George Wylie Henderson
George Wylie Henderson was an African American writer born on June 14, 1904, in Warrior's Stand, Alabama. He graduated from the Tuskegee Institute and initially worked in the printing trade before relocating to Harlem, New York, in the late 1920s, a move common among Southern African Americans seeking better opportunities. Henderson began publishing short stories in the 1930s, with notable contributions to the New York Daily News and Redbook magazine, where he explored themes of the African American experience, particularly the struggles of the poor and marginalized.
His posthumous collection, *Harlem Calling*, features seventeen stories that reflect his nostalgic and honest portrayal of life in Alabama, Memphis, and New York. One of his significant works is the novel *Ollie Miss*, which follows the journey of an eighteen-year-old Southern girl facing social rejection and personal challenges. Although his sequel, *Jule*, did not achieve the same acclaim, it addressed important social issues and the experiences of African Americans in urban settings. Henderson's writing is recognized for its realism, well-developed characters, and the authentic voices of his characters, ultimately capturing the complexities of African American culture and identity. He passed away in 1965, leaving a legacy that continues to resonate today.
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George Wylie Henderson
Writer
- Born: June 14, 1904
- Died: 1965
Biography
George Wylie Henderson was born June 14, 1904, in Warrior’s Stand, Alabama. He attended and graduated from the Tuskegee Institute. As a young adult, Henderson worked in the printing trade.
In the late 1920’s, Henderson and his wife relocated to Harlem, New York, as did many southern African Americans searching for greater opportunity and a better life. This move would provide endless fodder for his writing. Henderson’s short stories began being published in newspapers and journals, with the first publication occurring in the New York Daily News, in 1932. Henderson’s short fiction would regularly appear in the New York Daily News and Redbook magazine throughout the 1930’ and the 1940’s. A posthumous collection featuring seventeen of his published short stories, Harlem Calling, offered a new generation of readers Henderson’s nostalgic tales of life in Alabama, Memphis, and New York and of the hard work and daily struggles African Americans endured.
Henderson was noted for his ability to write about the poor and downtrodden with honesty and dignity. Through a straightforward, realistic writing style, Henderson wrote about lower-class and ordinary simple folk; his characters speak to his readers on a basic level and offer a sense of pride and self-worth.
In his first novel, Ollie Miss, Henderson introduces eighteen-year-old Ollie. The protagonist is an alienated Southern girl who finds herself alone, pregnant, and rejected by her lover Jule. Ollie survives her ordeal with an internal strength and autonomy. The novel was extremely well received, with Henderson receiving praise for his realism, well-developed characters, and colloquial talents that captured the African American voice.
The sequel, Jule, is the story of Ollie’s illegitimate son and the struggles he faces as he migrates north to New York City. Jule encounters racism and inequalities in the city, and losses his innocence along the way. Although the novel was not well received, Henderson made an ambitious effort to tackle the social and political issues rampant in America by giving a voice to the underclass through his depiction of contemporary social protests. After the poor reception of Jule, Henderson retired from writing. He died in 1965.
Henderson’s ability to capture the raw emotion experienced by his ordinary yet well-defined characters in their daily struggles with inequality, and his ability to capture African American culture through his usage of dialect, are his greatest achievements.