Celebrating Gwendolyn Bennett: A Luminary of the Harlem Renaissance

Celebrating Gwendolyn Bennett: A Pivotal Moment in the Harlem Renaissance

This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries highlighting remarkable individuals whose contributions went unrecognized in The Times.

On March 21, 1924, the esteemed Civic Club in Manhattan buzzed with excitement as a gathering of artists, writers, and intellectuals came together for a dinner party that would mark a significant milestone in the early days of the Harlem Renaissance. The event was organized to honor Jessie Fauset, a novelist, poet, and the literary editor of The Crisis, the official magazine of the N.A.A.C.P., who had recently released her new novel, There Is Confusion.

However, it was not Fauset who captured the audience’s attention with a reading, nor was it the prominent W.E.B. Du Bois, the esteemed figure at the event, who concluded the evening with his words. Instead, the spotlight shone on one of the youngest attendees, Gwendolyn Bennett, a mere 21 years old, whose poetic talents and artistic vision mesmerized the audience as she recited her poem “To Usward.” This piece was dedicated to Fauset and to “all Negro youth known and unknown who have a song to sing, a story to tell or a vision for the sons of earth.” An excerpt of her poignant poem reads:

• For some of us have songs to sing
• Of jungle heat and fires
• And some of us are solemn grown
• With pitiful desires,
• And there are those who feel the pull
• Of seas beneath the skies,
• And some there be who want to croon
• Of Negro lullabies.

Bennett would continue to craft some of the most exquisite poetry of her time, producing dynamic illustrations for prominent Black journals and forging deep connections with cultural luminaries such as Du Bois, Langston Hughes, and Richard Wright. Nevertheless, by around 1930, her literary journey faced significant obstacles, primarily due to emotional struggles stemming from a series of personal hardships, including the death of her father, a tumultuous marriage, and undue scrutiny from the House Un-American Activities Committee.