Anne Spencer
Anne Bethel Spencer was an American poet, teacher, civil rights activist, librarian, and gardener. She was a prominent figure of the Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement, despite living in Virginia for most of her life, far from the center of the movement in New York. She met Edward Spencer while attending Virginia Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia. Following their marriage in 1901, the couple moved into a house he built at 1313 Pierce Street, where they raised a family and lived for the remainder of their lives.
Spencer is a widely anthologized poet, and was the first Virginian and one of three African-American women included in the highly influential Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. As a civil rights activist for equality and educational opportunities, she and her husband Edward, with close friend Mary Rice Hayes Allen and others, revived the chapter of the NAACP in Lynchburg, Virginia, which they were also responsible for establishing in 1913. In association with James Weldon Johnson, the branch became fully active with ninety-six members as of July, 1918.
Spencer is a widely anthologized poet, and was the first Virginian and one of three African-American women included in the highly influential Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. As a civil rights activist for equality and educational opportunities, she and her husband Edward, with close friend Mary Rice Hayes Allen and others, revived the chapter of the NAACP in Lynchburg, Virginia, which they were also responsible for establishing in 1913. In association with James Weldon Johnson, the branch became fully active with ninety-six members as of July, 1918.
