ments. The New York Times,which listed her under
her married name of Imes, noted only that she
“died March 30, 1964, sister of Anna Larsen Gar-
dener of Calif.” (NYT,7 April 1964, 35). It is sadly
ironic that the obituary notice linked her both to
her former husband and to her unresponsive sib-
ling. Coworkers and her few close friends eulogized
her as a dedicated and caring nurse.
Scholars such as Mary Helen Washington,
Charles Larson, and Thadious Davis have spear-
headed the reemergence of Larsen’s work. Many
scholars have considered Larsen’s work in the con-
text of racial passing and have used her writings to
advance contemporary debates about figures such
as the tragic mulatto and about issues such as
African-American women’s sexuality and the poli-
tics of middle-class life. Scholars continue to de-
bate the circumstances of Larsen’s life and to
consider how the evolving conclusions about her
origins, self-identification, and social mobility
shaped her perspectives on the Harlem Renais-
sance in general, and on her own work in particu-
lar. The recovery of Larsen’s work, and the
painstaking reconstruction of her life have invigo-
rated debate about the accomplishments of the pe-
riod’s most elusive and insightful writers.
Bibliography
“12 Negroes Honored for Achievements; Harmon
Awards Presented Here to Claude McKay, Nella L.
Imes and Dr. C. H. Tobias.” New York Times, 13
February 1929, 13.
“Deaths.” New York Times,7 April 1964, 35.
Bennett, Gwendolyn. “The Ebony Flute.” Opportunity
(May 1928): 153.
Davis, Thadious M. Nella Larsen, Novelist of the Harlem
Renaissance: A Woman’s Life Unveiled.Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 1994.
———. “Nella Larsen’s Harlem Aesthetic.” In The
Harlem Renaissance: Reevaluations,edited by Am-
ritjit Singh, William S. Shiver, and Stanley Brod-
win. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989.
245–256.
Huggins, Nathan. Harlem Renaissance.New York: Ox-
ford University Press, 1971.
Hutchinson, George. “Nella Larsen and the Veil of
Race.” American Literary History9, no. 2 (summer
1997): 329–349.
Larson, Charles, ed. An Intimation of Things Distant: The
Collected Fiction of Nella Larsen.New York: Anchor
Books, 1992.
———. Invisible Darkness: Jean Toomer & Nella Larsen.
Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1993.
Wall, Cheryl. “Passing for What? Aspects of Identity in
Nella Larsen’s Novels.” Black American Literature
Forum20, nos. 1–2 (summer 1986): 97–111.Latimer, Catherine Allen(ca. 1895–unknown)
In 1920 Latimer became the first African-American
woman appointed to the staff of the NEWYORK
PUBLICLIBRARY.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, to H. W. Allen
and Minta Bosley Allen, she was educated in
Brooklyn, New York, and abroad in Germany and
FRANCE. She completed undergraduate studies, in-
cluding library-training courses, at HOWARDUNI-
VERSITY. She was a member of ALPHA KAPPA
ALPHAsorority, one of four historic African-Amer-
ican Greek societies founded on the WASHING-
TON, D.C., campus.
Before making her historic entry into the
New York Public Library system, Latimer worked
as an assistant librarian at TUSKEGEEINSTITUTE.
Shortly after becoming a pioneering member of
the New York Public Library staff, Latimer was
appointed assistant branch reference librarian at
the 135th Street Branch in HARLEM. In 1925 she
was given charge of the newly established divi-
sion of Negro Literature and History. There, she
oversaw the extensive collection of Arthur
Schomburg that, in addition to its artifacts, pam-
phlets, prints, and documents included more than
5,000 books relating to African-American and
black life and culture. Latimer’s career at the New
York Public Library lasted 15 years.
Latimer preceded REGINAANDREWS, who in
1936 became the first African-American supervis-
ing librarian in the New York Public Library sys-
tem. Both women were influential professionals
who used their positions at the 135th Street
Branch to shape the Harlem Renaissance. They
provided the community and artists with access to
invaluable resources, showcased contemporary
work, and supported the professional efforts of
artists and writers.Latimer, Catherine Allen 307