Olivia Ward Bush
Encyclopedia
Olivia Ward Bush Banks was an American
author, poet and journalist of African American
and Montaukett Native American descent. Ward celebrated both of her heritages in her poetry and writing. She was a regular contributor to the Colored American
magazine and wrote a column for the New Rochelle Westchester Record-Courier.
, Long Island
, New York
, Ward was the third of three daughters of Eliza Draper and Abraham Ward, both of whom were of mixed African-American and Montaukett descent. Ward’s mother died when she was about nine months old, and her father moved with the family to Providence, Rhode Island
. When her father remarried there, he gave young Olivia to her mother's sister Maria Draper for care, who reared Olivia as her own. She attended local schools in Providence, and studied nursing in high school. She also became interested in drama and poetry.
Ward married again about 1916 to Anthony Banks, a Pullman porter. Her first daughter Rosamund married and died young, in 1929.
, an African-American poet. By 1900 she was working as an assistant theater director at the Robert Gould Shaw Settlement House in Boston, where she continued until about 1914.
Ward returned to Long Island with her daughters, where her interest in the arts continued to grow. Her mother and aunt had been raised in the Montaukett culture, which was important to Ward. Living at the easterly end of the South Fork
, she served as the Montaukett tribal historian
, a position she held until about 1916. She published her second, more substantial, volume of poetry, Driftwood in 1914. This was her most popular volume.
By 1918 or so, Ward had moved to Chicago, Illinois with her second husband Anthony Banks, whose job with the Pullman Company was based there. She wrote her first play, Indian Trails: or Trail of the Montauk; as it survives only in fragments, scholars estimate a date of 1920. After that, she turned more of her writing to the African-American experience. Chicago was becoming an important urban center of black life, music and culture during the Great Migration
, as tens of thousands of blacks left the rural South and moved to northern industrial cities.
Ward became a regular contributor to Colored America magazine and a strong supporter of the "New Negro Movement
." She helped sculptor Richmond Barthé
and author/poet Langston Hughes
get their starts during the Harlem Renaissance
. Ward expressed her passion about the struggles of African American
s and the need for social change through her writing. She also demonstrated her faith in God through her words.
The Banks established and ran the Bush-Banks School of Expression in Chicago, which became a place for black artists to gather and nurture their art. Actors and musicians gave recitals and performances at the school. Ward continued her artistic endeavors, focusing on drama. She also worked teaching drama in the Chicago public school system. From the late 1920s on, she traveled between Chicago and New York, where her surviving daughter Marie lived with her family.
In the 1930s, Ward returned east to live in New Rochelle, New York
and New York City
. In 1936 she was part of the Works Progress Administration
's Theatre Project during the Great Depression
. She counted civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois; poet and novelist Countee Cullen
; and actor/singer Paul Robeson
among her friends.
In the 1930s she wrote an arts column and acted as arts editor for the Westchester Record-Courier. She also served with the Works Progress Administration as a drama coach at the Abyssinian Baptist Church
's Community Center, from 1936-1939. Abyssinian served as an important location for secular as well as religious music and art during the Harlem Renaissance and later.
Ward wrote several plays and short stories, most of which were never published, some because she expressed issues of interracial culture.
Ward’s work is notable for preserving regional and ethnic dialects that would otherwise have no written record. She also wrote of the Native American experience in her work, preserving some of the Algonquian
Montauk language and folklore, especially during the early part of her career. Later, after moving to Chicago, she wrote more about the African-American experience, and reflected its values (political, cultural, religious.)
Olivia Ward Bush Banks died in 1944. Banks had been close to her second daughter Marie and her granddaughter Helen, who lived in New York.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, poet and journalist of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and Montaukett Native American descent. Ward celebrated both of her heritages in her poetry and writing. She was a regular contributor to the Colored American
Colored American
The Colored American was a name used by two 19th century weekly African-American newspapers: one that was published in New York City from 1836 to 1842 by Samuel Cornish, Phillip Bell, and Charles Bennett Ray, and one that was published in Washington, D.C. from 1893 to 1904...
magazine and wrote a column for the New Rochelle Westchester Record-Courier.
Early life and education
Born May 23, 1869 in Sag HarborSag Harbor, New York
Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, with parts in both the Towns of East Hampton and Southampton. The population was 2,313 at the 2000 census....
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Ward was the third of three daughters of Eliza Draper and Abraham Ward, both of whom were of mixed African-American and Montaukett descent. Ward’s mother died when she was about nine months old, and her father moved with the family to Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. When her father remarried there, he gave young Olivia to her mother's sister Maria Draper for care, who reared Olivia as her own. She attended local schools in Providence, and studied nursing in high school. She also became interested in drama and poetry.
Marriage and family
In 1889, Ward married Frank Bush. The couple had two daughters, Rosamund and Maria. After Ward and Bush divorced around 1895, Ward supported her daughters and her then-aged Aunt Maria.Ward married again about 1916 to Anthony Banks, a Pullman porter. Her first daughter Rosamund married and died young, in 1929.
Career
Ward found work at times in either Providence and Boston, whatever she could find to support her family. Despite long days working, she wrote and published her first book of poetry, a slim volume called Original Poems (1899). She received excellent reviews from the respected Paul Laurence DunbarPaul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal African American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 "Ode to Ethiopia", one poem in the collection Lyrics of Lowly Life....
, an African-American poet. By 1900 she was working as an assistant theater director at the Robert Gould Shaw Settlement House in Boston, where she continued until about 1914.
Ward returned to Long Island with her daughters, where her interest in the arts continued to grow. Her mother and aunt had been raised in the Montaukett culture, which was important to Ward. Living at the easterly end of the South Fork
South Fork
South Fork may refer to:In towns:* South Fork, Saskatchewan* South Fork, Butte County, California* South Fork, Madera County, California* South Fork, Mendocino County, California* South Fork, Colorado* South Fork Township, Minnesota...
, she served as the Montaukett tribal historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, a position she held until about 1916. She published her second, more substantial, volume of poetry, Driftwood in 1914. This was her most popular volume.
By 1918 or so, Ward had moved to Chicago, Illinois with her second husband Anthony Banks, whose job with the Pullman Company was based there. She wrote her first play, Indian Trails: or Trail of the Montauk; as it survives only in fragments, scholars estimate a date of 1920. After that, she turned more of her writing to the African-American experience. Chicago was becoming an important urban center of black life, music and culture during the Great Migration
Great Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...
, as tens of thousands of blacks left the rural South and moved to northern industrial cities.
Ward became a regular contributor to Colored America magazine and a strong supporter of the "New Negro Movement
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
." She helped sculptor Richmond Barthé
Richmond Barthé
James Richmond Barthé was an African American sculptor known for his many public works, including the Toussaint L’Ouverture Monument in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and a sculpture of Rose McClendon for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater House.Barthe once said that “all my life I have be interested in...
and author/poet Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
get their starts during the Harlem Renaissance
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
. Ward expressed her passion about the struggles of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s and the need for social change through her writing. She also demonstrated her faith in God through her words.
The Banks established and ran the Bush-Banks School of Expression in Chicago, which became a place for black artists to gather and nurture their art. Actors and musicians gave recitals and performances at the school. Ward continued her artistic endeavors, focusing on drama. She also worked teaching drama in the Chicago public school system. From the late 1920s on, she traveled between Chicago and New York, where her surviving daughter Marie lived with her family.
In the 1930s, Ward returned east to live in New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1936 she was part of the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
's Theatre Project during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. She counted civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois; poet and novelist Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen was an American poet who was popular during the Harlem Renaissance.- Biography :Cullen was an American poet and a leading figure with Langston Hughes in the Harlem Renaissance. This 1920s artistic movement produced the first large body of work in the United States written by African...
; and actor/singer Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
among her friends.
In the 1930s she wrote an arts column and acted as arts editor for the Westchester Record-Courier. She also served with the Works Progress Administration as a drama coach at the Abyssinian Baptist Church
Abyssinian Baptist Church
The Abyssinian Baptist Church is among the most famous of the many prominent and activist churches in the Harlem section of New York City.- History :...
's Community Center, from 1936-1939. Abyssinian served as an important location for secular as well as religious music and art during the Harlem Renaissance and later.
Ward wrote several plays and short stories, most of which were never published, some because she expressed issues of interracial culture.
Ward’s work is notable for preserving regional and ethnic dialects that would otherwise have no written record. She also wrote of the Native American experience in her work, preserving some of the Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
Montauk language and folklore, especially during the early part of her career. Later, after moving to Chicago, she wrote more about the African-American experience, and reflected its values (political, cultural, religious.)
Olivia Ward Bush Banks died in 1944. Banks had been close to her second daughter Marie and her granddaughter Helen, who lived in New York.
Further reading
- Bernice Forrest (formerly Bernice Forrest Guillaume), ed. The Collected Works of Olivia Ward Bush-Banks, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991
External links
- "Bush-Banks, Olivia Ward", American National Biography Online, Wright University
- Olivia Bush (aka Olivia Ward Bush-Banks) (1869–1944), ORIGINAL POEMS, Providence, RI: Louis A. Basinet Press, 1899; Reprinted in The Collected Works of Olivia Ward Bush-Banks, compiled and edited by Bernice Forrest (formerly Bernice Forrest Guillaume), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991, at digital.library, University of Pennsylvania
- "Olivia Ward Bush", Featured Praying Poet, Christian Poets