In the poem “And Now Goodnight,” Wiggins’s
speaker makes a direct address to readers. “I have
told you tuneful tales / Gathered from the hills and
dales / Wheresoever mine own people chanced to
dwell,” notes the speaker. The following lines sug-
gest the poet’s own hopes for the volume: “If the
tales have brought you mirth, / Brought more
laughter to the earth, / It is well.” Tuneful Talesis a
polished collection that represents the wide variety
of contributions and African-American literary
communities of the Harlem Renaissance era.
Bibliography
Dailey, Maceo, Jr., and Ruthe Winegarten. Tuneful Tales
by Bernice Love Wiggins.Lubbock: Texas Tech Uni-
versity Press, 2002.
Turner, Lucy Mae (1884–unknown)
A published poet, educator, and granddaughter of
Nat Turner, the leader of the nation’s most effec-
tive and bloody slave revolt. Born in Zanesville,
Ohio, she was the daughter of a formerly enslaved
man named Gilbert Turner who survived the trau-
matic and enforced separation from his family dur-
ing a sale of slaves. Once Gilbert Turner achieved
his freedom and then purchased his wife and chil-
dren, the family settled in Zanesville. Lucy Mae, a
gifted student, earned a scholarship to Ohio State
University. Unfortunately, she was unable to at-
tend because the family could not afford the room-
and-board costs. Turner enrolled instead at
WILBERFORCEUNIVERSITYand graduated in 1908.
In 1934, having begun a career in teaching, Turner
resumed her studies. She returned to Ohio State
and in 1934 earned her B.S. In 1942 she com-
pleted graduate studies at the University of Illinois
and earned a master’s degree. Turner’s passion for
learning prompted her to enroll at the St. Louis
University Law School when it finally decided to
accept African-American students. She was
awarded an LL.B. in 1950. Despite her record of
achievement and demonstrated commitment to
professional advancement, Turner was denied ad-
mission to the Ohio bar.
Four years after she graduated from Ohio
State, Turner published her only volume of poems.
’BOUT CULLED FOLKSES (1938) included 38
poems that addressed contemporary life, survival
strategies in a world hostile to African Americans,
and the power of women.Bibliography
Turner, Lucy Mae. “The Family of Nat Turner,
1831–1854.” Negro History Bulletin(March 1955):
127–132, 145; (April 1955): 155–158.Tuskegee Institute
Located in Tuskegee, Alabama, the school opened
on July 4, 1881. BOOKERT. WASHINGTON, a for-
mer slave, was appointed president of the Tuskegee
Normal School for Colored Teachers that came to
be called Tuskegee Institute.
Washington served as president from 1881
until his death in 1915. During his tenure, the
school became synonymous with industrial educa-
tion. Robert Russa Moton succeeded Washington
as president of the institution. Moton’s legacy
included the establishment of the Tuskegee Vet-
eran’s Administration Hospital. The facility, which
opened its doors in 1923, was the first and only
American hospital with an entirely African-
American staff. When Frederick Patterson became
president in 1935, he extended the school’s profes-
sional mission to include the School of Veterinary
Medicine. It was Patterson who oversaw the pro-
grams that trained the legendary Tuskegee Airmen,
the squadrons of African-American pilots whose
excellence, stunning record, and professionalism
defied the racism that continued to rationalize seg-
regation in the armed forces.
Tuskegee Institute’s faculty included George
Washington Carver, E. FRANKLIN FRAZIER,and
LESLIE PINCKNEY HILL.HALLIE QUINN BROWN
served as dean of women, and NELLALARSENwas
appointed assistant superintendent of nurses at the
school before she relocated to NEWYORKCITYand
immersed herself in the literary world of the
Harlem Renaissance. CATHERINELATIMER, the first
African-American woman appointed to the staff of
the NEWYORKPUBLICLIBRARY, began her library
career at Tuskegee. Monroe Work, a respected his-
torian and editor of the NEGROYEARBOOK,was di-
rector of the Department of Records and Research
at the school.
Tuskegee graduates included CLAUDEALBERT
BARNETT as well as a number of students who530 Turner, Lucy Mae