early 1940s, Cullen published two short story col-
lections entitled THELOSTZOO(1940) and My
Lives and How I Lost Them(1942). His love of the-
ater continued throughout his later career, and his
final effort, published posthumously in August
1946, was a one-act play coauthored with Owen
Dodson entitled The Third Fourth of Julyand pub-
lished in the journal Theatre Arts.
One of Cullen’s most successful creative ven-
tures came during the waning years of the Renais-
sance when he collaborated with Arna Bontemps.
In 1939, the two completed St. Louis Woman,a
dramatic and musical production of Bontemps’s
1931 novel God Sends Sunday.The two men also
worked closely on the project with Langston
Hughes, who on one occasion referred to the work
as “beautiful” and admitted that as it progressed he
“like[d] it better and better” (Nichols, 37). The
adaptation was staged in New York City at the
Martin Beck Theatre. It opened in March 1946
and enjoyed more than 100 performances before it
closed in early July 1946. The show, directed by
Rouben Mamoulian, with set and costume designs
by Lemuel Ayers, featured a cast that included the
actress Pearl Bailey.
Some 3,000 people attended funeral services
for Cullen after he died at age 42 on 9 January
- The service for the “leading Negro poet,” as
he was described in the New York Timescoverage of
the event, was held at Salem Methodist Church,
the longtime church of his father, the Reverend
Frederick Cullen, located at Seventh Avenue and
West 129th Street. Cullen, who was living in Tuck-
ahoe, New York, at the time of his death, was
buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery, the resting
place of other prominent New York figures, such as
FIORELLOLAGUARDIA. His death was a shock to
many, including Langston Hughes, who wrote to
his longtime friend Arna Bontemps to ask “What
happened to Countee?” and noted that “Everyone
in L.A. was shocked at the news” (Nichols, 203).
A number of leading figures of the Harlem Renais-
sance attended the service, including Arna Bon-
temps, WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE, the
prizefighter and Native Sonstar actor Canada Lee,
ALAIN LOCKE,RIDGELY TORRENCE,CARL VAN
VECHTEN, and RICHARDWRIGHT. The presiding
minister, Charles Trigg, and the principal at Fred-
erick Douglass Junior High School, George Zuck-
erman, delivered eulogies. Rev. Trigg “extolled
Mr. Cullen for his devoutness, his calmness and
inward serenity, his untiring work in his poetry
and teaching, his loyalty to his friends and his re-
spect for all humanity.” Zuckerman, who recalled
Cullen’s 11-year teaching career at the school on
West 140th Street, also “noted especially his ex-
tracurricular work in creative poetry with the
pupils.”Bibliography
Countee Cullen Papers, Amistad Research Center, Tu-
lane University.
Bronz, Stephen. Roots of Racial Consciousness. The 1920s:
Three Harlem Renaissance Authors.New York: Libra,
1964.
Early, Gerald. My Soul’s High Song: The Collected Writings
of Countee Cullen, Voice of the Harlem Renaissance.
New York: Doubleday, 1991.
Ferguson, Blanche. Countee Cullen and the Negro Renais-
sance.New York: Dodd, Mead, 1966.
Lewis, David Levering. When Harlem Was in Vogue.New
York: Knopf, 1981.
Lomax, Michael. “Countee Cullen: A Key to the Puz-
zle.” In The Harlem Renaissance Re-Examined,edited
by Victor Kramer and Robert Russ. Troy, N.Y.:
Whitson, 1997. 239–248.
Nichols, Charles H., ed. Arna Bontemps-Langston Hughes
Letters, 1925–1967. New York: Paragon House,
1990.
Powers, Peter. “‘The Singing Man Who Must Be Reck-
oned With’: Private Desire and Public Responsibil-
ity in the Poetry of Countee Cullen.” African
American Review34, no. 4 (winter 2000): 661–678.
Shucard, Alan. Countee Cullen.Boston: Twayne, 1984.Cullen, Frederick Asbury(1868–1946)
The Reverend Frederick Cullen was pastor at the
Salem Methodist Episcopal Church in New York
City and the adoptive father of COUNTEECULLEN,
the acclaimed and prolific Harlem Renaissance
poet. In 1928, the Reverend Cullen presided over
the wedding ceremony of his son and YOLANDE
DUBOIS.Bibliography
Lewis, David Levering. When Harlem Was in Vogue.New
York: Knopf, 1981.108 Cullen, Frederick Asbury