newspaper. When Bruce died in 1924, Garvey hon-
ored his loyal affiliate with a massive funeral pa-
rade that included more than 5,000 UNIA
members and foreign dignitaries.
Bibliography
Gilbert, Peter, ed. The Selected Writings of John Edward
Bruce, Militant Black Journalist.New York: Arno
Press, 1971.
Bullitt, Louise Bryant(1885–1936)
A Harlem Renaissance patron who, after being
widowed by the death of Jack Reed, became the
wife of William Bullitt, a Philadelphia millionaire.
She helped poet CLAUDEMCKAYto recover from
a severe case of influenza when they were both in
Paris in December 1923. Her decision to become
his patron and to provide him with financial sup-
port appears to have begun during that time. Dur-
ing their relationship, McKay sent rough drafts of
some of his work to Bullitt, who also promised to
disseminate his work to publishers. She had an un-
happy second marriage; it ended in divorce, and
she died from poor health soon thereafter.
Bibliography
Cooper, Wayne. Claude McKay: Rebel Sojourner in the
Harlem Renaissance.New York: Schocken Books,
1987.
Burleigh, Harry Thacker (1866–1949)
A recipient of the prestigious NAACP SPINGARN
MEDALin 1917, Burleigh was a talented and ac-
complished singer and composer. In 1929 this
charter member of the American Society of Com-
posers, Authors and Publishers and baritone
soloist at St. George’s Episcopal Church in New
York City published Old Songs Hymnal,a collec-
tion of Negro songs with arrangements that were
accessible to laypeople.
Burrill, Mary (Mamie) (ca. 1882–1946)
Little is known about the background of Mary Bur-
rill, a playwright who published works in the years
just before the Harlem Renaissance began. She at-
tended Emerson College in BOSTON, Mas-
sachusetts, at two different times, first between
1901 through 1904, and then again in the late
1920s, when she earned her bachelor’s degree in
literary interpretation in 1929.
A correspondent of ANGELINA WELD
GRIMKÉduring their teenage years, Burrill pub-
lished two plays. The first, AFTERMATH(1919),
appeared in the Liberatorand was performed by
the KRIGWAPLAYERS, a drama group organized
by W. E. B. DUBOIS, in May 1928. The play
“They That Sit in Darkness” (1919) appeared in
Birth Control Review.Burrill’s writing addressed
pertinent social issues of the day, including
women’s health and reproductive rights, race vio-
lence, and LYNCHING.Bursting BondsWilliam Pickens(1923)
An autobiography by WILLIAMPICKENS, the son
of former slaves, who grew up to become a jour-
nalist, orator, and assistant to JAMESWELDON
JOHNSONat the NAACP. In this memoir, Pick-
ens, who was an eloquent critic of BOOKERT.
WASHINGTONand his accommodationist poli-
cies, updates and expands Heir of Slaves,his 1911
autobiography.Bush-Banks, Olivia Ward(1869–1944)
The child of a Mormon polygamist who gave the
care of his daughter over to her aunt when her
mother died, Olivia Ward grew up in Providence,
Rhode Island. Her marriage dissolved, and in the
wake of her husband’s departure, she abandoned
her plans to pursue a career in nursing in order to
attend more closely to her two daughters. She re-
married in the post–World War II era and moved
into a new and creative phase in her life. She
began teaching drama at the Abyssinia Commu-
nity Center in HARLEMand hosted multiracial lit-
erary and artistic gatherings at her NEW YORK
CITYstudio.
Bush-Banks published most extensively in the
early 1900s, before the Renaissance began. In
1923, however, her poem “The Great Adventure”
appeared in the October issue of The MESSENGER.
She developed close friendships with a number of
notable Renaissance figures, including COUNTEE
CULLEN,W. E. B. DUBOIS, and PAULROBESON.Bush-Banks, Olivia Ward 69