Locke was deeply committed to adult educa-
tion and used his membership in the Associates in
Negro Folk Education to strengthen educational of-
ferings to adult learners. He contributed two de-
tailed monographs to the Bronze Book series, a
collection of works by highly regarded African-
American intellectuals. In 1934 he was elected to
the governing board of the American Association
for Adult Education and in 1945 became the first
African-American president of the organization.
Alain Locke, who was living at 12 Grove
Street in New York City, died at age 67 in June
- He had no immediate surviving family mem-
bers. His last book, The Negro in American Culture
appeared in 1956, completed by his colleague and
friend Margaret Just Butcher. In 1935, almost 20
years before his death, Locke described himself as a
“philosophical mid-wife to a generation of younger
Negro poets, writers, and artists.” He was eulogized
as “one of the leading interpreters of the cultural
achievements of the Negro, and as one of the wis-
est analysts of his race and its relations with other
races” (NYT,10 June 1954, 31).
Shortly after his death, New York University
arranged a series of lectures in honor of Locke’s
legacy and influence. Attendees at the seminars,
which were offered under the general heading of
“Alain Locke: Philosophy, Art and Human Rela-
tions,” were able to “consider Dr. Locke’s position
in Negro literature in this country, his studies in
African sculpture and his contributions in the field
of philosophy” (NYT,29 October 1955). He con-
tinues to be honored today, most recently by the
Friends of African and African American Art who
established the Alain Locke Awards in 1992. The
annual prizes are given to individuals who emulate
Locke’s example and have “demonstrated dedica-
tion to the promotion and understanding of
African American artistic culture” (Michigan Citi-
zen, B1). Winners have included sculptor and
artist Elizabeth Catlett, artists Dave Driskell and
Sam Gilliam, and musician James Carter.
Bibliography
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“Dr. Alain Locke, Teacher, Author: Howard University
Professor 36 Years Dies—Noted for Race and Cul-
ture Writings.” New York Times,10 June 1954, 31.
“Locke Legacy.” Michigan Citizen,21 February 2004, B1.
“Locke Seminars at N.Y.U.” New York Times,29 October
1955, 8.
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Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2002.Logan, Rayford(1897–1982)
A leading American historian who came of age
professionally during the Harlem Renaissance.
Logan worked alongside scholars whose pioneering
studies of African-American life enriched the cul-
tural and intellectual dimensions of the Harlem
Renaissance.
Rayford Whittingham Logan was born in
WASHINGTON, D.C., to Arthur Logan, a butler in
the home of Connecticut senator Frederic Walcott,
and Martha Whittingham Logan. He was the vale-
dictorian of his class at the prestigious M STREET
HIGHSCHOOLand graduated PHIBETAKAPPA
from Williams College in 1917.Logan, Rayford 321