Harold Preece facts for kids

Harold Richard Preece (born January 16, 1906 – died November 24, 1992) was an American writer. He was known for being involved early in the civil rights movement. He was also an expert in American folklore and Western history. Preece was also a friend of Robert E. Howard, who created the famous character Conan the Cimmerian.

Biography

Harold Preece was born in 1906 in a place called Bull Creek Community, near Round Rock, Texas. He studied to become a minister at Texas Christian University. He also took special classes at the University of Texas.

In the 1940s, he moved to Monteagle, Tennessee. In 1941, he met his wife, Ruth Kruskal Preece, also known as Celia Kraft. They had at least one son named Hillel David Preece. Harold and Ruth worked together on a book that was published in 1946. That same year, they moved to New York City.

Later in his life, in 1978, Preece met a poet named Winona Morris Nation. They lived together for many years. Towards the end of his life, Harold Preece developed Alzheimer's disease. He passed away in 1992, less than a month after Winona. His ashes were scattered on Winona's grave in 1993. She is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery, which overlooks Comanche, Oklahoma.

Writing Career

Harold Preece started his writing career in 1922 as a young reporter for the Austin Statesmen newspaper. By 1925, he began selling articles to magazines. He soon became a freelance writer, focusing on American and Texas folklore. He was the expert on American culture for Adventure magazine. The editor, Ken White, called him "our final court of appeal" on these topics.

Preece also helped John and Alan Lomax collect American folk music for the Library of Congress. He was the folklore editor for the Federal Writers' Project in Texas.

One of Preece's most important contributions was his writing about civil rights. This was special because he was a white man from the South who supported equal rights for Black people. He wrote about how his views changed in an article from 1935. He explained that during the Great Depression, he saw white and Black people sharing the same struggles. This made him realize that race didn't matter as much as whether people were "oppressors or oppressed."

Arthur I. Hayman, who worked with Preece on a book, said that Preece became known as a "champion" for Black people. He was especially praised for his kind studies of their rich folk culture.

Preece wrote for many liberal and left-wing magazines like Opportunity, Crisis, and Nation. His most important work was probably his regular column called "The Living South" in The Chicago Defender, a newspaper for Black Americans. A Texas politician named Martin Dies criticized Preece's articles. He even called Preece a "negro writer." Preece replied that he was white but wasn't insulted. He said he stood with Black people.

While living in Tennessee, Preece worked with the Highlander Folk School. He was also the president and managing editor of New South Features. He was a staff writer for Now, a magazine that promoted understanding between different races. He also worked as a Southern correspondent for Religious News Service.

Preece wrote letters to important civil rights leaders like Roy Wilkins and W. E. B. Du Bois. He continued to fight for civil rights in his writings. He spoke out against the Ku Klux Klan in 1945. Because of this, the Ku Klux Klan chased him and his family out of Tennessee in 1946. They then moved to New York.

Around this time, he started writing regularly for Texas Rangers and Zane Grey's Western Magazine. He also wrote for Sepia magazine, which was like Look but for African-Americans. He continued writing for Sepia into the 1980s.

A friend of Winona Morris Nation remembered Preece often talking about his "glory days." He was a passionate writer who used his words to fight against racism and for equal chances for everyone.

Preece and Robert E. Howard

Harold Preece and Robert E. Howard were good friends when they were young. They met through a shared friend because they were both involved with Lone Scouts. This was a Boy Scouts program for young people in smaller towns. They also shared a love for writing. They published their own literary magazine called The Junto, which they shared with their small group of friends. Preece was the first editor of this magazine.

After Robert E. Howard passed away, people became very interested in his stories. Fans and scholars of his work often turned to Preece to learn more about Howard. For example, science fiction author L. Sprague de Camp met Preece in 1951. He learned many details about Howard's life that he used in his book, Science-Fiction Handbook. Glenn Lord, who later became Howard's literary agent, also wrote to Preece. Lord included Preece's writings in his own books about Howard. In the 1970s, Preece wrote articles about Howard for fan magazines called fanzines.