ding, had one child, Elisabeth Ann. In New York,
Petry joined the staff of the AMSTERDAMNEWS
and began to realize her dream of becoming a pub-
lished writer. While in New York, Petry returned to
school. She attended COLUMBIAUNIVERSITYfor
one year in 1943.
Petry published her first fictional work in THE
CRISIS.“On Saturday the Siren Sounds at Noon,”
which was included in the November 1943 Crisis,
garnered her almost immediate attention. Houghton
Mifflin solicited her, hoping that she was at work on
a novel. One year later, when they received prelimi-
nary chapters for a novel entitled The Street,the
press awarded Petry, who was working full-time to
help support her family, a Houghton Mifflin Literary
Fellowship of $2,400 to facilitate her writing. Two
years later, the novel was published. The Streetwas
an immediate sensation, selling more than 1.5 mil-
lion copies.
The Petrys returned to Old Saybrook, and
Petry continued to write. Her second novel, A
Country Place,was published in 1947. Her third
novel, The Narrows,was published in 1953. Petry
also published children’s books, including Harriet
Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad
(1955) and the acclaimed Tituba of Salem Village
(1964).
She was awarded honorary degrees from Suf-
folk University in 1983, the University of Con-
necticut in 1988, and Mount Holyoke College in
1989.
Bibliography
Barrett, Lindon. Blackness and Value: Seeing Double.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Ervin, Hazel. Ann Petry: A Bio-Bibliography.New York:
G. K. Hall, 1993.
Holladay, Hilary. Ann Petry.New York: Twayne Publish-
ers, 1996.
Phi Beta Kappa
An academic honor society that is the oldest and
largest organization of its kind in the United
States. Founded in 1776 at the College of William
and Mary, the society was, in its early years, a se-
cret organization that accepted only men. Early
charters were distributed to select universities such
as HARVARDUNIVERSITYand YALEUNIVERSITY,
thus ensuring that the organization would be able
to sustain itself despite the upheaval of war.
Women were admitted to Phi Beta Kappa in
1875, nearly 100 years after its founding. The pio-
neering female members gained admission through
the University of Vermont.
A number of Harlem Renaissance writers and
leaders were elected to Phi Beta Kappa during their
undergraduate years. JESSIEFAUSET, a student at
Cornell University, was the first African-American
woman elected to the honor society. Other Phi
Beta Kappa members with ties to the Harlem Re-
naissance included COUNTEE CULLEN at NEW
YORKUNIVERSITY,STERLINGBROWN and RAY-
FORDLOGANat WILLIAMSCOLLEGE,CLARISSA
SCOTT DELANY at WELLESLEY COLLEGE,
RUDOLPHFISHERand JOHNHOPEat BROWNUNI-
VERSITY,ESTHERPOPELat Dickinson College, and
JAYSAUNDERSREDDINGand WILLIAMMONROE
TROTTER at HARVARD UNIVERSITY.ALAIN
LOCKE, who also was a member of Phi Beta Kappa
at Harvard, went on to establish the first Phi Beta
Kappa society at HOWARDUNIVERSITY.Bibliography
Current, Richard Nelson. Phi Beta Kappa in American
Life: The First Two Hundred Years.New York: Ox-
ford University Press, 1990.Philadelphia
A city in Pennsylvania and home to one of the
most active Harlem Renaissance–era literary com-
munities beyond NEWYORKCITY. The city was
home to well-known Harlem Renaissance figures.
It was the birthplace of singer MARIANANDER-
SON, art collector ALBERTBARNES, attorney RAY-
MONDALEXANDER, scholar ALAIN LOCKE, and
writer EFFIELEENEWSOME. Philadelphia also was
home to sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller, who went
on to attend the Philadelphia College of Art and
later establish a studio in the city. The writers NEL-
LIEBRIGHT,BESSIECALHOUNBIRD,MAECOW-
DERY,ARTHUR HUFF FAUSET,JESSIE FAUSET,
OTTIEBEATRICEGRAHAM, and IDABELLEYEISER
also lived in Philadelphia, as did the painter JACOB
LAWRENCE, who relocated with his mother to
Philadelphia during the Great Migration in the
1920s.Philadelphia 419