Louise Meriwether

{{Infobox writer

| name = Louise Meriwether

| image = Louise_Meriwether_nonfree.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| pseudonym =

| birth_name = Louise Jenkins

| birth_date = {{birth date|1923|05|08}}

| birth_place = Haverstraw, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|10|10|1923|05|08}}

| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.

| resting_place =

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Novelist
biographer
journalist
activist

}}

| language =

| nationality = American

| ethnicity =

| citizenship =

| education = Central Commercial High School
New York University (BA)
University of California, Los Angeles (MA)

| alma_mater =

| notableworks = Daddy Was a Number Runner (1970)

| awards =

| years_active =

}}

Louise Meriwether (May 8, 1923 – October 10, 2023) was an American novelist, essayist, journalist and activist, as well as a writer of biographies of historically important African Americans for children. She is best known for her first novel, Daddy Was a Number Runner (1970), which draws on autobiographical elements about growing up in Harlem, New York City, during the Depression and in the era after the Harlem Renaissance.

Early life and education

She was born in Haverstraw, New York, to Marion Lloyd Jenkins and Julia Jenkins. After the stock market crash of October 1929, her parents had migrated north in search of work, from South Carolina, where her father was a painter and bricklayer and her mother worked as a domestic.Rhonda Saldivar, [http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/louise-jenkins-meriwether-1923 Meriwether, Louise Jenkins Meriwether (1923– )], Blackpast.org, February 13, 2008. Meriwether grew up in Harlem during the Great Depression, the only daughter and the third of five children.William L. Andrews, Frances Smith Foster and Trudier Harris, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Oxford University Press, 1997; pp. 493–94.Darlene Clark Hine, [http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195156775.001.0001/acref-9780195156775-e-0296 "Meriwether, Louise"], in Black Women in America (2nd edition), Oxford University Press, 2005.

Meriwether graduated from Central Commercial High School in Manhattan and then, while working as a secretary, studied at night for a B.A. degree in English from New York University.Margaret Busby (ed.), Daughters of Africa, Ballantine Books, 1994, p. 301. She went on to earn an M.A. in journalism in 1965 from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she moved with her first husband, Angelo Meriwether, a Los Angeles teacher. Although this marriage, as well as her second marriage to Earle Howe, ended in divorce she continued to use the name Meriwether. She worked as a freelance reporter (1961–64) for the Los Angeles Sentinel and a black story analyst (1965–67) for Universal Studios, the first black woman hired as a story editor in Hollywood.Brenda M. Greene, [https://www.bkreader.com/local-voices/louise-meriwether-a-life-of-writing-and-activism-6958030 "Louise Meriwether: A Life of Writing and Activism"], BKReader, May 5, 2023. Reprinted from Konch Magazine, Winter 2019. While still living in Los Angeles, working with the Watts Writers Workshop, Meriwether was approached to be editor-in-chief of a new magazine for Black women called Essence but she declined, saying she preferred to write for them, her article "Black Man, Do You Love Me?" appearing as the cover story for the magazine's first issue in May 1970.Edward Lewis, [https://books.google.com/books?id=L4W4AwAAQBAJ&q=Louise+meriwether&pg=PA108 The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women], Atria Books (Simon & Schuster), 2014, pp. 107–08.

Writing

In 1970 she published her first and most successful book, Daddy Was a Number Runner (with a foreword by James Baldwin), a novel that uses autobiographical elements about growing up in Harlem during the Depression and in the era after the Harlem Renaissance, is considered a classic.[http://m.writerscenter.org/brownmeriwether.html "Then and Now"] (The Hudson Valley Writers' Center presents a reading with Wesley Brown, Louise Meriwether, Sunday, February 11th, 2007, 4:30 pm), HVWC. In the words of Paule Marshall: "The novel's greatest achievement lies in the sense of black life that it conveys: vitality and force behind the despair. It celebrates the positive values behind the black experience: the tenderness and love that often lie underneath the abrasive surfaces of relationships...the humor that has long been an important part of the black survival kit, and the heroism of ordinary folk...a most important novel."[https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Louise+Meriwether "Louise Meriwether | AALBC mourns the passing of Louise Meriwether"], Aalbc.com. The novel sold more than 400,000 copies.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-10-17/louise-jenkins-meriwether-james-baldwin-black-literature-los-angeles|title=Opinion: Why Louise Jenkins Meriwether, the Black author and activist, should be a household name|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |first=Cassandra|last=Lane|date=October 17, 2023}}

Becoming part of a group of young New York-based writer friends that included Rosa Guy and Maya Angelou, Meriwether later recalled: "We partied. All over. Wherever we were, we partied. ...Then, of course, we got our work done. We believed in enjoying ourselves and enjoying each other."Nancy Dillon, [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/caribbean-american-writer-activist-rosa-guy-dies-89-article-1.1091860 "Caribbean-American writer-activist Rosa Guy dies at 89"], New York Daily News, June 7, 2012.Vivian Lee, [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/nyregion/maya-angelou-often-left-new-york-but-she-always-came-back.html "Maya Angelou Often Left New York, but She Always Came Back"], The New York Times, May 29, 2014.

Meriwether began writing biographies for children about historically important African Americans — including Robert Smalls, Daniel Hale Williams, and Rosa Parks — and later explained: "After publication of my first novel ... I turned my attention to black history for the kindergarten set, recognizing that the deliberate omission of Blacks from American history has been damaging to the children of both races. It reinforces in one a feeling of inferiority and in the other a myth of superiority."[https://books.google.com/books?id=Fky_qHHEvXkC&dq=%22louise+meriwether%22&pg=PA271 Louise Meriwether to Mary Helen Washington, in Black-Eyed Susans: Classic Stories By and About Black Women] (1975), quoted in Susan Koppelman (ed.), The Other Woman: Stories of Two Women and a Man, Feminist Press, 1984, p. 271.

Meriwether would later publish the novels Francie's Harlem (1988), Fragments of the Ark (1994),[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/louise-meriwether/fragments-of-the-ark/ "Fragments of the Ark" review], Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 1993. and Shadow Dancing (2000).

Her short stories have appeared in The Antioch Review and Negro Digest, as well as in anthologies including Black-Eyed Susans: Classic Stories by and About Black Women (ed. Mary Helen Washington, 1975), Confirmation: An Anthology of African American Women (eds Amina Baraka & Amiri Baraka, 1983), The Other Woman (ed. Toni Cade Bambara, 1984) and Daughters of Africa (ed. Margaret Busby, 1992). She wrote the Introduction to The Givens Collection edition of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.[https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Incidents-in-the-Life-of-a-Slave-Girl/Harriet-Jacobs/9780743460569 "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl"], Simon & Schuster (Atria Books, 2003).

Meriwether also taught creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and at the University of Houston. She was awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mellon Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts and the Rabinowitz Foundation.

Activism

Meriwether had over the years been involved with various organized black causes, including the founding, with John Henrik Clarke, of the anti-Apartheid group Black Concern (originally the Committee of Concerned Blacks),Roger M. Valade III, The Essential Black Literature Guide, Visible Ink, in association with the Schomburg Center, 1996; p. 256.[http://africanactivist.msu.edu/organization.php?name=Black%20Concern "Black Concern"], African Activist Archive. the Harlem Writers Guild,A.J. Muhammad, [https://www.nypl.org/blog/2023/02/23/when-harlem-writers-guild-came-home-schomburg-center "When the Harlem Writers Guild Came Home to the Schomburg Center"], Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, February 22, 2023. and (with Vantile Whitfield) the Black Anti-Defamation Association (BADA; also known as Association to End Defamation of Black People)Keith Gilyard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jm7ZPJ0FpqUC&dq=%22louise+meriwether%22+%22ossie+davis%22&pg=PA235 John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism], University of Georgia Press, 2010, p. 235. that was formed to prevent Twentieth Century Fox's producer David L. Wolper from making a film of William Styron's controversial 1967 novel The Confessions of Nat Turner, which misinterpreted African-American history.Kenneth S. Greenberg (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=3BT5VdTmj6UC&q=%22louise+meriwether%22+&pg=PA248 Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory], pp. 244, 246–48.Christopher Sieving, [https://books.google.com/books?id=l0UGHk2VfJEC&q=%22louise+meriwether%22+&pg=PA224 Soul Searching: Black-Themed Cinema from the March on Washington to the Rise of Blaxploitation], Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2011, p. 101.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2211&dat=19690222&id=eRZKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KCENAAAAIBAJ&pg=3583,784427 "Nat Turner film won't slur hero"], The Afro American, February 22, 1969. She was active in the peace movement for most of her life. In her own words, when she was a named as a recipient of the Clara Lemlich Award for Social Activism in 2011:

I am a writer, and also a dedicated activist and peacenik. In New York City in my twenties I was chapter chairman of my union, marching in May Day Parades and having rotten eggs thrown at my head. In Los Angeles I was arrested in a sit-in against the racist Birch Society and sentenced to five years probation. In Bogalusa, Louisiana, I worked with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); back in New York I was instrumental in keeping Muhammad Ali, then world's heavyweight champion, from fighting in South Africa and breaking a cultural boycott.[http://africanactivist.msu.edu/document_metadata.php?objectid=32-130-1520 Newsletter] by Louise Meriwether, John Henrik Clarke, Black Concern, Bronx, New York, October 1, 1972. African Activist Archive. In Washington, D.C., I was arrested in 2002 in a protest against the disastrous policies of the World Bank and the IMF. Back in New York I was active in several forums breaking the silence about the rampant rape in the Congo and the multinational corporations and countries involved. Last year I helped set up a forum at Riverside Church on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons."[http://www.laborarts.org/lemlichawards2011 2011 Clara Lemlich Awards for Social Activism], Labor Arts.

Meriwether was an executive board member of the Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA),[https://www.facebook.com/The-Organization-of-Women-Writers-of-Africa-Inc-186674931404222/ The Organization of Women Writers of Africa, Inc.] Facebook page. an NGO co-founded in 1991 by Jayne Cortez and Ama Ata Aidoo "for the purpose of establishing links between professional African women writers".{{Cite web |url=http://www.tcoyfitness.com/test/MEDIA/OWWA%201st%2020%20on%20stationery.pdf |title=OWWA's First 20 Years |access-date=September 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323010630/http://www.tcoyfitness.com/test/MEDIA/OWWA%201st%2020%20on%20stationery.pdf |archive-date=March 23, 2013 |url-status=dead }}

Death

Louise Meriwether died at a nursing home in the New York borough of Manhattan, on October 10, 2023, at the age of 100.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireStory/author-activist-louise-meriwether-wrote-daddy-number-runner-103881254|title=Author and activist Louise Meriwether, who wrote the novel 'Daddy Was a Number Runner,' dies at 100|author=Hillel Italie|website=ABC News|date=October 10, 2023|access-date=October 11, 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/books/louise-meriwether-dead.html|title=Louise Meriwether Dies at 100; a New Black Literary Voice in the 1970s|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Richard|last=Sandomir|date=October 13, 2023}} According to filmmaker Cheryl Hill, who had cared for her in recent years, Meriwether's health declined after she contracted COVID-19 in 2020.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/10/13/louise-meriwether-dead/|title=Louise Meriwether, novelist who conjured 1930s Harlem, dies at 100|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Harrison|last=Smith|date=October 13, 2023}}

Bibliography

Daddy Was a Number Runner (Prentice Hall, 1970; The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1558614420}})
The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls (Prentice Hall, 1971, {{ISBN|978-0133310825}})
The Heart Man: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (illus. Floyd Sowell; Prentice-Hall, 1972, {{ISBN|978-0133852295}})
Don't Ride the Bus on Monday: The Rosa Parks Story (illus. David Scott Brown; Prentice Hall, 1973, {{ISBN|978-0132187503}})
Francie's Harlem (Amsterdam: Furie Literair, 1988)
Fragments of the Ark (Atria, 1994, {{ISBN|978-0671799472}})
Shadow Dancing (One World/Ballantine, 2000, {{ISBN|978-0345425959}})

Honors and accolades

2001 "Lifetime Achievement Award" from Black Writers Alliance (formerly the African American Online Writers Guild) Gold Pen Awards.[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Solid+gold%3A+the+Black+Writers+Alliance,+formerly+the+African+American...-a080493397 "Solid gold: the Black Writers Alliance, formerly the African American Online Writers Guild, presented their 2001 Gold Pen Awards at a banquet held during the 2001 Black Writers Reunion and Conference in Dallas, Texas"], Black Issues Book Review, November 1, 2001. The Free library.
May 8, 2016, Meriwether's 93rd birthday, was declared Louise Meriwether Appreciation Day by the borough president of Manhattan, Gale Brewer.[https://www.feministpress.org/about-louise-meriwether "About Louise Meriwether"], The Feminist Press.Diane Patrick, [https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/81819-serving-writers-and-readers-african-american-publishing.html "Serving Writers and Readers: African-American Literary Organizations"], Publishers Weekly, November 22, 2019.
On June 1, 2016, the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize was announced to celebrate Meriwether's achievements and continue her legacy.[http://www.feministpress.org/about-fp/louise-meriwether-first-book-prize "Louise Meriwether First Book Prize"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160614040112/http://www.feministpress.org/about-fp/louise-meriwether-first-book-prize |date=June 14, 2016 }}, Feminist Press. Launched by the Feminist Press in partnership with TAYO Literary Magazine, in accordance with both organizations' missions to amplify silenced voices,[http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53082cc3e4b0deab542dc030/t/574f65737da24faf559da24f/1464821108610/LM_First_Book_Prize.pdf "The Feminist Press at CUNY & TAYO Literary Magazine Launch Louise Meriwether First Book Prize], Press Release. the contest is "seeking the best debut books by women and nonbinary writers of color."[http://www.tayoliterarymag.com/first-book-prize "The Louise Meriwether First Book Prize"] at TAYO Literary Magazine.
August 2016: Lifetime Achievement — American Book Awards (Before Columbus Foundation).Associated Press, [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dc207cd4090c487a9e6848ce3036339a/2-historians-critical-hamilton-win-american-book-award "2 historians critical of 'Hamilton' win American Book Award"], The Big Story, August 15, 2016.Lauret Edith Savoy, [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dc207cd4090c487a9e6848ce3036339a/2-historians-critical-hamilton-win-american-book-award "American Book Awards Ceremony"], August 16, 2016.
2018: Center for Black Literature lifetime achievement award presented at the 14th National Black Writers Conference, in recognition of her commitment to a lifetime of literary activism.
2023 PEN Oakland/Reginald Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award

References

External links

[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/louise-meriwether/ "Louise Meriwether , Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise"] (video interview March 13, 2014), PBS. American Masters Digital Archive (WNET).
[http://www.fofweb.com/History/MainPrintPage.asp?iPin=AFEBW0386&DataType=Women&WinType=Free Facts on File, History Database.]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzBSEf2BfkA "Louise Meriwether on Writing"]. Interviewed by Glenda R. Taylor, July 24, 2014. YouTube.

[https://rose.library.emory.edu/ Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library], Emory University: [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/gk8bv Louise Meriwether papers, 1968-2013]. Manuscript Collection No. 1310.
Lovia Gyarkye, [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/books/louise-meriwether.html "It's Not Too Late to Discover Louise Meriwether"], The New York Times, June 17, 2021.

Category:1923 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:20th-century African-American women writers

Category:20th-century African-American writers

Category:20th-century American biographers

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:20th-century American short story writers

Category:21st-century African-American women writers

Category:21st-century African-American writers

Category:21st-century American biographers

Category:21st-century American novelists