Gwendolyn B. Bennett

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Gwendolyn B. Bennett, 1902–May 30, 1981), an American artist, writer, and journalist who contributed to Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, a Harlem Renaissance journal that chronicled cultural transitions during the Harlem Renaissance.

Despite being often overlooked, she and poetry also made significant contributions in poetry and prose.

She is perhaps best known for her short story "Wedding Day," which was released in the first issue of Fire!!. Different racial groups were not united in this effort, highlighting the ramifications of different racial groups' inability not to work together.

Bennett, a dedicated and self-preserving woman who was well-known for her role in the Harlem Renaissance as a key influencer of African-American women rights.

Bennett set the bar high when it came to women's literature and education through her dedication and perseverance.

One of her Harlem Renaissance contributions was her literary acclaimed short novel "Poets Evening"; it contributed to increased understanding among African-American families, resulting in many African-Americans coming to terms with identifying and accepting themselves.

Early life and education

Joshua Robbin Bennett Bennett Bennett, and Mayme F. Bennett were born in Giddings, Texas, on July 8 1902. She spent her early years on the Paiute Indian Reservation in Wadsworth, Nevada. Her parents served in the Indian Service for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Since Bennett was four years old, her family moved to 1454 T Street NW, Washington, D.C., so Joshua could study law at Howard University and Mayme could train to be a beautician.

When she was seven years old, Gwendolyn's parents divorced. Mayme obtained custody of Gwendolyn, but Joshua abducted his daughter. They lived in poverty, including Marechal Neil, her stepmother, who lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Brooklyn, New York, where she attended Brooklyn Girls' High School from 1918 to 1921.

Bennett gained first place in a school-wide art competition and was the first African American to join literary and dramatic societies at Girls' High. She wrote her high-school drama and was also known as an actress. She wrote both the class grading address and the words to the graduation song.

Bennett attended art classes at Columbia University and the Pratt Institute after her 1921 graduation. Her poem "Heritage" appeared in The Crisis, the NAACP's magazine, in November 1923, and "Heritage" was included in Opportunity, a magazine published by the National Urban League in December. "To Usward" was selected as a dedication for Jessie Fauset's book "There Is Confusion" at a Civic Club dinner hosted by Charles S. Johnson in 1924.

Bennett graduated from Columbia and Pratt in 1924 and accepted a Howard University teaching design, watercolor painting, and crafts. During December 1924, Bennett was given a scholarship allowing her to study in Sorbonne, France. She continued her fine arts education at the Académie Julian and the École du Panthéon in Paris. Bennett worked with a variety of media during her studies in Paris, including watercolor, oil, woodcuts, pen and ink, and batik, which was the beginning of her career as a graphic artist. However, the majority of her pieces from this period of her life were destroyed in 1926 during a fire at her stepmother's house.

Later life and Harlem influence

Bennett resigned from Howard University after marrying Dr. Albert Joseph Jackson in 1927 as the school's administration disapproved of their union. The couple moved to Eustis, Florida, in the same year. Her time in Florida had a negative effect on her career, as it was far enough from Harlem to prompt for her to write about in her column for Opportunity.

They remained in Florida for only three years and then to Long Island in 1930, owing to the bigotry they encountered and their community's financial crisis. Since being involved with the Federal Writers Project and the Federal Art Project, Bennett began to write more often. Jackson died in 1936 and Bennett moved to New York after losing their home in Long Island.

Richard Crosscup, an European ancestor, married her educator and writer in 1940. Bennett's time, their interracial union was not socially acceptable. Harlem maintained Bennett's passion, but she stayed in the arts into the late 1930s and 1940s. She joined the Harlem Artists Guild in 1935, and the Harlem Community Art Center was under her care from 1939 to 1944.

She served on the board of the Negro Playwright's Guild and was involved in the establishment of the George Washington Carver Community School during this period. Bennett was convicted of being a Communist in 1941 and continued to do so on and off until 1959, but no conclusive or evidential findings were found. However, this exposure made her to withdraw herself from the public eye and she began working as a Consumer Union secretary.

Bennett and her husband, Richard Crosscup, escaped to Kutztown, Pennsylvania, where they opened an antiques store named Buttonwood Hollow Antiques.

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