Edythe Mae Gordon facts for kids

Edythe Mae Gordon (born around 1897, died 1980) was an African-American writer. She wrote short stories and poems during a special time in history called the Harlem Renaissance. This was a period when Black artists, writers, and musicians created amazing works in the 1920s and 1930s.

Edythe Mae Gordon mostly shared her writings in a publication called the Quill Club. This club and magazine were started in Boston by her husband, Eugene Gordon, and other famous writers like Helene Johnson and Dorothy West. Years after she passed away, a book of her best works, Selected Works of Edythe Mae Gordon, was published. This helped more people learn about her and other talented African-American women writers from that time.

About Edythe Mae Gordon's Life

Edythe Mae Chapman was born in Washington, D.C., probably around 1897. We don't know the exact year because old papers show different dates. Her mother's family, the Bicks, raised her.

She went to M Street School, which was a public school. She graduated in 1916. This school had famous writers like Anna J. Cooper and Jessie Redmon Faust as teachers. They might have helped inspire her writing.

In 1916, she married Eugene Gordon. He was a student at Howard University and later became a writer. He also started the Saturday Night Quill Club and its magazine, Saturday Evening Quill. By 1919, Edythe and Eugene moved to Boston. They lived in many different places over the next ten years while they went to college and published their work. They separated in 1932 and later divorced in 1942.

In 1926, Edythe started college at Boston University. She earned her bachelor's degree in religious education and social services in 1934. A year later, she earned her master's degree from the same university. This was a big achievement for an African-American woman at that time. Her master's paper was about the lives of Black women. It was later included in her book, Selected Works of Edythe Mae Gordon.

After her divorce, Edythe Mae Gordon stopped publishing her writings. We don't have much information about her life after 1942. She passed away in 1980.

Edythe Mae Gordon's Writing

In 1925, Edythe's husband, Eugene, started a group for African-American writers called the Saturday Evening Quill Club. From this club came a literary magazine, Saturday Evening Quill, which Eugene edited. Most of Edythe Gordon's writings that we still have today were published in Quill.

Her first story for Quill was "Subversion," published in 1928. It was even recognized by the O. Henry Award prize committee. This was special because they rarely noticed works by writers of color back then. Edythe went on to publish two more short stories and twelve poems in Quill. She also had two poems in a book called Negro Voices in 1938.

Gordon's stories often explored the lives of African-American couples in cities. Her poems were beautiful songs about love, often using ideas from nature.

A collection of her work, Selected Works of Edythe Mae Gordon, came out in 1996. This book has seventeen of her works, including three short stories, thirteen poems, and her master's paper. The same year, two of her stories, "Subversion" and "If Wishes Were Horses," were also published in another book called Harlem's Glory: Black Women Writing, 1900-1950.

Short Stories by Edythe Mae Gordon

Edythe Mae Gordon wrote stories that looked at the challenges people faced in their relationships and daily lives.

"Hostess"

This story is about a woman named Mazie who works at a nightclub. She leaves her husband, Jack, to be with a musician named "Saxophone" Bill. Mazie thought Bill would make her happy, but things don't work out. Bill leaves her when she runs out of money. Mazie decides to go back to her husband, Jack. But when she finds him, she learns that her best friend, Lettie, has married Jack. The story ends sadly for Mazie. It shows how difficult it was for women like Mazie to find happiness and make their own choices in the early 1900s.

"If Wishes Were Horses"

This story follows a poor writer named Fred Pomeroy. He visits a fortune teller who tells him his wishes will come true. The story then shifts to his wife, who dreams of flying. When she wakes up, Fred is no longer alive. She receives money from his life insurance and uses it to travel the world, making her dreams come true.

"Subversion"

This story is about John Marley, an artist who is very sick and poor. He teaches music, but his illness scares away students, making it hard for him to pay for medicine. John hopes to get better and fix his marriage if he can get more students. During Thanksgiving dinner, John notices that his son looks a lot like his best friend. This makes him lose all hope for his marriage or any happiness. He asks his best friend to take care of his wife and son after he's gone.

Themes in Gordon's Short Stories

Gordon's short stories often explore how money and the desire for wealth can hurt relationships. The main characters in her stories often struggle to find happiness and sometimes end up alone or with a sad ending.

Edythe Mae Gordon's Poetry

Gordon's poems often talk about romantic feelings and nature. She used nature to show the deep joy that love can bring. Her poems are described as being very open about love and not limited by race or common ideas.

"April Night"

This short poem has four stanzas. It talks about beauty that doesn't last forever and compares human desires to nature. It also praises the beauty of the natural world.

"Buried Deep"

This very short poem is about death. The speaker wants the person they are talking to to celebrate their life with dancing and flowers, instead of being sad.

"Cradled Gifts"

This short poem is about the speaker wanting to get close to their lover, who seems closed off. The speaker wants to hold this person close to their heart.

"Elysium"

This poem talks directly to a "beloved" person. It focuses on how love can guide someone through hard times and darkness. It also uses images of nature, like breezes sounding like violins. The poem ends with the speaker wanting to return to a "land of dreams" with their loved one and enjoy old memories.

"I See You"

In this poem, the speaker talks directly to the reader, calling them the receiver of her love. Love is compared to a rose and the "essence" of one's soul. The speaker invites the reader to choose the beautiful rose of love instead of holding onto something wilted.

"I Understand"

This is one of Gordon's few sad poems. It talks about lost love and the pain of not being able to have children. The speaker compares her life to a picture of the Madonna with baby Jesus. She feels her lover left her because she couldn't have children.

"Let Your Rays"

This eight-line poem asks the sun to shine through the speaker and melt their cold heart. It uses the beauty of nature, especially the sun, to show how it can heal inner pain and sadness.

"Love Me"

This short poem is about love and the struggle between what makes sense and what you feel deeply. The speaker "commands" the reader to love her, but she also knows she can't control if others choose to love her.

"One Summer's Day"

Like "I Understand," this poem is about losing love. The speaker walks through nature with "Love" as if Love were a person. They get tired, and when the speaker wakes up, they realize they are alone.

"Sonnet for June"

This short, four-line poem is a calm thought about the power of nature and the beauty of a June day. It suggests that being in nature is like a daily worship.

"Tribute"

This three-stanza poem praises the beauty of a loved one. It talks about being true to oneself and mentions the bronze skin color of the lover. The poem uses comparisons to nature, like palm leaves and wind, to show the beauty found in lovers. Love is seen as something that fulfills you spiritually.

"Worship"

This poem talks about how the beauty of nature shows God's greatness. It mentions birds, trees, dewdrops, sunlight, and wind as sources of inspiring beauty.

"Young Love"

This poem is about hair, natural beauty, and the idea of young love. The speaker asks her lover to kiss her "wreath of Jasmine" (a type of flower) and promise eternal love.

Themes in Gordon's Poetry

Gordon's poetry mainly focuses on romantic feelings and nature. She often uses nature to show the deep spiritual happiness that comes from love. Her poems are described as being very open about love, showing it as something divine and emotional, without being held back by race or old-fashioned ideas.

Edythe Mae Gordon's Master's Paper

For her master's degree at Boston University, Edythe Gordon wrote a paper about Black women in the United States. It was called "The Status of the Negro Woman in the United States 1619-1865." This paper explored the history of how Black women were treated from colonial times up to the end of the Civil War. She looked at how laws affected Black people and how Black women faced challenges both as women and as Black individuals. Gordon argued that Black women lived in a state of "semi-slavery" and were often taken advantage of.