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Photo by Rev.
Terence A. Dicks of Augusta, Georgia
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"Interesting and great" Georgia African American writers and other black literary talents are profiled at the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in Athens
By Greg Peterson,
volunteer media advisor for the nonprofit Georgia Center for Children and Education, Inc. in
Augusta, Georgia
(Athens, Georgia) - Georgia has
"produced a lot of interesting and great writers" including
many famous African American literary talents who are profiled at the
Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in Athens, Georgia.
People
know about authors like Moreland, Georgia native Erskine Caldwell,
who wrote
Tobacco Road
(a
real road
and story about Augusta) – and Margaret Mitchell – who wrote
Gone with the Wind.
The Caldwell novel Tobacco
Road
depicts a setting just south of Augusta
during the worst years of the Great
Depression
– and to this day the real Tobacco Road is in the same area.
Gone with the Wind is
set in and around Atlanta
during the American
Civil War
and Reconstruction.
"A lot of
people don't think that former Pres.
Jimmy Carter, Johnny Mercer and
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
are celebrated at the Hall of Fame – but they are," said
Rev. Terence A. Dicks, who took the photos while in Athens to attend
an event at the University of Georgia on behalf of Georgia Legal
Services Program.
"They are
all great writers in their own right," Rev. Dicks said.
Mercer
was a poet, lyricist,
songwriter
and singer
born in Savannah.
The late Dr. King
and former Pres. Carter worked on award-winning social justice
issues.
"It is no longer what we used to call black history – it is history," Dicks said. "It has become real to so many" due to a second term for Pres. Obama
William Edward Burghardt "W.E.B." Du Bois used "force of mind and skill of pen" to fight for 'human equity' while battling "myth of inferiority"
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Various significant books, writings by author Burghardt "W.E.B."
Du Bois. On bottom left, the
W. E. B. Du
Bois/Mary
White Ovington
marker on The Extra Mile - Points of Light
Volunteer Pathway,
a national monument installed in the sidewalks
of Washington
D.C.
|
Perhaps
most important, Du Bois penned a (1935) great work titled Black Reconstruction in America
– that effectively debunked and challenged the absurd – but
popular notion – that blacks were responsible for the dismal
failures of the Reconstruction.
The
first African American
to earn a doctorate at Harvard,
Du Bois was a professor of history, sociology and economics at
Atlanta University
– and in 1909 was one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP).
Du Bois "recognized that the keystone in the arch of oppression was the myth of inferiority and he dedicated his brilliant talents to demolish it," said Martin Luther King, Jr.
The first African-American to be awarded a Harvard Ph.D., Du Bois spent nearly a quarter century on the faculty of Atlanta University as professor of history and sociology (1897-1910) and head of the sociology department (1934-1944).
Du Bois's writings and his intellectual guidance as teacher, researcher, and editor at Atlanta University contributed immensely to its reputation as a preeminent resource for the study of race in America.
Du Bois was praised by the editorial board of "Phylon," the Atlanta University scholarly review of race and culture upon his retirement after spending 22 years as the "Phylon" one and only editor – in fact its first editor-in-chief (1934).
The 'Phylon' Board of Directors stated:
DuBois was one who "propagated a doctrine of human equality in distinguished and inventive writing. . . whose force of mind and skill of pen have been exercised in behalf of the world's darker peoples for more than half a century."
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Clark
Atlanta University
|
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The
April 2013 Writers’ Conference n the
campus of Clark Atlanta University, explored a 21st Century approach
to W.E.B. Du Bois' theory of “Double Consciousness” in all
aspects of life including race, identity, ethnicity, class, gender
and sexuality.
|
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Photo of Frank Yerby House replica at Paine College in Augusta, GA by Amber Rhea via flickr
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Augusta
native and 1938 Paine College graduate Frank Garvin Yerby "was a
prolific writer who is greatly respected at Paine College,"
Dicks said.
Born
September 5, 1916, to Rufus Garvin and Wilhelmina Yerby, Augusta, GA
native Frank Yerby began his literary career as a writer of fiction
protesting the marginalization of African-Americans in American
society especially in Southern society at whose hands he did suffer.
His
career ended while living a self-imposed exile in Madrid, Spain and
where he became its best-selling author of historical-fiction.
Yerby
suffered through his early life in Augusta that was tormented by
racial conflict, and used that racist pathos and suffering as a theme
that would dominate his fiction.
In
1937, Yerby earned a B.A. in English at Paine College.
The
son of a racially mixed couple, Yerby believed himself to be black.
As
a young man, he was unable to be accepted by either white or black
society.
Yerby
explained some of his Augusta hardship to People magazine:
In addition to
his writing talents, Yerby was a professor at several universities
over his life time.
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"Paine
College has an entire collection of his books that is maintained in
the college's Frank Yerby House" that opened in 2008, Dicks
said,
Constructed in the early 20th century, the original Yerby home in Augusta was moved in Feb. 2004 from 1112 Eighth St. – a mile and a half to Paine College property – specifically to 1718 Laney-Walker Boulevard (at Druid Park Avenue).
The building was
recently demolished just over a year later (2005) because it was in
poor condition including asbestos, lead, and structural issues.
A replica was
built in its place.
In Feb. 2013, the
Paine College School of Arts and Humanities hosted the Inaugural
Frank Yerby Literary Symposium.
Yerby was born in
Augusta on September 5, 1916 and died on November 21, 1991 in Madrid,
Spain.
"Young Africans Americans should find out about their heritage and history," said Rev. Terence A. Dicks
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Photo by Rev.
Terence A. Dicks of Augusta, Georgia
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"I would
invite teachers to do field trips to the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame
in Athens," Dicks said. "Young Africans Americans should
find out about their heritage and history."
"You do not
have to go to New York or Chicago to learn about legendary African
American authors – you can go library and campus of the University
of Georgia in Athens," Dicks said. "It's a great campus –
and will help young people to start thinking about college."
"You don't have to be in college – to learn these things," said Rev. Terence A. Dicks
Dicks has long
been a prolific reader of African American history – and believes
you are never too young or old for blacks to learn about their
heritage.
"I was going
to run for political office in Augusta and wanted to gain a stronger
sense of who I am," said Dicks, who "made the choice to
work in the media and restaurant business instead of going to
college."
These types of
exhibits should inspire African American youth to go to college.
"Don't wait
until college – and you don't have to be in college – to learn
these things," Rev. Dicks said.
"There are a
lot of people on a journey of discovery" especially now that
Barack Obama is America's first African American President.
"It is no
longer what we used to call black history – it is history," Rev. Dicks said.
"It's become real to so many because of Pres. Obama's second term," he said.
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Photos for this
special graphic courtesy the
Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in Athens, Georgia |
The Georgia Writers Hall of Fame was established in 2000 as part of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library to honor Georgia writers and to
introduce the public to the library's rich collections for research
into Georgia literature and cultural history.
Hall of Fame Honoree Margaret Mitchell
The ex-Atlanta
Journal reporter is a
twentieth-century cultural phenomenon due to the amazing popularity
of her 1936 southern romance novel Gone
with the Wind and its
heroine Scarlett O'Hara.
Hall of Fame Honoree Pres. Jimmy Carter:
From
a Plains, GA peanut farmer to Commander-in-Chief Pres. Jimmy Carter.
Hall of Fame Honoree Johnny Mercer
A
true American hero, a martyred man of action and a sculptor of words
who became the most influential author/orator to emerge from the
Civil Rights movement's deep ranks of eloquent clergymen and fiery
organizers.
His
"I Have a Dream" speech, an oration of historical and
literary preeminence which American schoolchildren study alongside
the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, is widely
regarded as the most influential American speech of the 20th century.
W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois "recognized that the keystone in the arch of oppression was the myth of inferiority and he dedicated his brilliant talents to demolish it," said Martin Luther King, Jr. 1
The first
African-American to be awarded a Harvard Ph.D., Du Bois spent nearly
a quarter century on the faculty of Atlanta University as professor
of history and sociology (1897-1910) and head of the sociology
department (1934-1944).
Du Bois's writings
and his intellectual guidance as teacher, researcher, and editor at
Atlanta University contributed immensely to its reputation as a
preeminent resource for the study of race in America.
Hall
of Fame Honoree Erskine Preston Caldwell
Tobacco Road – the 1932 novel by Erskine Caldwell and the actual road
– are both located south of Augusta, GA
Born on Dec. 17,
1903 at a home in a wooded area outside Moreland, Georgia, Caldwell
was the only child of Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church minister
Ira Sylvester Caldwell and his schoolteacher wife Caroline Bell
Caldwell.
Rev. Caldwell's
ministry caused the family to movie to southern states including
Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Erskine was 15
years old when the family settled permanently in Wrens, Georgia
Tobacco: A History of
Georgia Agriculture 1732-1860 By James C. Bonner
Frank GarvinYerby was born in Augusta, Georgia, on September 5th, 1916, the son
of a black hotel doorman, Rufus Garvin Yerby and his white wife,
Wilhelmina.
He attended
private elementary and high school, the Haines Institute,
predominately black, and received a Bachelor of Arts in English from
Paine College
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/richmond-neighbors/2013-02-19/literary-festival-planned-library-march-1-and-2
Photo of Frank
Yerby House replica by Amber Rhea
Photo of Frank
Yerby House replica by Paine College:
Photo by Rev.
Terence Dicks, 706-799-5598
Georgia Writers Hall of Fame Honorees:
Links related to Rev. Terence Dicks of Augusta, Georgia:
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MLK Author Derek H. Alderman: "Martin Luther King, Jr. Streets in the South: A New Landscape of Memory."
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