Gwendolyn Brooks Biography (1917–2000)
Gwendolyn Brooks Biography (1917–2000)
Gwendolyn Brooks was a postwar poet best known as the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for her 1949 book 'Annie Allen.'
Who Was Gwendolyn Brooks?
Poet Gwendolyn Brooks moved to Chicago at a young age. She began writing and publishing as a teenager, eventually achieving national fame for her 1945 collection A Street in Bronzeville. In 1950 Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize, for her book Annie Allen. She died in her Chicago home on December 3, 2000.
Early Life
Brooks was born on June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas. When Brooks was six weeks old, her family moved to Chicago as part of the Great Migration. She was known as "Gwendie" to close friends and family during her childhood.
Brooks attended three high schools: the prestigious, integrated Hyde Park High School; the all-Black Wendell Phillips Academy High School; and the integrated Englewood High School. The racial prejudice that she encountered at some of these institutions would shape her understanding of social dynamics in the United States and influence her writing. In 1936, Brooks graduated from Wilson Junior College, having already begun to write and publish her work.
READ MORE: Gwendolyn Brooks Biography (1917–2000) https://www.biography.com/writer/gwendolyn...
Gwendolyn Brooks was a postwar poet best known as the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for her 1949 book 'Annie Allen.'
Who Was Gwendolyn Brooks?
Poet Gwendolyn Brooks moved to Chicago at a young age. She began writing and publishing as a teenager, eventually achieving national fame for her 1945 collection A Street in Bronzeville. In 1950 Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize, for her book Annie Allen. She died in her Chicago home on December 3, 2000.
Early Life
Brooks was born on June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas. When Brooks was six weeks old, her family moved to Chicago as part of the Great Migration. She was known as "Gwendie" to close friends and family during her childhood.
Brooks attended three high schools: the prestigious, integrated Hyde Park High School; the all-Black Wendell Phillips Academy High School; and the integrated Englewood High School. The racial prejudice that she encountered at some of these institutions would shape her understanding of social dynamics in the United States and influence her writing. In 1936, Brooks graduated from Wilson Junior College, having already begun to write and publish her work.
READ MORE: Gwendolyn Brooks Biography (1917–2000) https://www.biography.com/writer/gwendolyn...
QUICK FACTS
Gwendolyn Brooks
June 7, 1917 - December 3, 2000
Gwendolyn Brooks is the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Hyde Park High School, Wendell Phillips Academy High School, Englewood High School, Wilson Junior College
Topeka, Kansas, Chicago Illinois
GwendieGwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks