It is uncertain where Countee Porter (later known as Countee Cullen) was born, but it was probably in Louisville, Kentucky on May 30, 1903. On his application to New York University, he noted his birthplace as Louisville, but later in life he claimed that he was born in New York City. His mother was Elizabeth Thomas and his father was unknown.
Countee Cullen’s Volatile Childhood
Cullen had an unstable home life. Cullen lived with his grandmother Amanda Porter until her death in 1917. After she died, he moved in with Reverend Frederick Asbury Cullen and his wife in New York City. Rev. Cullen was the minister of the Salem Methodist Episcopal Church. Although Cullen was not officially adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, he viewed them as his parents. The Cullens influence in Countee's life was so strong that by the time he was eighteen years old, he had changed his name from Porter to Cullen.Cullen Shows Promise as a Poet
Cullen attended Dewitt Clinton High School, a virtually all-white school for boys. He became involved in numerous school activities. He served as vice-president during his senior year, he was the associate editor of the school magazine Magpie, and he served as editor of the Clinton News. In 1921, his poem "I Have a Rendezvous with Life" won first place in a citywide poetry contest.After high school Cullen attended New York University. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and served as the poetry editor of the school's magazine, The Arch. While at NYU he also won the Witter Bynner Poetry Prize in 1923.
Cullen Receives Critical Acclaim
During his senior year, Color, a compilation of his poems was published in 1925. It was considered an important work. Most notable to critics were the racial themes of Cullen's poetry. That same year, Cullen received his B.A. and won the John Reed Memorial Prize.Cullen's second publication of poems, Copper Sun, was published in 1927. Copper Sun dealt less with race and focused more on life and love. This work also received critical acclaim.
In 1926, Cullen received his M.A. from Harvard University. From 1926 to 1928, he served as assistant editor for Opportunity magazine. In 1928, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship to study in Paris, France. Before leaving he married Yolanda Du Bois, the daughter of W.E.B. Du Bois. The marriage was brief and they divorced in 1930.
Cullen’s Career Wanes
The Black Christ and Other Poems, the product of his Guggenheim Fellowship, was published in 1929. Unlike his previous work, this book of poems received less than stellar reviews. From thereafter, Cullen's career as a poet and writer waned. He continued to publish other works such as, One Way to Heaven (1932), The Medea and Some Poems (1935), The Lost Zoo (1940), and several other books and poems. However, his later work failed to produce the same kind of praise as his previous books of poetry.From 1934 until his death, Cullen taught English and French at Frederick Douglass Junior High School. Despite taking a teaching position, Cullen continued writing. In collaboration with Arna Bontemps, he wrote the script for the play St. Louis Woman, which was based on Bontemps' novel, God Sends Sunday. In 1940, he married Ida Mae Roberson. Cullen died on January 9, 1946, a few months before the play opening in March.
