Anne Spencer was a Lynchburg poet, civil rights activist, librarian, and gardener. While fewer than thirty of her poems were published in her lifetime, she was an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance and only the second African American poet to be included in the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. Noted for verse preoccupied with biblical and mythological themes, Spencer found fans in such Harlem heavyweights as James Weldon Johnson, who commented on her “economy of phrase and compression of thought.” The relationship between Spencer’s race, her politics, and her poetry is complex. Although a civil rights activist – she helped to found the Lynchburg chapter of the NAACP – she opposed school integration and addressed African American issues in her poetry less often than other Harlem Renaissance artists. Johnson once declared that “practically none of her poetry has been motivated by race,” and while that was an exaggeration, Spencer seems more protective of her artistry than her race. She was also an avid gardener and hosted a salon at her Lynchburg garden, which she called Edankraal, attracting the brightest lights of the Harlem Renaissance. Her former residence is now a museum open to the public.
Further Reading:
Frischkorn, Rebecca T. and Reuben M. Rainey, Half My World: The Garden of Anne Spencer, A History and Guide (2003)
Greene, J. Lee, Time’s Unfading Garden: Anne Spencer’s Life and Poetry (1977)
This Vignette Provided By
Nina Salmon, assistant professor of English at Lynchburg College and member of the board for the Anne Spencer Memorial Foundation
