Louise Meriwether facts for kids

Louise Meriwether (born May 8, 1923 – died October 10, 2023) was an American writer and activist. She wrote novels, essays, and worked as a journalist. Louise Meriwether also wrote biographies for children about important African Americans in history.

She is most famous for her first novel, Daddy Was a Number Runner, published in 1970. This book shares parts of her own life growing up in Harlem, New York City. It describes what life was like during the Great Depression and after the exciting time of the Harlem Renaissance.

Early Life and Education

Louise Meriwether was born in Haverstraw, New York. Her parents, Marion Lloyd Jenkins and Julia Jenkins, moved north from South Carolina. They were looking for work after the stock market crash in 1929. Her father was a painter and bricklayer, and her mother worked in homes.

Louise grew up in Harlem during the Great Depression. She was the only girl and the third of five children. She finished high school at Central Commercial High School in Manhattan. While working as a secretary, she studied at night. She earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English from New York University.

Later, she moved to Los Angeles with her first husband, Angelo Meriwether. There, she earned a Master of Arts (MA) degree in journalism in 1965 from the University of California, Los Angeles. She worked as a freelance reporter for the Los Angeles Sentinel. She also became the first Black woman hired as a story editor in Hollywood for Universal Studios.

Writing Career and Books

In 1970, Louise Meriwether published her first and most well-known book. It was the novel Daddy Was a Number Runner. The famous writer James Baldwin wrote the introduction for it. This book tells a story based on her own experiences growing up in Harlem. It shows what life was like during the Great Depression and after the Harlem Renaissance.

Another writer, Paule Marshall, said the novel showed the "vitality and force behind the despair." She also said it celebrated the "tenderness and love" and "humor" that helped Black people survive. It was seen as a very important novel.

Louise Meriwether became friends with other young writers in New York. This group included Rosa Guy and Maya Angelou. She remembered that they enjoyed themselves and each other, but always got their work done.

Meriwether also started writing biographies for children. These books were about important African Americans in history. Some of the people she wrote about include Robert Smalls, Daniel Hale Williams, and Rosa Parks. She explained that she wanted to write these books because Black people were often left out of American history. She felt this was harmful to children of all races.

She later published more novels. These included Francie's Harlem (1988), Fragments of the Ark (1994), and Shadow Dancing (2000). Her short stories appeared in magazines like The Antioch Review and Negro Digest. Her stories were also included in many collections of writings by Black women. She wrote the introduction for a special edition of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.

Louise Meriwether also taught creative writing. She taught at Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Houston. She received awards and grants to support her writing.

Activism and Community Work

Louise Meriwether was involved in many groups that worked for Black causes. She helped start Black Concern, an anti-Apartheid group, with John Henrik Clarke. Apartheid was a system of unfair racial separation in South Africa.

She was also part of the Harlem Writers Guild. With Vantile Whitfield, she helped create the Black Anti-Defamation Association (BADA). This group worked to stop unfair portrayals of Black people in media. For example, they protested a film that they felt misrepresented African-American history. Louise Meriwether was also active in the peace movement for most of her life.

She was an executive board member of the Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA). This group was started in 1991 to connect professional African women writers.

Later Life and Legacy

Louise Meriwether passed away on October 10, 2023, in New York City. She was 100 years old.

She received many honors for her work. In 2001, she got a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Black Writers Alliance. On her 93rd birthday, May 8, 2016, the borough president of Manhattan declared it "Louise Meriwether Appreciation Day."

To honor her achievements, the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize was created in 2016. This prize helps new women and nonbinary writers of color publish their first books. In 2016, she also received a Lifetime Achievement award from the American Book Awards. In 2018, she received another lifetime achievement award from the Center for Black Literature. This award recognized her lifelong dedication to writing and activism.