Countee cullen achievements of gloria jean

Countee Cullen — January 9, was an American poet who was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

His prize-winning poem “I Have a

Countee Cullen was possibly born on May 30, although due to conflicting accounts of his early life, a general application of the year of his birth as is reasonable. He was either born in New York, Baltimore, or Lexington, Kentucky, with his widow being convinced he was born in Lexington. Cullen was possibly abandoned by his mother, and reared by a woman named Mrs.

Porter, who was probably his paternal grandmother. Porter brought young Countee to Harlem when he was nine. She died in No known reliable information exists of his childhood until when he was taken in, or adopted, by Reverend and Mrs Frederick A. Cullen of Harlem, New York City. He excelled academically at the school while emphasizing his skills at poetry and in oratorical contest.

At DeWitt, he was elected into the honor society, editor of the weekly newspaper, and elected vice-president of his graduating class. In , he won second prize in the Witter Bynner undergraduate poetry contest, which was sponsored by the Poetry Society of America, with a poem entitled The Ballad of the Brown Girl. At about this time, some of his poetry was promulgated in the national periodicals Harper's, Crisis, Opportunity, The Bookman, and Poetry.

The ensuing year he again placed second in the contest and finally winning it in Cullen competed in a poetry contest sponsored by Opportunity.