William Attaway
Encyclopedia
William Alexander Attaway (November 19, 1911 – June 17, 1986) was an African American novelist, short story writer, essayist, songwriter, playwright, and screenwriter.
, the son of William S. Attaway, a physician and founder of the National Negro Insurance Association, and Florence Parry Attaway, a school teacher. When Attaway was six, he moved with his family moved to Chicago, Illinois
, as part of the Great Migration, to escape the segregated
South.
. Once he learned that Hughes was a black poet, Attaway decided to start applying himself to his school work. He even enjoyed writing so much that he wrote for his sister Ruth’s amateur dramatic groups.
After graduating from high school, Attaway enrolled at the University of Illinois
. There, he was a tennis college champion. Even though he was doing well at college, upon his father’s death Attaway dropped out and became a traveling worker for two years. During these years he worked as a salesman, a labor organizer, and a seaman, and began to collect material for his later works.
After getting his B.A. from the University of Illinois and having published "The Tale of the Blackamoor" in Challenge, he traveled around the US before settling into New York City.
for eleven years with their two children Bill and Noelle.Frances Attaway was a white woman originally from New York. They had a 20 years long courtship before going public and official with their union as racial tension was present until the 1960s. Despite the MLK civil rights movement, Frances and William moved their family to the Caribbean to escape racial turmoil and death threats. Frances and William had two children, Noelle and William.
William Attaway's daughter, Noelle, even recalls records of Martin Luther King calling William Attaway " a fellow freedom fighter" and both marched side by side during the civil rights movement.
, writing screenplays. He died in June 17, 1986 of heart failure.
guide to Illinois. While he was working on this project he became good friends with Richard Wright
, another soon to be famous novelist. Soon after his first project was over Attaway returned to the University of Illinois and received his degree. He then moved to New York where his drama Carnival was produced.
His first short story, "Tale of the Blackamoor", was published in 1936. In between works, he worked many odd jobs and even tried acting with his sister Ruth. Ruth later became a successful Broadway
actress, and she ultimately helped to fuel Attaway’s career. In 1939, Attaway’s first novel, Let me Breathe Thunder, was published. He then began working on his second and last novel, Blood on the Forge
.
After Blood on the Forge, Attaway began to write songs, screenplays, and books about music. Some of his main works included Calypso Song Book and Hear America Singing. Attaway also co-wrote the famous song "Day-O" (Banana Boat Song
) for his friend Harry Belafonte
. In the 1950s, he began to write for radio, TV, and films. Attaway was the first African-American writer to write scripts for film and TV. He wrote for programs like Wide Wide World
and Colgate Hour.
Despite having published works approved by critics, Attaway's work never gained the mainstream fame enjoyed by some other African-American authors, for example Richard Wright
, whose Native Son
was published in 1940.
In Chapter Four - We Were Always Growing, Attaway describes one of the songs--Always "Greensleeves"--as following. The folk song, as rule, is always in the process of change. But every rule has its exceptions. This was the one folk song that survived all the centuries, practically untouched. It had come down from Elizabethan England to present-day America without being rewritten. Attaway further expresses although its subject matter was romantic love, it remained a favorite of both Pilgrims and Puritans. The frontiersmen also learned this song, as nearly as they could, in its original form. It was simply too beautiful to change.
. (PP 23) One Hundred Years of Laughter, a television special on black humor , was one of his most important scripts that was airing in 1966.
Early Life
Attaway was born on November 19, 1911, in Greenville, MississippiGreenville, Mississippi
Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 48,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2009 census bureau estimates, it has since declined to 42,764, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Washington...
, the son of William S. Attaway, a physician and founder of the National Negro Insurance Association, and Florence Parry Attaway, a school teacher. When Attaway was six, he moved with his family moved to Chicago, Illinois
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, as part of the Great Migration, to escape the segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
South.
Education
In Chicago, Attaway showed little interest in school until he was assigned a poem written by Langston HughesLangston 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...
. Once he learned that Hughes was a black poet, Attaway decided to start applying himself to his school work. He even enjoyed writing so much that he wrote for his sister Ruth’s amateur dramatic groups.
After graduating from high school, Attaway enrolled at the University of Illinois
University of Illinois system
The University of Illinois is a system of public universities in Illinois consisting of three campuses: Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield. Across its three campuses, the University of Illinois enrolls about 70,000 students. It had an operating budget of $4.17 billion in 2007.-System:The...
. There, he was a tennis college champion. Even though he was doing well at college, upon his father’s death Attaway dropped out and became a traveling worker for two years. During these years he worked as a salesman, a labor organizer, and a seaman, and began to collect material for his later works.
After getting his B.A. from the University of Illinois and having published "The Tale of the Blackamoor" in Challenge, he traveled around the US before settling into New York City.
Family and personal life
Attaway was married in 1962 to a woman named Frances Settele. They lived in BarbadosBarbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
for eleven years with their two children Bill and Noelle.Frances Attaway was a white woman originally from New York. They had a 20 years long courtship before going public and official with their union as racial tension was present until the 1960s. Despite the MLK civil rights movement, Frances and William moved their family to the Caribbean to escape racial turmoil and death threats. Frances and William had two children, Noelle and William.
William Attaway's daughter, Noelle, even recalls records of Martin Luther King calling William Attaway " a fellow freedom fighter" and both marched side by side during the civil rights movement.
Death
During his last years Attaway lived in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, writing screenplays. He died in June 17, 1986 of heart failure.
Literary career
In 1935, Attaway began working on his first project as he helped to write the Federal Writers' ProjectFederal Writers' Project
The Federal Writers' Project was a United States federal government project to fund written work and support writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program...
guide to Illinois. While he was working on this project he became good friends with Richard Wright
Richard Wright (author)
Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African-Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries...
, another soon to be famous novelist. Soon after his first project was over Attaway returned to the University of Illinois and received his degree. He then moved to New York where his drama Carnival was produced.
His first short story, "Tale of the Blackamoor", was published in 1936. In between works, he worked many odd jobs and even tried acting with his sister Ruth. Ruth later became a successful Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
actress, and she ultimately helped to fuel Attaway’s career. In 1939, Attaway’s first novel, Let me Breathe Thunder, was published. He then began working on his second and last novel, Blood on the Forge
Blood on the Forge
Blood on the Forge is a migration novel by the African American writer William Attaway set in the steel valley of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1920s. The novel follows the Moss brothers as they escape the inequality of sharecropping in the South for the inequality of mill working in the...
.
After Blood on the Forge, Attaway began to write songs, screenplays, and books about music. Some of his main works included Calypso Song Book and Hear America Singing. Attaway also co-wrote the famous song "Day-O" (Banana Boat Song
Banana Boat Song
"Day-O " is a traditional Jamaican mento folk song, the best-known version of which was sung by Harry Belafonte. Although it is really Jamaican mento, the song is widely known as an example of calypso music. It is a song from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loading bananas...
) for his friend Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
. In the 1950s, he began to write for radio, TV, and films. Attaway was the first African-American writer to write scripts for film and TV. He wrote for programs like Wide Wide World
Wide Wide World
Wide Wide World was a 90-minute documentary series telecast live on NBC on Sunday afternoons at 4pm Eastern. Conceived by network head Pat Weaver and hosted by Dave Garroway, Wide Wide World was introduced on the Producers' Showcase series on June 27, 1955...
and Colgate Hour.
Despite having published works approved by critics, Attaway's work never gained the mainstream fame enjoyed by some other African-American authors, for example Richard Wright
Richard Wright
Richard Wright may refer to:* Richard Wright , African-American novelist, writer, poet, essayist* Richard Wright , also known as Rick Wright, English musician, founding member of Pink Floyd...
, whose Native Son
Native Son
Native Son is a novel by American author Richard Wright. The novel tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, an African American living in utter poverty. Bigger lived in Chicago's South Side ghetto in the 1930s...
was published in 1940.
Calypso Song Book
In Calypso Song Book, Attaway describes "Calypso, the Western Indian music, is enjoying a great revival among all sorts of music lovers, from serious students of folk music to sophisticated night-club and theater audiences and followers of the Hit Parade."Attaway further explains that "Calypso can be divided into two categories: the bracket form, for bouncy ditties that are mostly nonsense, and the ballade, the most common form for serious topics." However, Attaway admits "the humorous twist is a necessary part of any true Calypso song." Each song not only has sheet music in Calypso Song Book, but it also has a brief narration, except two songs, right next to the title which is provided by Attaway and an illustration by William Charmatz.Hear America Singing
George P. Weick in Harlem Renaissance Lives points out that in 1967, Attaway published for children a compilation of representative popular music in America, including historical commentary, Hear America Singing. Harry Belafonte in Hear America Singing introductionwrites folk singing is no longer a spectator sport--it is an essential part of growing up. Folk music is just exactly what it claims to be--the music of the people; not of individuals, but all the people. Belafonte continues the term "folk" was originally applied only to the peasants and farmers of the Old World, who had never learned to read or write. The evolution of democracy slowly expanded the meaning of the world until it came to stand for all proud and common people.In Chapter Four - We Were Always Growing, Attaway describes one of the songs--Always "Greensleeves"--as following. The folk song, as rule, is always in the process of change. But every rule has its exceptions. This was the one folk song that survived all the centuries, practically untouched. It had come down from Elizabethan England to present-day America without being rewritten. Attaway further expresses although its subject matter was romantic love, it remained a favorite of both Pilgrims and Puritans. The frontiersmen also learned this song, as nearly as they could, in its original form. It was simply too beautiful to change.
Script Writing
According to Harlem Renaissance Lives, Attaway’s sister, Ruth, helped him to enter the theater world and he also performed in several productions, including a 1939 traveling production of George S. Kaufman’s You Can't Take it With YouYou Can't Take It with You (film)
You Can't Take It With You Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The cast includes James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore and Edward Arnold....
. (PP 23) One Hundred Years of Laughter, a television special on black humor , was one of his most important scripts that was airing in 1966.
Literature
- Carnival (1935)
- Let Me Breathe Thunder (1939)
- Blood on the ForgeBlood on the ForgeBlood on the Forge is a migration novel by the African American writer William Attaway set in the steel valley of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1920s. The novel follows the Moss brothers as they escape the inequality of sharecropping in the South for the inequality of mill working in the...
(1941) - Calypso Song Book (1957)
- Hear America Singing (nonfiction) (1967)
- From These Hills, From These Valleys: Selected Fiction About Western Pennsylvania. (Some of Attaways works were featured in the collection despite not being the main and only author)