 11th, 1957 to Rev. Andrew D. McBride and Ruchel Dwajra Zylska, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, McBride called New York City home as a child.  His mother later remarried, as McBride’s father died at the age of 45.  He has a total of 11 siblings.  Educated at Oberlin College, he also received a journalism degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism.

His first book, The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, was released in 1995 and spent over two years on The New York Times bestseller list.  A memoir, it details his life growing up in a family that identified as African American, yet was headed by a Jewish, Eastern-European mother.  The book has sold over 2.1 million copies

The memoir was followed by Miracle at St. Anna, which was based upon the exploits of the 92nd Infantry Division, a largely African American unit, in Italy during World War II. Next came Song Yet Sung.

In 2013, he released The Good Lord Bird, which serves as his connection to Harpers Ferry, WV.  The book follows Henry Shackleford, who is an enslaved person, living in Kansas.  He meets John Brown, of John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry fame, and travels with him.  Set up as a faux-memoir, the book is told through Henry’s point of view and chronicles his meetings with Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and other famous Americans, as well as historical events, like the attack on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry.  The Good Lord Bird won the National Book Award for Fiction that year and has since been adapted into a television series.

McBride was honored by President Barack Obama in 2016 with the National Humanities Medal.  More recently he has released Five-Carat Soul, Deacon King Kong, and The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.  He is currently the Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at New York University.

Not limited just to writing, McBride is also a saxophonist and composer.

The Charles Town Library has books available by James McBride, including:

For adults:

-The Color of Water
-Miracle at St. Anna
-The Good Lord Bird
-Deacon King Kong
-The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler, one of the preeminent American science fiction writers was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena, California.  Her father, a shoe shiner, died when she was seven, and her mother, a maid, raised her with the help of Octavia’s grandmother.

Butler was painfully shy as a child and she suffered from a mild form of dyslexia, which left school far less than enjoyable.  She found refuge in the Pasadena Central Library, where she read extensively.  As a child she was first drawn to books about horses and fairy tales, but soon moved on to science fiction.

Often carrying her “big pink notebook,” to write stories, by age 10 she had convinced her mother to buy her a typewriter, and by age 12, upon watching a science fiction film, she declared she could write it better herself.  After graduating from high school, she began to work during the day and attend classes at Pasadena City College at night.  Her first year there, she won a short story contest and a $15 prize, her first income from writing.

After graduation, she worked a series of jobs while writing in her spare time and eventually began to see some success, after taking workshops and courses that enabled her to network with fellow writers, and, more specifically, African American writers.  By 1978, she was making sufficient money from writing to make it her full time occupation.

In 1984, Butler was awarded a Hugo Award for Best Short Story.  She also received a MacArthur Fellowship, the first African American science fiction writer to do so.  Unfortunately, she suffered from depression later in life which led to writer’s block.  Butler continued to write, though, until her death in 2006, while also teaching writing through various outlets.  Not only did her courses focus on writing science fiction, but also viewing the African American experience through the lens of science fiction.

The Charles Town Library has these books by Octavia Butler available for check out:

For adults:
-Adulthood Rites
-Dawn
-Imago
-Kindred 

Walter Dean Myers

Prolific children’s and young adult writer Walter Dean Myers, with over 100 books to his name, was actually born right here in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Myers was born on August 12th, 1937, in Martinsburg and stayed in Berkeley County until the age of three.  He was then sent to  Harlem where he was raised by the first wife of his biological father, Florence, and her then-husband, Herbert Dean.  In adulthood Myers would replace his given middle name, Milton, with Dean.  Florence, a high school teacher, had Indigenous and German roots, while Herbert was African-American.

A smart, but unambitious student, Myers was encouraged by a teacher to take up writing as a way to express himself, as he suffered with a speech impediment.  He dropped out of school at the age of 17 to join the Army.  After being decommissioned, he worked a series of jobs including construction, but decided to take up writing again.  Myers worked during the day and wrote articles for magazines at night.

Eventually, he began to write about his own early life and

upbringing and found his niche.  Myers would go on to write over 100 books, numerous essays, and many magazine articles.  Over his career he won several awards and accolades including the American Library Association’s Margaret Edwards Award and the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

He died after a brief illness on July 1st, 2014.  His son, Christopher Myers, is also an author and artist.

The Charles Town Library has quite a few books available by Myers, including:

For children:
-Jazz
-How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World
-At Her Majesty’s Request: An African Princess in Victorian 
-England

For middle readers:
-The Dream Bearer
-The Cruisers: A Star is Born
-The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: A World War II
-Soldier
-Riot

For young adults:
-Monster
-Invasion
-All the Right Stuff
-Sunrise Over Fallujah

 

Zora Neale Hurston

A staple of American literature and theater, Hurston was born in Alabama on January 7th, 1891, the fifth of eight children to John, a Baptist minister and carpenter, and Lucy, a former school teacher.  They soon moved to Eatonville, Florida, the first incorporated African American community in the country.  After her mother died in 1904, she frequently clashed with her step-mother, who was said to be frivolous with the family’s money, leading Zora to drop out of school and take odd jobs.

Hurston took to the road, working as a maid for a singer in a Gilbert and Sullivan performing act.  By the age of 26, she still hadn’t completed a high school education.  Ever resourceful, she dropped ten years from her age and enrolled in a public school in Baltimore and earned a diploma.  From that time forward, she never restored the decade to her age.  She then took a degree from Barnard College.

She became part of the celebrated group of African American writers, artists, and intellectuals known as the Harlem Renaissance.  Even though her work was popular and she won many awards and accolades, Hurston didn’t enjoy financial success.  She never received a royalty larger than $1,000 for any of her work.  At the time of her death in 1960, friends and neighbors had to take up a collection to pay for her burial costs.  A headstone wasn’t added until 1973.

The Charles Town Library has a number of books by and about Hurston, including:

For primary grade:
-Zora!: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Judith Bloom Fradin

For middle readers:
-Sorrow’s Kitchen: The Life and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston
-Barracoon: Young Readers’ Edition by Zora Neale Hurston

For adults:
-Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography by Zora Neale Hurston
-The Complete Stories by Zora Neale Hurston
-Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories of the Harlem Renaissance by Zora Neale Hurston
-You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Stories by Zora Neale Hurston
-Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston