McKay, Claude, 1890-1948
Person
Dates
- Existence: 1889-09-15 - 1948-05-22
Claude McKay was a Jamaican-born writer who spent most of his adult life in the United States, Europe and North Africa. He wrote several collections of poetry, novels, short stories, non-fiction and two autobiographical books. He is best known for an early poem, "If We Must Die" (1919), and his first novel, Home to Harlem (1928). He lived in the United States, primarily in New York, from 1913-1919, and then spent most of the next 15 years in England, Russia, France, Spain and Morocco before returning to New York in 1934. He contributed to many liberal and socialist journals, including Sylvia Pankhurst's Worker's Dreadnaught and Max Eastman's The Liberator, and he is commonly identified among the major writers of the Harlem Renaissance. He converted to Catholicism in 1944 and died in Chicago in 1948. See the standard biographical print resources for additional information.
Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:
Louise Bryant papers
Collection
Call Number: MS 1840
Overview:
The papers consist of correspondence, writings, notebooks, artwork, photographs, and printed matter which document Louise Bryant's career as a journalist and her personal and family life. The papers contain only a small amount of material about John Reed.
Dates:
1908-1938
Found in:
Manuscripts and Archives
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Louise Bryant papers
James Weldon Johnson and Grace Nail Johnson papers
Collection
Call Number: JWJ MSS 49
Overview:
The James Weldon Johnson and Grace Nail Johnson Papers provide evidence of the personal and professional lives of James Weldon Johnson, Grace Nail Johnson, and to a lesser degree, the Johnson and Nail families, spanning the years 1850 to 2005, with the bulk of material dating between 1900 and 1976. The papers chronicle Johnson’s writing career and involvement in education, politics, and cultural affairs and consist of a variety of documents, including correspondence, writings, personal papers,...
Dates:
circa 1850-2005, bulk 1900-1976
Letter : Albuquerque, N.M., to Charlie Smith, May 24
Part of Collection — Box: 3, Folder: GROUP 51, F-1
Call Number: YCAL MSS MISC
Scope and Contents:
ALS dated at Saint Joseph's Sanatorium, briefly discussing his health.
Dates:
May 24
Letter : to Arthur B. Spingarn, 1942 June 29
Part of Collection — Box: 3, Folder: GROUP 37, F-1
Call Number: JWJ MSS MISC
Scope and Contents:
One TLS in which McKay asks Spingarn if he could get him a job with the United States Office of War Information (which at that time was directed by Elmer Davis).
Dates:
1942 June 29
Claude McKay collection
Collection
Call Number: JWJ MSS 27
Overview:
The Claude McKay Collection consists of correspondence, writings, personal papers, photographs and memorabilia documenting the life and work of Claude McKay.
Dates:
1853-1990, bulk 1922-1948
Photographs of prominent African Americans
Collection
Call Number: JWJ MSS 76
Overview:
Photographs drawn from various collections in the James Weldon Johnson Collection. The collection includes predominantly images of prominent African American writers, cultural leaders, and entertainers, as well as photographs by important African American photographers. A small number of images document people and places outside the United States. The collection forms a visual record of artists, writers, actors, musicians, and politicians active chiefly in the United States from the 1920s...
Dates:
1875-1978