Arna Wendell Bontemps Home
Bontemps, noted black author-poet, scholar and pioneer in children's literature, was born in Alexandria, Louisiana on October 13, 1902. he was baptized February 22, 1903 at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. Arna, son of Paul Bismark and Marie Pembrooke Bontemps, lived in this house originally located on the corner of Ninth and Winn Streets. As a youth, he moved with his family to California. Bontemps received his B.A. degree from Pacific Union College in 1923 and his Master's Degree in library science from the University of Chicago in 1943. In 1969, he accepted a distinguished visiting professorship at Yale University. After two years, Bontemps returned to Fisk University as writer-in-residence where he served previously as chief librarian. Awards and honors: Crisis Poetry prize, 1926: Zlesander Pushkin Poetry Prize, 1926, 1927; Opportunity short story prize, 1932; Julius Rosenwald Fellow, 1938-39, 1943-43; Gugenheim Fellowship for creative writing, 1949-50; Newberry Honor Book, 1949; Jane Addams Children's Book Award, 1956; Dow Award, Society of Midland Authors, 1967; L.H.D. Morgan State College, 1969; Louisiana Black Hall of Fame, LSU-A, 1987. Bontemps died June 4, 1973 in his home in Nashville, TN