Encyclopedia of the Harlem Literary Renaissance

began a lengthy career as a librarian. She worked at
the Jones Memorial Library and also at the DUN-
BARHIGHSCHOOLlibrary until her retirement in

1945. The Spencer home was an active literary
      salon, one that catered regularly to lively gatherings
      of contemporary scholars, artists, and writers.
      Spencer developed friendships with leading poets of
      the period including Langston Hughes, Georgia
      Douglas Johnson, and Claude McKay. In addition,
      her home at 1313 Pierce Street was where influen-
      tial public figures such as GEORGEWASHINGTON
      CARVER, W. E. B DUBOIS, ADAMCLAYTONPOW-
      ELL, SR., and PAULROBESONgathered.
      Spencer combined her literary career with so-
      cial activism. Her efforts to secure educational op-
      portunities for African-American students led to the
      establishment of a library at Dunbar High School.
      In addition, her protests on behalf of African-

American teachers who were denied employment

opportunities because of their race eventually led to

their hiring in Lynchburg’s segregated schools. Vir-

ginia Seminary and College celebrated Spencer’s ca-

reer by awarding her an honorary degree in 1975.

Bibliography

Anne Spencer Papers, Anne Spencer House Historic

Landmark, Lynchburg, Virginia; Beinecke Rare

Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Greene, J. Lee. Time’s Unfading Garden: Anne Spencer’s

Life and Poetry.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Uni-

versity, 1977.

Stetson, Erlene. “Anne Spencer.” CLA Journal 21

(March 1978): 400–409.

Spingarn, Amy(1883–1980)

One of the best-known white patrons of the Harlem

Renaissance. In December 1895 she married JOEL

SPINGARN, the first Jewish professor at COLUMBIA

UNIVERSITYand a dedicated member and officer of

the NATIONALASSOCIATION FOR THEADVANCE-

MENT OFCOLOREDPEOPLE(NAACP). The Spin-

garns dedicated themselves to civil rights reforms

and were generous supporters of the Harlem Re-

naissance literary and arts movements.

The daughter of David Einstein and the sister

of the American scholar and diplomat Lewis Ein-

stein, Amy Spingarn inherited considerable wealth

from her father, a New Jersey mill owner and

landowner. After schooling abroad, she enrolled at

BARNARDCOLLEGEbut did not graduate. While

there, she fell in love with Columbia professor Joel

Spingarn and proposed marriage to him. The cou-

ple had four children, Hope, Honor, Stephen, and

Edward. In addition to their home in New York

City, the Spingarns owned Troutbeck, a spacious

country estate in Amenia, New York. Guests as the

18th-century home included SINCLAIR LEWIS,

Ernest Hemingway, LANGSTONHUGHES, and Pres-

ident Theodore Roosevelt.

Spingarn, who had interests in art and litera-

ture, also published during the Harlem Renais-

sance. In the summer of 1924, writing under her

maiden name, Einstein, she published a poem in

THECRISIS.

In 1925 Spingarn established a literary contest

that was run in conjunction with The Crisis,the

Spingarn, Amy 491

Anne Spencer (Yale Collection of American Literature,
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)