writers of the 1920s like OCTAVUSROYCOHEN
who considered African-American subject matter
in their works. The novel, noted for its graphic de-
tails and imagery, focused on the plight of men in a
Georgia prison chain gang. Spivak, who covered
the KUKLUXKLANand corporate corruption dur-
ing his career, used material acquired for his exposé
articles on racism and corruption. The novel incor-
porated stark illustrations of prisoners in their dis-
tinctive striped uniforms.
Bibliography
Lichtenstein, Alex. “Chain Gangs, Communism &
the ‘Negro Question’: John Spivak’s Georgia Nig-
ger,” Georgia Historical Quarterly79 (fall 1995):
633–658.
Gershwin, George (1898–1937)
A prolific composer who collaborated with Harlem
Renaissance–era writers and performers such as
DUBOSEHEYWARDand Adelaide Hall. Born in
Brooklyn, New York, to Morris and Rose Gersh-
win, he was the younger brother of Ira Gershwin,
the musician and lyricist. George was part of a
small but growing number of white writers and
artists of the day like JOHNSPIVAK, who incorpo-
rated African-American scenes and culture into
his works. His 1922 one-act opera George White’s
Scandalsused HARLEMas a backdrop, and in 1935
he achieved critical acclaim for PORGY ANDBESS,
his opera based on the novel and play by DuBose
Heyward. The composer of such well-known works
as Rhapsody in Blueand An American in Paris,he
earned a reputation as one of the era’s most influ-
ential and successful composers and was hailed for
his use of documented black musical forms and jazz
rhythms. In 1937 Gershwin died at the age of 38
after a failed operation to treat a brain tumor.
ARNABONTEMPS, the writer and head librar-
ian at FISKUNIVERSITYin the 1940s, established
an impressive collection of Gershwin papers and
memorabilia. In 1957 the writer and mentor CARL
VANVECHTENpenned the introduction to The
Gershwin Years.
Bibliography
Gilbert, Steven. The Music of Gershwin.New Haven,
Conn.: Yale University Press, 1995.
Hollis, Albert. The Life and Times of Porgy and Bess: The
Story of an American Classic.New York: Knopf, 1990.
Peyser, Joan. The Memory of All That: The Life of George
Gershwin.New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Schneider, Wayne, ed. The Gershwin Style: New Looks at
the Music of George Gershwin.New York: Oxford
University Press, 1999.Ghana
Located on the west coast of AFRICA, Ghana, in
1957, became the first African country to achieve
its independence from European rule. It had been
one of the major African countries targeted by the
British, Dutch, and Danish slave trades.
President Kwame Nkrumah became the first
president of the Republic of Ghana in 1960. In
1939 he graduated from LINCOLNUNIVERSITY, the
alma mater of poet LANGSTONHUGHESand U.S.
Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. He
continued his education at the UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA, from which he earned a master’s of
science in education and a master’s in philosophy.
In 1961 Ghana became the adopted homeland of
W. E. B. DUBOIS, the scholar, editor of THECRISIS
and cofounder of the NATIONALASSOCIATION FOR
THEADVANCEMENT OFCOLOREDPEOPLE.Bibliography
A. Adu Boahen. Ghana: Evolution and Change in the
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.London: Long-
man, 1975.
Awoonor, Kofi. Ghana: A Political History from Pre-Euro-
pean to Modern Times.Accra: Sedco Publishers,
1990.
Birmingham, David. Kwame Nkrumah: The Father of
African Nationalism.Athens: Ohio University Press,
1998.
Bourret, F. M. Ghana: The Road to Independence,
1919–1957.London: Oxford University Press, 1960.
Nkrumah, Kwame. Africa Must Unite.London: Heine-
mann, 1963.Gift of Black Folk: The Negroes in the
Making of AmericaW. E. B. DuBois(1924)
A history of people of African descent, by W. E. B.
DUBOIS, whose accomplishments included pio-
neering scholarship on African-American historyGift of Black Folk: The Negroes in the Making of America 181