Marcus Bruce Christian
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Marcus Bruce Christian (March 8, 1900 - November 21, 1976), an African-American poet and writer, was born in Mechanicsville, a rural town seventy to eighty miles south of New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the son of Emanuel and Rebecca (Harris) Christian. He was educated at Houma Academy and an evening public school in New Orleans. Both of his parents were dead when Christian was thirteen. In 1919 Christian moved with his siblings to New Orleans. He was among the throng of blacks who moved with his family to the urban cities during and after World War I searching for a better life. In the last ten years preceding his death, Christian went on to teach poetry and history at the University of New Orleans.
In 1932, Christian’s writing began and flourished when he first started to write for Louisiana Weekly, New Orleans, as a poetry editor and writer. He also published numerous poems and essays in Crisis and Opportunity magazines. Christian composed some two thousand poems over the course of his life. His first book of poetry was published in 1922. As an active historian, Christian did an extensive research on the black history of Louisiana. In 1936, and with the help of his patron Lyle Saxon, a well-known white writer, Christian was appointed to the Federal Writers Project through Dillard University that was set up especially to hire blacks and write about the African American history and folklore of Louisiana. Christian enjoyed collecting folktales, share them with others, and often recite them to his friends.
Christian received the Crisis Outstanding Book Award for his The Common People Manifesto in 1948. He also received the Sesquicentennial Commission of the Battle of New Orleans bronze medal in 1965. In his late years in life (1969-1976), he was a writer-in-residence, instructor of Louisiana Negro History, and director of poetry workshop. In 1967, Christian collapsed in a classroom at the University of New Orleans and died days later at Charity Hospital.
[edit] References
- Burckel, Christian E, Felming G. James, "Who's Who in Colored America". Christian E. Burckel & Associates, 1950.
- Chandler, Sue P, Shockley Ann Allen, "Living Black American Authors: A Biographical Dictionary Company". A Xerox Education Company, 1973.
- Christian, Marcus Bruce, "Negro ironworkers in Louisiana: 1718-1900". Pelican Pub.Co., 1972.
- Gates, Henry Louis, "Alice Walker: critical prespectives past and present". Amistad, 1993.
