Margaret Danner
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Margaret Danner (1915–1984) (Margaret Esse Danner, Margaret Danner Cunningham) was an American
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
,
editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...
and cultural activist known for her poetic imagery and her celebration of African heritage and cultural forms.


Early life and Chicago years

Born in 1915, Margaret Esse Danner came of age in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
during the Great Migration. Sources place her birth in Pryorsburg, Kentucky, in 1915, although she adamantly claimed Chicago as her birthplace. In eighth grade, she won first prize in a school contest for "The Violin", a poem describing
Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...
and Guarnerius violins. Danner's college education included courses at Loyola University,
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
, YMCA College, and the newly founded Roosevelt College.“Guide to the Margaret Danner Papers 1940–1984”
University of Chicago Library 2009. Accessed 11 Dec 2011.
Perhaps equally significant was her education in the
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. ...
cultural community of Chicago's South Side, which in the 1930s and 1940s harbored grassroots cultural institutions and informal circles devoted to politics, education, art and literature and often tied to the Communist Popular Front. Although Danner stayed detached from
Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
and would eventually oppose all radical politics, she participated in various South Side groups, including Inez Cunningham Stark's poetry workshop at the
South Side Community Art Center The South Side Community Art Center is a community art center in Chicago that opened in 1940 with support from the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project in Illinois. Opened in an 1893 mansion in Bronzeville, it became the first bla ...
, along with
Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poet ...
and Margaret Goss Burroughs, her "sometime friends (and rivals)."Smethurst, ''Black Arts Movement'', 205. In 1946, Danner founded Art Associates to gather and promote Chicago's black writers and poets. She counted as friends the poet and critic Edward Bland, as well as Hoyt Fuller, who would head the revived '' Negro Digest'' (later ''Black World'') beginning in 1951. Danner attracted mentors outside the South Side, including the poets Paul Eagle and Karl Shapiro. She also struck up a correspondence with Langston Hughes that would continue until his death. In 1945, she wrote to Hughes: "My life as a poet looks very bleak to me now.... Only last night I read one of mine and was told it was elusive, ethereal etc. Not much help for my people in that sort of verse." She aimed "to inject some strength" into her work and to train her naturally delicate style to carry forceful messages of African-American pride and racial equality, what she called "the social conscious" Poems such as "Etta Moten's Attic" and "Africa, Drifting Through Me Sings" demonstrate Danner's growing passion for black African arts, cultures and peoples in the 1940s and 1950s. She looked to ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'' magazines, anthropology books and American museums for information and images.June Aldridge, "Benin to Beale Street: African Art in the Poetry of Margaret Danner", ''CLA Journal'' 2 (December 31, 1987): 203. Professing "the power of the African pull to be stronger than Western Civilization in my psyche," Danner framed many of her poems around encounters with
African art African art encompasses modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual cultures originating from indigenous African diaspora, African communities across the African continent. The definition may also include the ar ...
objects. She wrote in 1968, "I believe (and have tried for many years to do something positive about this conviction) that the Black should be awakened to his vast beauty."Margaret Danner, interview in "Writers Symposium", ''Negro Digest'' 17.3 (January 1968): 19. Danner joined the staff of '' Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'' as an editorial assistant in 1951 and in 1956 became the first African American to serve as a ''Poetry'' assistant editor. "Far From Africa: Four Poems," which would become one of Danner's most anthologized works, appeared in ''Poetry'' in 1951 and earned her a John Hay Whitney fellowship for a trip to
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, which she delayed until 1966. June M. Aldridge notes that Danner "recall dthe association with Poetry as one of the most rewarding experiences of her life." However, by the late 1950s, according to James Edward Smethurst, "Danner's career as a poet seemed to her stalled... perhaps in part due to her proclivity for intense emotional and intellectual crushes on individuals and near-paranoid fears of plots against her career." Details of Danner's personal life are scarce. She first married Cordell Strickland, with whom she had one child, Naomi. Danner later remarried to Otto Cunningham.


Detroit years and Boone House

Danner moved to
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
in 1959 to join that city's vibrant community of black writers and artists. She quickly became a part of the "Detroit Group," which included writers such as Danner, Dudley Randall, Oliver LaGrone, Woodie King, Jr., James Thompson and Naomi Long Madgett. In 1962, Danner was named a poet-in-residence at
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...
. That same year, Danner talked a local Baptist pastor at King Solomon Baptist Church into lending her an empty parish house to found a cultural center for black writers, artists and musicians. Boone House became the artistic home of the Detroit group from 1962 to 1964 and hosted visitors such as Robert Hayden, Owen Dodson, Fuller and Hughes, who provided crucial support and publicity for several Boone House writers. The Boone House group also benefited from the attention of Rosey Pool, who included Danner and four other Detroit writers in her 1962 anthology ''Beyond the Blues''. Madgett remembered Boone House as an "old house
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
was beautiful in its details but in poor repair. It lacked central heat, some of the lights did not work, and the toilet lacked a seat, but we were glad to have this meeting place and to huddle together good-naturedly in front of the fireplace in cold weather."Boyd 105. According to Randall, "At the Boone House poetry meetings we didn't criticize each other's work. It wasn't a workshop. Instead, we created a poetry community to inspire each other." At Boone House, Danner and Randall collaborated on ''Poem Counterpoem'' (1966)—the first book out of Randall's Broadside Press, an important independent black publisher still in operation today. In 1962 Danner was noted as "a fellow Bahai" in October 1962 in the foreword of her poem ''Through the Varied Patterned Lace'' published in the ''Negro History Bulletin'' while she lived in Detroit. She joined the
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
, which she shared with Robert Hayden; she was a touring poet sponsored by the Baháʼí Teaching Committee, and shared stories of her experiences promoting the religion.


Later career

In 1966, Danner took her long-desired trip to Africa through the John Hay Whitney Fellowship to join prominent African-American cultural figures at the First World Festival of Negro Arts in
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
,
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
. The poem "At Home in Dakar" (also published as "At Home in Africa") recalls this trip. Danner's enthusiasm for the
Black Arts Movement The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African Americans, African-American-led art movement that was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride. The mov ...
emerging in the mid-1960s apparently "blew hot and cold." She presented the spiritual orientation of the Baháʼí Faith in some of her work. Still, she participated in conferences and readings with younger poets and generally supporting the new literary generation. As ''Negro Digest'' acknowledged in 1968, Danner's "poetry long had reflected the now-fashionable 'black is beautiful' philosophy." During terms as poet-in-residence at
Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Richmond, Virginia. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...
in Richmond and LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, both historically black institutions, Danner continued her lifelong dedication to young people and edited two anthologies of students' verse. In the late 1960s and 1970s, Danner published her third and fourth volumes of poetry, ''Iron Lace'' (1968) and ''The Down of a Thistle: Selected Poems, Prose Poems, and Songs'' (1976). Her work continued to draw upon African (as well as Western) art, flora and fauna, relationships with her fellow poets and scenes from urban life. Several of her poems address or discuss her grandson, Sterling Washington, Jr., whom she calls "Muffin," and who seems to represent an African-American future. Danner continued to be visible promoting her religion. Margaret Esse Danner died on January 1, 1984, in Chicago. Her papers are held by the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
library.


Reception

"A word conjuror and artisan, she provides her reader with well-crafted 'word sketches' that are impressionistic and expressionistic. Her poetry, the result of a dialectic between voices of her past, present, and future, reveals her role and relation to a tradition of Western poetics; her artistic invention of poetry as a visual impression combines graphic social criticism and visual creation, that which is both didactic and mimetic, into an exciting synthesis of a new aesthetic; her verse makes her reader a viewer of art (synesthetic imagery) as well." Erlene Stetson "One can perceive between the two covers of this one crafted volume, in its full imaginative scope, the web of intricate and brilliant imagery her pen has spun forth in the journey of a sensitive, independent and compassionate spirit across these turbulent times in this uncertain place." Samuel A. AllenSamuel A. Allen, introduction to ''The Down of a Thistle'' (Waukesha: Country Beautiful, 1976).


Bibliography


Poetry collections

* ''Impressions of African Art Forms'', 1960 * ''To Flower'', 1963 * ''Poem Counterpoem'', with Dudley Randall, 1966 * ''Not Light, Nor Bright, Nor Feathery'', 1968 * ''Iron Lace'', 1968 * ''The Down of a Thistle: Selected Poems, Prose Poems, and Songs'', 1976


Volumes edited

* ''Brass Horses'', 1968 * ''Regroup'', 1968


In anthologies (selected)

* Rosey E. Pool (ed.), ''Beyond the Blues: New Poems by American Negroes''. Lympne, Kent, UK: Hand and Flower Press, 1962. * Arna Bontemps (ed.), ''American Negro Poetry''. Revised Edition. New York: Hill and Wang, 1974. * King, Woodie, ''The Forerunners: Black Poets in America''. Washington: Howard University Press, 1975. * Erlene Stetson (ed.), ''Black Sister: Poetry by Black American Women, 1746–1980''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981.


Recordings

* ''Writers of the Revolution'', with Langston Hughes (Black Forum; alternately ''Poets of the Revolution'',
Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
)


References


External links


"Margaret Danner + music, soul, poetry", Garlic & Greens, October 15, 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Danner, Margaret African-American poets 1915 births 1984 deaths Poets from Chicago Loyola University Chicago alumni Northwestern University alumni Roosevelt University alumni American women poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers Converts to the Bahá'í Faith 20th-century Bahá'ís Writers from Kentucky