Happy Birthday to Novelist Ann Petry — First Black Woman to Sell Over One Million Copies of a Book
Ann Petry was a journalist and novelist who wrote about sexism and racism in the 1940s. She was the first black female writer to become a bestseller and sell more than one million copies of her novel in addition to working as a journalist and writing children’s books.
Ann was born on October 12, 1908, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Her mother Bertha James Lane was a podiatrist while her father Peter Clark Lane, Jr. was a pharmacist. Ann began working in the family drugstores following in her father’s footsteps, but her passion was always writing. In school, even her teachers commented on her talent as a writer.
In 1938, Ann married George David Petry and moved with him to New York City. There, she finally had the opportunity to begin her writing career — first at the Amsterdam News and then at People’s Voice in Harlem. In 1943, she published a piece called “On Saturday the Siren Sounds at Noon” in the NAACP’s magazine. But 1946 was a big year for Ann. She published her first novel titled The Street and that year her piece “Like a Winding Sheet” was named best American short story. During this time, Ann immersed herself in Harlem life — working with activists and for progressive causes.
Ann went on to write two more novels and many children’s books about historical events. She also became a well-known lecturer around the United States. In a speech published in Horn Book Magazine, Petry said:
“Over and over again I have said: These [characters] are people. Look at them, listen to them; watch Harriet Tubman in the nineteenth century, a heroic woman, a rescuer of other slaves. Look at Tituba in the seventeenth century, a slave involved in the witchcraft trials in Salem Village. Look at them and remember them. Remember for what a long, long time black people have been in this country, have been a part of America: a sturdy, indestructible, wonderful part of America, woven into its heart and into its soul. These women were slaves. I hoped that I had made them come alive, turned them into real people.”
“I tried to make history speak across the centuries in the voices of people — young, old, good, evil, beautiful, ugly.”
Petry died in 1997 in her hometown of Old Saybrook after a career of using her words to tell the stories and experiences of women. Thank you, Ann Petry, for not only sharing your talent with the world but using it to make a difference.
