1934 Imitation of Lifeas the domestic servant and
business partner of the character played by
Claudette Colbert. The film was based on the 1933
novel of the same name written by FANNIEHURST.
Becton, George Wilson(1890–1933)
An evangelist, writer, and associate of the Rev-
erend FREDERICKCULLEN, pastor of the Salem
Methodist Episcopal Church and adoptive father
of COUNTEECULLEN, the poet. Before his death at
the hands of mobsters, Becton founded The Menu,
a quarterly magazine to which Countee Cullen
contributed the poem “If You Should Go.”
Bibliography
Ferguson, Blanche. Countee Cullen and the Negro Renais-
sance.New York: Dodd, Mead, 1966.
“Belated Romance”Florence Marion Harmon
(1928)
A romantic short story by FLORENCE MARION
HARMON. Published in the Boston-based SATUR-
DAYEVENINGQUILL,the annual periodical that
featured the work of SATURDAYEVENINGQUILL
CLUBmembers, the story portrayed the earnest ef-
forts of two mature gentlemen who were both de-
termined to win the hand of an aristocratic spinster.
In the story, Josiah Beede and his wife, Mary,
are concerned about their neighbor, Miss Sabina
Corning. In response to her husband’s musings
about Sabina’s financial and domestic affairs, Mary
Beede suggests that Sabina be married off “before
she becomes more of a spinster than she is now.”
Her brother-in-law Seth Beede, who has been a
longtime boarder in their home, overhears her
comment and is prompted to reconsider his feel-
ings for the neighbor. Seth promptly seeks out
Henry Holcomb, a local man whom he thought
had won the heart of the still-unmarried Sabina.
Henry returns to Sabina’s home, and much to her
surprise, he proposes. When she rejects Holcomb,
Seth Beede makes a beeline for her home. Finally,
after many years of waiting and wondering, he asks
her if he had in any way “marred” their earlier un-
derstanding and whether or not there is a reason
that they should not wed. Sabina suggests that
nothing stands in their way. When he leaves her
home, Seth is triumphant. He “went out into the
night with a look of exultation on his face—like a
martyr who offered himself for sacrifice, but found
that the cause for which he had offered himself did
not exist” (63).
“Belated Romance” is an entertaining story
about African-American courtship that maintains
a discernible air of gentility.Benchley, Robert C.(1889–1945)
A highly regarded humorist, writer, editor of VAN-
ITYFAIR,and drama critic for the New Yorker.He
was one of the well-known literary personalities
whom CHARLESS. JOHNSONinvited to judge the
entries in the first literary contest sponsored by OP-
PORTUNITYand the NATIONALURBANLEAGUE.
Also on that panel were the noted poet WITTER
BYNNERand the novelist FANNIEHURST.Bennett, Gwendolyn(1902–1981)
A Texas-born teacher, artist, and poet whose father
abducted her from her mother’s Washington,
D.C., home and raised her in Harrisburg, Pennsyl-
vania, and Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of
PRATT INSTITUTE and COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY,
Bennett taught art at HOWARDUNIVERSITYand
at the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial Col-
lege before becoming assistant editor of OPPORTU-
NITY and an editorial board member of FIRE!!
From September 1926 through May 1928, she au-
thored “THEEBONYFLUTE” a monthly literary so-
ciety column in Opportunity.JACOBLAWRENCE
was one of the students she taught during her
tenure as director of the Harlem Art Center. Her
literary and artistic career ended in 1941 when
she was targeted by the REDSCAREand branded a
communist.
Bennett’s artwork appeared on the covers of
CRISISand Opportunity.Her poem “Song” was in-
cluded in THENEWNEGRO(1925), the critically
acclaimed anthology edited by ALAINLOCKEthat
helped to institutionalize the Harlem Renaissance
that was unfolding. Bennett was one of only eight
women whose writings were included in the collec-
tion. Her poems, which have never been collected
in a single volume, were published in JAMESWEL-
DONJOHNSON’s THEBOOK OFAMERICANNEGRO30 Becton, George Wilson