Leslie Pinckney Hill
Leslie Pinckney Hill (1880-1960) was an influential African American educator and poet, born in Lynchburg, Virginia. After completing his secondary education in New Jersey, Hill graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in 1903 and obtained his master's degree the following year. He began his teaching career at Tuskegee Institute under the guidance of Booker T. Washington, later serving as principal of the Manassas Industrial Institute and teaching at the Institute for Colored Youth in Pennsylvania.
Hill's literary contributions included a collection of poems titled "The Wings of Oppression" (1921), which emphasized the resilience and potential of African Americans in the face of adversity. His works often conveyed the message that education was vital for social progress and justice. In addition to poetry, he wrote a five-part dramatic history about Haitian revolutionary leader Toussaint L'Ouverture in 1928. Throughout his life, Hill received several honorary degrees and awards in recognition of his impactful work in education and literature. He passed away in Philadelphia, leaving a legacy as both an educator and advocate for African American rights.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Leslie Pinckney Hill
- Born: May 14, 1880
- Birthplace: Lynchburg, Virginia
- Died: February 16, 1960
- Place of death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Biography
Leslie Pinckney Hill was born on May 14, 1880, in Lynchburg, Virginia, the son of Samuel Henry Hill, a stationary engine operator, and Sarah Elizabeth Brown Hill. He received his elementary education in Lynchburg and his secondary education in East Orange, New Jersey. He attended Harvard University and graduated with honors and a B.A. in 1903. By 1904, he had obtained his master’s degree, also from Harvard, and had started teaching English and education at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, working for the institute’s founder, Booker T. Washington. Hill married Jane Ethel Clark on June 29, 1907, with whom he had five children.
In 1907, Hill was appointed principal of Manassas Industrial Institute in Manassas, Virginia, where he remained until 1913. He then became a teacher at the Institute for Colored Youth in Pennsylvania, now known as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Trained to teach and personally persuaded of the value of education, Hill believed that education was the key for African Americans to achieve social progress. His writings reflected these convictions. While some of his poems were personal, many others stressed the importance of knowledge and were didactic in tone and purpose. They developed universal themes about race and politics and asserted that the human spirit had a powerful resiliency.
Hill’s collection of sixty-nine poems was published in The Wings of Oppression in 1921. In these poems, he portrayed African Americans as the people whom God had chosen and placed on earth to endure suffering; in exchange for their travails, African Americans would be the instrument through which God would establish world peace and brotherhood. In 1928, he published his a five-part drama in blank verse, Toussaint L’Ouverture: A Dramatic History, about the Haitian slave who was one of the leaders of that country’s revolution.
Although primarily an educator, Hill’s work has led some to consider him an activist poet. His poetry conveyed his belief that African Americans have the right to fully participate in America’s social, intellectual, and political life. His views about race relations were not always in harmony with those of other prominent, activist blacks or with some of the “black pride” writers of the era. Still, his accomplishments as an educator and writer were recognized with several honors. He was awarded doctor of laws degrees from Morgan State College in Maryland and Haverford College in Pennsylvania and a doctor of letters degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He also received a Seltzer Award for distinguished service. He died in Philadelphia on February 16, 1960.