was a well-known advocate of African-American
Civil War soldiers. He lobbied successfully for
equal pay for and fair treatment of black veterans.
Following his graduation from the Hyde Park
High School, where he was elected senior class
president, Trotter enrolled at Harvard College in
- He graduated magna cum laude and Phi
Beta Kappa in 1895. He married Geraldine Pindell,
a member of a prominent and politically active
Boston family, in 1899.
In 1901, Trotter established The Guardian,a
weekly newspaper dedicated to anti-accommo-
dationism and the political philosophies and
strategies advanced by BOOKERT. WASHINGTON
and his supporters. In 1905 Trotter collaborated
with W. E. B. DUBOIS, a fellow Harvard Univer-
sity graduate, on the movement that ultimately
led to the formation of the NATIONALASSOCIA-
TION FOR THEADVANCEMENT OFCOLOREDPEO-
PLE. Trotter’s daring, coupled with his piercing
intellectual powers, made him a formidable social
critic. In 1914 he made front-page news when he
challenged President Woodrow Wilson to address
racial segregation in federal agencies. Trotter, rep-
resenting the National Independence Equal
Rights League, traveled to Washington to meet
with Wilson. THE NEW YORK TIMES reported
Trotter’s scathing evaluation of Wilson’s tolerance
of segregation, including his memorable reminder
to Wilson that “Two years ago you were thought
to be a second Lincoln” (NYT, 13 November
1914, 1). Trotter was instrumental in the 1915
Boston protest of BIRTH OF ANATION,the racist
film that promoted the KUKLUXKLANand perni-
cious racial stereotypes. In 1919 Trotter advocated
in France for the Versailles Treaty to address issues
of racial equality.
Trotter, one of the most forceful and dynamic
leaders of the early 20th century, passed away in
Boston in 1934.
Bibliography
Fox, Stephen. The Guardian of Boston: William Monroe
Trotter.New York: Athenaeum, 1970.
Johnson, Abby Arthur, and Ronald Maberry Johnson.
Propaganda & Aesthetics: The Literary Politics of
African American Magazines in the Twentieth Cen-
tury.Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1979.
Puttkammer, Charles W., and William Worthy. “William
Monroe Trotter.” Journal of Negro History43 (Octo-
ber 1958): 298–316.Tucker, Louella(unknown)
The apartment mate of ETHELRAYNANCE, the
secretary to OPPORTUNITYeditor and NATIONAL
URBANLEAGUEofficer CHARLESS. JOHNSON, and
REGINAANDREWS,a NEWYORKPUBLICLIBRARY
branch librarian and playwright. The three women
shared a residence in the SUGARHILLdistrict of
HARLEM.
One of the most famous photographs of
Harlem Renaissance writers was taken during a
celebration hosted by these celebrated hostesses
and ardent supporters of the Harlem Renaissance.
The photo, taken on the roof of the apartment
building, features LANGSTON HUGHES, Charles
Johnson, E. FRANKLINFRAZIER,RUDOLPHFISHER,
and Hubert Delaney.Tuneful TalesBernice Love Wiggins(1925)
The only volume that the prolific Texas poet BER-
NICELOVEWIGGINSpublished during her career.
Wiggins’s work appeared in diverse newspapers
such as the El Paso Heraldand the CHICAGODE-
FENDER.In 1925 she self-published Tuneful Tales,
an impressive collection of some 100 poems.
The volume included vivid race poems that
conveyed the horrors of LYNCHINGand poems that
addressed contemporary issues such as women’s
work, religious life, and poverty. The poems reflect
Wiggins’s versatility and social awareness. Sobering
works such as “Ethiopia Speaks” complement the
fierce call for racial solidarity and race protest ar-
ticulated by COUNTEE CULLEN,LANGSTON
HUGHES, and others. Wiggins links her comment
on lynching and the loss of a son “Somewhere in
the South, the ‘Land of the Free’” to the historic
sacrifice that African-American families have al-
ready made. “When the flag was in danger they
answered the call / I gave them black sons, ah! yes,
gave them all” exclaims the speaker. Wiggins’s deft
intervention here suggests that lynching not only
savages the African-American family but also dis-
honors the significant and willing sacrifice that
many made to acquire freedom and justice in
America.Tuneful Tales 529