Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 15 (1950) Winner
Shirley Graham Du Bois
シャーリー・グラハム・デュボイス
Shirley Graham Du Bois
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1896-11-11 （Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.）
- Died
- 1977-03-27 （Beijing, China） age 80
- Nationality
- United States, Ghana, Tanzania
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- African Methodist Episcopal Church
- Residence History
- Indianapolis (birthplace) → Spokane (high school) → Paris (studied at the Sorbonne) → Cleveland (premiere of Tom-Tom) → Ghana (became citizen; director of Ghana Television) → Tanzania (citizenship) → Cairo, Egypt → Beijing, China (later life; death)
Career
- Occupations
- writer, playwright, composer, activist, television executive
- Active Years
- 1920-1977
- Affiliations
- Federal Theatre Project, Phillis Wheatley YWCA, Communist Party USA, World Peace Council, Afro-Asian Writers' Bureau, Ghana Television
- Memberships
- Communist Party USA, Sojourners for Truth and Justice, World Peace Council
- Influenced By
- African music and Afro-Caribbean cultures, Harlem Renaissance currents and African-American artists, Pan-Africanism and Black liberation movements
- Influenced
- Younger African-American writers and activists, Composers and playwrights blending vernacular Black music with classical forms
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis and Clark High School | — | — | — | 〜1915 | United States |
| Howard University (non-matriculated; music librarian) | — | Music | — | 1920年代（随時） | United States |
| Sorbonne (University of Paris) | — | Music composition | — | 1926頃 | France |
| Oberlin College | Conservatory/Music | Music | BA | 1931–1934（学士） | United States |
| Oberlin College (graduate work) | Graduate work in Music | Composition | MA | 1934–1935 | United States |
Lewis and Clark High School
Period:
〜1915
Year of Graduation:
1915
Country:
United States
High school diploma
Howard University (non-matriculated; music librarian)
Music
Period:
1920年代（随時）
Country:
United States
Served as music librarian; non-matriculated student
Sorbonne (University of Paris)
Music composition
Period:
1926頃
Country:
France
Studied composition in Paris; degree uncertain
Oberlin College
Conservatory/Music
/ Music
Degree:
BA
Period:
1931–1934（学士）
Year of Graduation:
1934
Country:
United States
Completed BA and then graduate work in music
Oberlin College (graduate work)
Graduate work in Music
/ Composition
Degree:
MA
Period:
1934–1935
Year of Graduation:
1935
Country:
United States
Completed master's level work in composition
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Messner Prize | There Once Was a Slave | — | Julian Messner (publisher) | winner |
| 1950 | Anisfield-Wolf Book Award | Your Most Humble Servant: Benjamin Banneker | — | Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards | winner |
Messner Prize
1947
Work:
There Once Was a Slave
Organization:
Julian Messner (publisher)
Result:
winner
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1950
Work:
Your Most Humble Servant: Benjamin Banneker
Organization:
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Tom Tom: An Epic of Music and the Negro
1932 opera / musical dramaA grand three-act musical drama depicting tribal Africa, the American slave plantation, and 1920s Harlem. Incorporates blues, spirituals, and jazz to narrate Black history and liberation. Premiered in Cleveland in 1932; the score was long lost and later partially rediscovered.
Black historymusic and cultural identityliberation and Back-to-Africa themes
Adaptations
- [stage performance (selections/excerpts)] Tom-Tom (selections) (2019)
There Once Was a Slave
1947 historical novel (young readers) 240 pagesA historical novel based on the life of Frederick Douglass, written for younger readers, depicting slavery and the struggle for freedom.
slavery and liberationindividual dignityimportance of education
Your Most Humble Servant: Benjamin Banneker
1949 biography (children's)A children's biography of Benjamin Banneker. Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in 1950.
science and educationhighlighting Black achievement
Translations
- Chinese translation (published by state presses in China)
Zulu Heart
1974 novelA later novel set against racial conflict in South Africa, treating issues of race and reconciliation and containing sympathetic portrayals of some white characters.
apartheid and race relationsreconciliation and complex human relationships
Bibliography
- Dr. George Washington Carver, Scientist (with George D. Lipscomb), 1944
- Paul Robeson, Citizen of the World, 1946
- There Once Was a Slave, 1947
- Your Most Humble Servant: Benjamin Banneker, 1949
- The Story of Phillis Wheatley: Poetess of the Revolution, 1949
- The Story of Pocahontas, 1953
- Booker T. Washington: Educator of Head, Hand and Heart, 1955
- His Day Is Marching On: A Memoir of W.E.B. Du Bois, 1971
- Julius K. Nyerere, Teacher of Africa, 1975
- Zulu Heart, 1974
Adaptations
- Women of the New China (film produced in China, 1974)
Translations of Works
- Biographies of Paul Robeson and George Washington Carver were translated into Chinese and published by state presses in China
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- political and didactic voiceconcise style for children's biographiestheatrical fusion of music and vernacular elements
- Recurring Motifs
- liberation and racial identityAfrocentrismcultural expression through music
Health
-
breast cancer1976–1977Ultimately caused her death; she died in Beijing in 1977
Legacy
Shirley Graham Du Bois left a multifaceted legacy as a composer, playwright, children's biographer, and international activist. Through the grand musical drama Tom-Tom and her biographies of Black leaders she promoted Black history and culture. In later life she served as director of Ghana Television and was honored in China, leaving an international imprint.
Archives
- W.E.B. Du Bois Manuscript Collection at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Federal Theatre Project collection at George Mason University
- Washington Conservatory of Music Collection in the Moorland-Spingarn Research Library at Howard University
- Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Harvard Radcliffe Institute
In Popular Culture
- Revived interest culminated in the 2020 Oberlin Conservatory symposium 'Intersections: Recovering the Genius of Shirley Graham Du Bois'
- Since 2019, excerpts and research projects on Tom-Tom have been staged and undertaken
Quotes
-
Africa, ancient Africa, has been called by the world and has lifted up her hands! Africa has no choice between private capitalism and socialism. The whole world... is moving toward socialism.
Source: Speech at the All-African Peoples' Conference, 1958 (1958)
Trivia
- Tom-Tom attracted very large audiences at its premiere and was conceived as a massive production including a 200-person chorus, an elephant, and a waterfall.
- Won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in 1950 for 'Your Most Humble Servant: Benjamin Banneker.'
- Married W. E. B. Du Bois in 1951 (his second marriage).
- Later acquired Ghanaian and Tanzanian citizenship and died in China; buried in Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.
- Produced the film 'Women of the New China' in 1974.