Shirley Porter Washington
The mystery of Countee' Cullen's childhood has finally been solved. He was born into an 'elite' African-American family in 1906. His birthplace was New Orleans, Louisiana. His father, James S. Carter, Sr., was the first licensed African-American dentist in Louisiana. His mother was a well-educated Christian lady, Gussie Yeager Carter, from Natchez, Mississippi. James S. Carter, Jr. was Countee' Cullen's birth name signed by him in the book, "Color", which he sent to his mother in 1925. This book that I have written reveals why he changed his identity forever.
I am his neice, Shirley Porter Washington, his youngest sister's (Clyde Carter Porter) daughter. I have the 'Miracle Book' and his 'Secret Revealed'.
I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. I attended Xavier University of Louisiana and received the B.A. Degree in 1954. I became an elementary school teacher, and taught in New Orleans for twelve years. I then attended Loyola University of Louisiana and received the M. Ed. Degree in 1964. I was a High School Guidance Counselor in the Orleans Parish School System for eighteen years. I retired in 1985.
I became the owner/administrator of a pre-academy for pre-schoolers -- 'Kiddie Academy' -- through which were educaded over six-hundred children during a ten year period (1990-2000).
I am now living in Henderson, Nevada because I can no longer reside in New Orleans since the 'Katrina Disaster'.
This is my first book which I felt impelled to write so that the mystery of Countee Cullen's childhood could be disclosed and, consequently, his life and poetry better understood by literary historians.
Shirley Porter Washington
I have read a great deal of literature that others have written about him, but it seems that no one really knew him as a person -- only as a great American poet and writer of books, plays, lyrics, etc., which they analyzed, criticized, explained, credited, discredited in a variety of ways, looking for the man they could never really know. The reason that they could never know him is because they did not know of the extreme suffering he endured as a child; which gave life to his deepest and most misunderstood poetry. They knew him as a genius, brilliant winner of many impressive awards, and finally, as a teacher (which some perceived as subordinate to his previous levels of achievement).
While I was researching samples of his handwriting for comparisons to his inscription in my book, Color, I began to read what he had written, instead of just looking for 'formations of his letters'. I began to read his lesson plans, which were amazingly detailed and filled with exuberance and extreme concern for his students. He explained every lesson and gave the rationale of his methods for every activity he devised to fit that particular learning situation. He reviewed and reviewed until every student understood what he wanted them to learn. He planned field trips, programs for parents, and gave meaningful assignments. He was so compassionate toward his students and was also a counselor to them. In his roll books he wrote little notes about each student and his problems, achievements, and demeanor. If I had to and if I knew French well enough, I could easily have used his lesson plans to do a sufficient job of teaching. As far as I am concerned he was as brilliant a teacher as he was a poet, if not more. In my estimation, his contribution as a teacher placed him in a state of immortality -- living through the students he taught, and whom they taught and on and on! James Baldwin was one of his students.
