Albery Allson Whitman
Albery Allson Whitman was an African American poet and church leader born on May 30, 1851, to enslaved parents in Kentucky. Orphaned by the age of twelve, he left the fieldwork to seek opportunities, eventually settling in Troy, Ohio. With only seven months of formal education, Whitman became a teacher and later enrolled at Wilberforce University, where he was influenced by President Daniel Alexander Payne to pursue a path in ministry. By 1877, he had established himself as an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the pastor of a congregation, despite facing personal challenges like alcoholism.
Whitman's literary contributions earned him recognition as the "poet laureate of Negro poetry." He authored a significant work, "Not a Man and Yet a Man," which includes an extensive poem that showcases his poetic abilities, drawing on classical influences while addressing the struggles of marginalized groups, including Native Americans and interracial couples. His poetry emphasized themes of self-reliance, dignity, and the intrinsic worth of all individuals. Whitman's life was marked by a deep appreciation for nature and a commitment to expressing its beauty through his work. He passed away in Atlanta in 1901 at the age of fifty due to pneumonia.
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Albery Allson Whitman
Poet
- Born: May 30, 1851
- Birthplace: Near Munfordville, Kentucky
- Died: June 29, 1901
- Place of death: Atlanta, Georgia
Biography
Albery Allson Whitman was born to slave parents on May 30, 1851, on a Kentucky estate. By 1863, at age twelve, he was an orphan and chose to leave field work, traveling until finally settling in Troy, Ohio. His first job at a plough shop was followed by a stint in railroad construction. Eventually, he secured teaching posts in Ohio and then Kentucky, a true accomplishment considering his total seven months of formal education.
In about 1870, Whitman enrolled at Wilberforce University, where he was befriended by the President, Daniel Alexander Payne, a man of some renown who became a major influence. He encouraged Whitman to follow his path as a church leader and Whitman soon had congregations in several churches. By 1877, though his education at Wilberforce was limited to about six months, he had become the school’s general agent, an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), and the pastor of a church. Though Whitman may have suffered from alcoholism, he never lost the devotion of his followers.
Incomplete records show that Whitman married a woman named Caddie. They had two girls, who, by the early twentieth century, had teamed up to become a well-known vaudeville act.
By 1877, Whitman was also an established poet, being called the poet laureate of Negro poetry and laying claim to having authored the longest poem (of five thousand lines) by an African American. That work, appearing in a larger collection as Not a Man and Yet a Man, with Miscellaneous Poems, along with The Rape of Florida, later renamed Twasinta’s Seminoles: Or, Rape of Florida, sealed his reputation as a serious poet. What his work lacked in originality and form, derivative as it was of the classics, it made up for in substance and the nuances in his message.
While Whitman did not deal directly with racial issues, perhaps hoping to garner a wider audience, he did bring to light the atrocities suffered by others—Native Americans, interracial couples, mulattoes—at the hands of white oppressors, with obvious parallels to the African American situation. He said that while he himself may have been held in bondage, he had never considered himself a slave. He recognized the evils of slavery but felt that all that was needed to bring about the awareness of the innate dignity and worth of all people was for those deemed inferior to prove, through action and deed, that they were not. He preached self-reliance and self-improvement.
Whitman’s ability to bring sound and sense to his lyrics made him especially distinct. He said: “Before I could write a letter, I was trying to scribble down what the birds and bees and cows were saying and what even the dumb rocks were thinking. Nature has ever had a speech for me, and in listening to her voice, lies my satisfaction.” His love of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow led him to send the poet two letters with samples of his work, but, after receiving no response, he turned to George Gordon, Lord Byron, for inspiration.
In 1901, Whitman contracted pneumonia. His already weakened system was unable to fight the affliction and he died in Atlanta at age fifty.