THE BROWN THRUSH: Anthology of Verse by Negro Students, Talladega College - Tougaloo College

Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania and Claremont, California: Lawson-Roberts Publishing Company, 1932. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Inscribed by Robert W. O'Brien to Hugh Vernon White, Executive Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, on the front flyleaf, above White's bookplate. An anthology of poetry written by undergraduates and recent graduates of the historically black colleges, with contributions by J. Henderson Brooks and Lucy Ariel Williams, among many others. In an April 13, 1932 letter to Robert W. O'Brien, Countee Cullen praised this anthology as "an encouraging expression of poetry from young Negro collegians" (truncated) and "a definite indication that there is a crop of new Negro poets in the making". A second volume of The Brown Thrush was published in 1935. Octavo: 67 p. with [2] p. index and 2 illustrations. Original brown paper-covered boards over a green cloth spine, with printed paper title label on the front panel. Minor staining to the spine heel, with some wear to the corners and tips; else very good. (Inventory #: 76593)