But one visit in particular, more or less narrowed down by audio-visual impressions, stands out: The late Toni Morrison publishes Song of Solomon (1977) in a trade paper edition of yellow, maroon and black actor Ruby Dee records Countée’s children’s book, The Lost Zoo, in 1978 an obituary of Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas, one of Romare Bearden’s mentors, appears in The New York Times in 1979. I spent 21 years, 10 months and 29 days living and working in New York.

Our relationship grew and changed between the year I was born and the 11 months we spent together until her death two years before Bearden himself crossed over. Countée and Ida Cullen were among the first to purchase Romie’s artwork, and upon Countée’s sudden death six years after he married her, Ida Mae became a noted collector in her own right. It was as if they’d merely slipped out into the kitchen to fix themselves a snack, and were expected back any moment. Countée, his many friends, colleagues and students were referred to by first name or by nickname. As widow of the poet Countée Cullen, executrix of his literary estate, Ida Cullen-Cooper took pride in knowing everybody and everything connected to the Harlem Renaissance, including artist Romare (“Romie”) Bearden. O’Meally (Duke University Press, 2019).Ĭasual familiarity was the tone my great-grandmother’s oral history narratives assumed. An essay-review of: The Romare Bearden Reader, edited by Robert G.

Conjure women