Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
Ralph Ellison
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1914, Mar.1 | Born, Oklahoma City, Okla. |
| 1933-1936 | Attended Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala. |
| 1938-1942 | Researcher, Federal Writers' Project, Works Progress Administration Married Rose Poindexter (divorced 1945) |
| 1939 | Published short story “Slick Gonna Learn” in Direction |
| 1940 | Published short story “The Birthmark” in New Masses Published short story “Afternoon” in American Writing, ed. Hans Otto Storm and others. Prairie City, Ill.: J. A. Decker |
| 1941 | Published short story “Mister Toussan” in New Masses |
| 1942 | Managing editor, Negro Quarterly |
| 1943-1945 | Seaman, merchant marine |
| 1944 | Published short story “Flying Home” in Cross Section, ed. Edwin Seaver. New York: L. B. Fischer Published short story “King of the Bingo Game” in Tomorrow |
| 1945 | Received Rosenwald Fellowship |
| 1946 | Married Fanny McConnell Buford |
| 1948 | Published short story “Battle Royal” in ’48, The Magazine of the Year |
| 1952 | Published Invisible Man. New York: Random House |
| 1953 | Received National Book Award for Invisible Man |
| 1955-1957 | Received American Academy of Arts and Letters Fellowship for study in Rome |
| 1958-1961 | Instructor, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. |
| 1960 | Published short story “And Hickman Arrives” in The Noble Savage |
| 1961 | Alexander White Visiting Professor, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1962-1964 | Visiting Professor of Writing, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. |
| 1964 | Published Shadow and Act. New York: Random House |
| 1964-1965 | Visiting Fellow in American Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. |
| 1966-1972 | Honorary consultant in American Letters, Library of Congress |
| 1967-1977 | Trustee, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. |
| 1968-1979 | Board of Directors, Educational Broadcasting Corp. |
| 1969 | Decorated chevalier l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom |
| 1969-1982 | Trustee, New School for Social Research, New York, N.Y. |
| 1970-1975 | Trustee, Bennington College, Bennington, Vt. |
| 1970-1979 | Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities, New York University, New York, N.Y. |
| 1970-1985 | Board of Directors, Museum of the City of New York, New York, N.Y. |
| 1971-1984 | Trustee, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation |
| 1972-1985 | Board of Visitors, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C. |
| 1975 | Opening of Ralph Ellison Branch, Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma City, Okla. |
| 1985 | Awarded National Medal of Arts |
| 1986 | Published Going to the Territory. New York: Random House |
| 1994, Apr. 16 | Died, New York, N.Y. |
| 1999 | Posthumous publication, Juneteenth. New York: Random House |
Fanny McConnell Ellison
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| [1911 ?], Nov. 27 | Born, Louisville, Ky. |
| 1932-1933 | Attended Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn. |
| 1936 | B.A., University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa Married Rodney G. Higgins (divorced 1937) |
| 1938 | Founded Negro People's Theatre, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1939 | Married Ligon Buford (divorced 1945) |
| 1939-1941 | Assistant to John Sengstacke and columnist, Chicago Defender |
| 1942 | Typist, Navy Yard, Washington D.C. Researcher, War Production Board, Washington, D.C. |
| 1943-1945 | Research assistant, National Urban League, New York, N.Y. |
| 1945-1946 | Director of publicity, New York City Housing Authority |
| 1946 | Married Ralph Ellison |
| 1946-1953 | Secretary to executive director, International Rescue Committee |
| 1953-1966 | Accounts manager, Harold L. Oram Associates, with a two-year absence from 1955-1957 |
| 1955-1957 | Translator, Lampada della Fraternità (World Organization of the Lamp of Brotherhood), Rome, Italy |
| 1963 | Traveled to Namkham Hospital, Namkham, Burma, for Harold L. Oram, Inc. |
| 2005, Nov. 19 | Died, New York, N.Y. |