Clarissa Scott Delany, ''nee'' Clarissa Mae Scott (1901–1927) was an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

poet, essayist, educator and social worker associated with the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...

Life

Clarissa Mae Scott was the daughter of Emmett Jay Scott, secretary to

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

, and Elenor Baker Scott. She was born and grew up in Tuskegee,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, and was educated at Bradford Academy and

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

, joining

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emp ...

and graduating with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

honors in 1923. After travelling in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, she taught for three years at Dunbar High School in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

While in Washington she attended

Georgia Douglas Johnson Georgia Blanche Douglas Camp Johnson, better known as Georgia Douglas Johnson (September 10, 1880 – May 15, 1966), was a poet and playwright. She was one of the earliest female African-American playwrights, and an important figure of the Harle ...

's literary salon, the Saturday Nighters Club. Scott's four published poems are unusual in that she does not discuss specific struggles, but speaks more allegorically. Her work was positively received by

Alice Dunbar-Nelson Alice Dunbar Nelson (July 19, 1875 – September 18, 1935) was an American poet, journalist, and political activist. Among the first generation of African Americans born free in the Southern United States after the end of the American Civil War, ...

, Angeline Weld Grimké, and

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...

. In 1926 Scott married the attorney

Hubert Thomas Delany Hubert Thomas Delany (; May 11, 1901 – December 28, 1990) was an American lawyer and civil rights pioneer, and politician. He served as Assistant U.S. Attorney, the first African American appointed as Tax Commissioner of New York and one of t ...

, and they moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She worked as a

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

, collecting statistics for a "Study of Delinquent and Neglected Negro Children" in New York City with the

National Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...

and the Women's City Club. In 1927 she died of

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an Inflammation, inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Infla ...

, after experiencing six months of a

streptococcal ''Streptococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive spherical bacteria that belongs to the family Streptococcaceae, within the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria), in the phylum Bacillota. Cell division in streptococci occurs along a single ...

infection. American author, professor and literary critic

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ; born April 1, 1942) is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexual orientation, sexuality, and ...

is her nephew.

Works

Poems

* "Solace", in '' Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life'', 1925 * "Joy", in ''Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life'', 1926 * "The Mask", in ''Palms'', 1926 * "Interim", in

Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (born Countee LeRoy Porter; May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Childhood Countee LeRoy Porter ...

, ed., ''

Caroling Dusk ''Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Black Poets of the Twenties: Anthology of Black Verse'' is a 1927 poetry anthology that was edited by Countee Cullen. It has been republished at least three times, in 1955, 1974, and 1995 and included work ...

: An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets'', 1927

Essays

* "A Golden Afternoon in Germany", in '' Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delany, Clarissa 1901 births 1927 deaths Harlem Renaissance African-American poets American women poets American social workers Wellesley College alumni People from Tuskegee, Alabama 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers Poets from Alabama 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers