John Alfred Williams was an African American author, journalist, and academic. His novel The Man Who Cried I Am was a bestseller in 1967. Also a poet, he won an American Book Award for his 1998 collection Safari West.
Williams in 1962 (photo by Carl van Vechten)
Richard Nathaniel Wright was an American author of novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially related to the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries suffering discrimination and violence. His best known works include the novella collection Uncle Tom's Children (1938), the novel Native Son (1940), and the memoir Black Boy (1945). Literary critics believe his work helped change race relations in the United States in the mid-20th century.
Wright in a 1939 photograph by Carl Van Vechten
A historic marker in Natchez, Mississippi, commemorating Richard Wright, who was born near the city
Canada Lee as Bigger Thomas in the Orson Welles production of Native Son (1941)
Plaque commemorating Wright's residence in Paris, at 14, rue Monsieur le Prince.