Albery Allson Whitman facts for kids

Albery Allson Whitman (born May 30, 1851 – died June 29, 1901) was an African-American poet, minister, and speaker. He was born into slavery but built a successful career as a writer. During his lifetime, people called him the "Poet Laureate of the Negro Race." He worked many jobs, including manual laborer, teacher, and pastor. Whitman passed away in Atlanta in 1901 from pneumonia.

Early Life and Education

Albery Whitman was born into slavery on a farm near Munfordville, Kentucky. He worked hard from a young age. He was a manual laborer, worked in a plow shop, and helped build railroads. He also spent some time as a teacher.

In 1870, Whitman went to Wilberforce University. There, he studied with Bishop Daniel Payne. Whitman later said he wrote his 1877 poem "Not a Man and Yet a Man" to help support Wilberforce University.

Later Life and Family

After six months at Wilberforce, Whitman left to work for the university as a financial agent. He also became a pastor for the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Springfield, Ohio. Between 1879 and 1883, he led and started churches in Ohio, Georgia, Kansas, and Texas. He died in 1901 from pneumonia.

Whitman was married to a woman named Caddie. They had four daughters. His daughters later formed a famous vaudeville group called The Whitman Sisters. They performed together from 1900 until the 1940s.

Poetry Style and Impact

Albery Whitman's poems are often described as "full-blown Romantic poetry." This means he tried to write like famous American and British poets of that time. Some experts believe Whitman went even further than other writers in his understanding of literature.

Even though his poems are not often printed in modern books of Black poetry, he was very important. One scholar said Whitman was "one of the most important African American poets" between Phillis Wheatley and Paul Laurence Dunbar. He was also probably the most active writer of his time.

In 1901, just before he died, Whitman published "An Idyl of the South: An Epic Poem in Two Parts." The first lines of this poem show his romantic style. They describe the beauty of the South with its "palmetto and the pine" and "magnolia and cape jassamine." Whitman loved the sound of words and used many different rhythms in his poems. Many of his longer works read like novels written in verse.

Collections of Poems

• Not a Man, and Yet A Man (1877)
• An Idyl of the South: An Epic Poem in Two Parts (1901)