Waters Edward Turpin (April 9, 1910 – November 19, 1968) was an American novelist, professor, playwright, and textbook author. He gained prominence during the later half of 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 ...

, and was known for his work in African-American literary history. Turpin published three novels.

Early life and education

Waters Edward Turpin was born on April 9, 1910, in

Oxford, Maryland Oxford is a waterfront town and former colonial port in Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 651 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Oxford is one of the oldest towns in Maryland. While Oxford officially m ...

. He was an only child to African American parents Simon and Mary Rebecca (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Waters) Turpin. His grandfather, Captain Jack Waters may have been the first black-owned waterman's business in Oxford. He was raised with the early oral histories dating back to slave ships. Novelist

Edna Ferber Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), '' Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' Cima ...

employed his mother, and she had encouraged him to explore writing at a young age. He graduated with an A.B. degree from

Morgan State College Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1890, the university, then known a ...

(now Morgan State University); and an A.M. degree (1932) and

EdD Edd, or EDD may refer to: Academia * Ed.D., Doctor of Education or Doctor in Education Fictional characters * Dolorous Edd, a character from ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' and its adaptation, ''Game of Thrones'' * Edd (''Ed, Edd n Eddy''), a chara ...

(1960) from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...

. He was married to Jean Fisher Turpin and they had two children.

Career

His early career started in 1935 as an English teacher at

Storer College Storer College was a historically Black college in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, that operated from 1867 to 1955. A national icon for Black Americans, in the town where the 'end of American slavery began', as Frederick Douglass famously put i ...

, but left to finish his doctorate degree. From 1940 until 1950, he taught at Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania. In 1950, he joined the English department at his alma mater Morgan State College, where his wife Jean also taught. His book ''These Low Grounds'' (1937), is about four generations of African-Americans living in eastern Maryland. Author Richard Wright wrote a book review on ''These Low Grounds'' (1937) published in the ''

New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). It was the successor to both '' The Masses'' (1911–1917) and ''The Liberator'' (1918–1924). ''New Masses'' was later merge ...

'' magazine (dated October 5, 1937), in which he believed the book to be the first of its kind, an African American fictional saga encompassing slavery and its impact. Wright also felt the beginning portion of the book intimately portrayed Southern African Americans, based on his first hand knowledge; but then in the second half of the book he portrayed Northern African Americans in a poor fashion. ''These Low Grounds'' (1937) was compared in a few book reviews to the

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-20th-century American South and published research on Hoodoo ...

novel ''

Their Eyes Were Watching God ''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance and Hurston's best-known work. The novel explores protagonist Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vibran ...

'' (1937), because they were released at the same period. His novel ''O Canaan!'' (1939), is about African American migratory farmers during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. ''The Rootless'' (1957) is a novel that focuses on the history of slavery in Maryland during the 18th century.

Death and legacy

Turpin died on November 19, 1968. In 1977, author Nick Aaron Ford wrote about Turpin posthumously, and his admiration for his work. The Waters Edward Turpin Collection (1949–1968) is located at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

's Storer College Digital Collection contains photographs of Turpin while he was teaching at Storer. In 1983, Morgan State University initiated the ''Nick Aaron Ford and Waters Edward Turpin Symposium on African-American Literature.''

Publications

Novels

* * ''O Canaan!'' (1939) * ''The Rootless'' (1957)

Textbooks

*''Basic Skills for Better Writing'' (1959), co-author *''Extending Horizons: Selected Readings for Cultural Enrichment'' (1969), co-editor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turpin, Waters Edward 1910 births 1968 deaths 20th-century African-American writers Harlem Renaissance People from Talbot County, Maryland Morgan State University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Storer College faculty Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) faculty Morgan State University faculty