Ariel Williams Holloway facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ariel Williams Holloway
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Lucy Ariel Williams, from a 1926 publication
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| Born | March 3, 1905 |
| Died | January 3, 1973 (aged 67) Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Lucy Ariel Williams, Lucy Ariel Williams Holloway |
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| Spouse(s) | Joaquin M. Holloway |
Ariel Williams Holloway (March 3, 1905 – January 3, 1973) was an important African-American poet. She was also a talented musician and a dedicated teacher. Holloway was part of a special time in history called the Harlem Renaissance. This was a period when Black artists, writers, and musicians created amazing works.
Early Life and Education
Ariel Williams Holloway was born Lucy Ariel Williams. She was born in Mobile, Alabama on March 3, 1905. Her mother, Fannie Brandon, was a teacher and sang in a choir. Her father, Dr. H. Roger Williams, was a doctor and pharmacist.
Ariel went to Emerson Institute in Mobile. She then graduated from Talladega College in 1922. She loved music! She earned a music degree from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1926. Later, she got another music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1928. There, she focused on playing the piano and also studied singing. During her summer breaks, she continued to study music. She learned from famous bandleader Fred Waring and at Columbia University.
In 1936, Ariel married Joaquin M. Holloway. He worked for the postal service. They had a son named Joaquin Jr. the next year. Ariel preferred to be called Ariel Williams. Later, she was known as Ariel Williams Holloway in her professional life.
Career
Ariel Williams Holloway really wanted to be a concert pianist. But there were not many chances for her to do this. So, she decided to teach music instead. She started her teaching career in 1926. She was the director of music at North Carolina College for Negroes in Durham. She taught there until 1932.
After that, she taught at Dunbar High School in Mobile from 1932 to 1936. She also taught at Fessenden Academy in Florida (1936–1937). Then she taught at Lincoln Academy in Kings Mountain, North Carolina (1938–1939). In 1939, Holloway became the first supervisor of music for the public schools in Mobile. She held this job until she passed away in 1973. The Ariel Williams Holloway Elementary School in Mobile was named in her honor.
Between 1926 and 1935, Holloway published five poems. These poems appeared in Opportunity. This was one of the most important journals of the Harlem Renaissance. She also published other poems in Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races. In 1955, she published a book of her poems called Shape Them into Dreams.
One of her most famous poems is "Northboun'." It is a short poem written in a special dialect. It talks about the Great Migration, when many African Americans moved from the South to the North. People have called "Northboun'" her "signature poem." It is also considered "one of the best poems of the period." The poem has a powerful line that shows a big difference in American culture:
O' de wurl' ain't flat,
An' de wurl' ain't roun',
H'it's one long strip
Hangin' up an' down—
Jes' Souf an' Norf;
Jes' Norf an' Souf.
—from Ariel Williams Holloway, "Northboun'"
"Northboun'" won an important prize in Opportunity when it was first published in 1926. It has been included in several collections of poems. These include Golden Slippers (1941), edited by Harlem Renaissance poets Countee Cullen and Arna Bontemps. It also appeared in Harlem's Glory: Black Women Writing, 1900-1950 (1996).
