Bennett, Gwendolyn B. (1902–1981)

African-American writer. Born July 8, 1902, in Giddings, Texas; died in Reading, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1981; dau. of Joshua Robin Bennett (lawyer) and Mayme F. (Abernathy) Bennett (beautician); studied fine arts at Columbia University Teachers College for 2 years; transferred to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn; m. Alfred Joseph Jackson (physician), 1927 (died); m. Richard Crosscup (died Jan 9, 1980).

Artist, poet, writer, and educator whose work as a columnist for Opportunity encouraged the growth of cultural life in Harlem, and whose poetry, incorporating themes of her African heritage and her training as a painter, placed her among the finest of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance; shortly after her birth, moved with family to Nevada, where parents taught on an Indian reservation, and later to Washington, DC; while still young, parents divorced, leaving her in mother's custody; at 7, was kidnapped by father and would not see mother again until she was an adult; graduated from Brooklyn Girls High School (1921), where she became the 1st black student elected to the literary and dramatic societies; became an instructor of watercolor and design at Howard University; received Delta Sigma Theta's foreign scholarship (1924), which allowed her to travel to Paris to study at the Julian and Colarossi academies, as well as at the École de Pantheon; in Paris, became acquainted with the modern French painter Frans Masereel; resumed teaching at Howard (1926) and became assistant editor of the magazine Opportunity, where she wrote the column "The Ebony Flute" (1926–28); was 1 of 2 African-American artists selected to study the modern and primitive art collections of the Barnes Foundation (1927); poetry appeared in numerous magazines, including Fire!, Crisis and the American Mercury (1922–34); continued teaching at Howard University and also served as director of the Harlem Community Arts Center (1937–40). Little is known of her life after the 1940s.

See also Women in World History.