Gwendolyn Bennett: An American in Paris

What was it like being an intellectual woman in the City of Light’s predominately male dominated literary Paris of the 1920’s and 30’s? For many female poets, novelists, and journalists, early 20th century Paris was a place were they could escape a society that limited their intellectual ambitions and lives without forcing them into a traditional lifestyle. These expatriates created an environment for women who felt dispossessed in America and England then went on to make significant contributions to modern literature and the expat culture in Paris. But for Gwendolyn Bennett (1902-1981) Paris was a beautiful but lonely place that eroded her personal identity and renewed her sense of patriotism. African American writer and artist Gwendolyn Bennett played an active role in the African-American arts Community for over twenty years and helped energize the Harlem Renaissance. She was born on July 8, 1902 in Giddings, Texas. Her Father, Joshua, studied law in Washington DC and her mother was a trained beautician. As a young girl Bennett won art contests, was elected to literary and drama societies, and wrote graduation speeches and songs. Although Bennett had considerable talent in art she had shown an early interest in creative writing. At the young age of twenty-two, Charles S. Johnson, editor of Opportunity introduced her to such major writers W.E.B. DuBois, Zora Neale Hurston, and James Weldon Johnson. In June 1924 Bennett began teaching design at Howard University in Washington, DC, and by December of that year, she was awarded a scholarship by Delta Sigma Theta sorority and chose to use the prize money for a year of study in Paris. She set sail for Cherbourg on June 15, 1925. Although she was well versed in French fiction she did not speak the language well. Once she arrived in France, however, she fell in love with the Parisian lifestyle of dinning with friends and discovering art. ‘’There never was a more beautiful city than Paris’’ she said, ‘’One has the impression of looking through at fairy-worlds as one sees gorgeous buildings, arches and towers rising from among the mounds of trees from afar.’’ But by the Fourth of July Bennett began to feel lonely and a strange feeling of patriotism swept through her, although she did not lack company. ‘’ There are times I’d give half my remaining years to hear the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’’ she wrote in her diary. For Gwendolyn Bennett the desolation she felt in Paris made her see America in a rosier light. She took to filling her loneliness with tea dances at the stylish Les Acacias in the Bois de Boulogne, drinking champagne at the Royal Montmartre, and evenings of music at Bricktop’s. By the end of August, Gwendolyn Bennett was not certain whether she liked Paris or whether she did not. ‘’My first impressions were of extreme loneliness and intense homesickness’’ she wrote in a letter to the poet Countee Cullen. ‘’Now through the hazy veil of memories I see Paris is a very beautiful city and that people here are basically different from those I have always known. I feel I shall like being here bye and bye.’’ Bennett returned to the US in June 1926 to resume teaching at Howard University while simultaneously acting as an associate editor for Opportunity. Her experience as a young woman with the Paris expat literati had enriched her life. Although she never had a chance to grow as a writer or painter Gwendolyn Bennett was nonetheless viewed by her peers as one of the most promising authors of the Harlem Renaissance. Special note: The Harlem Renaissance is the name given to the period from the end of World War I and through the middle of the 1930’s Depression, during which a group of talented African-American writers produced a sizable body of literature in the four prominent genres of poetry, fiction, drama, and essay. Recommended reading: From Harlem to Paris by Michel Fabre A Renaissance in Harlem: Lost Essays by Lionel C. Bascom —Christiann Anderson is the co-author of Paris Reflections: Walks through African American Paris (McDonald & Woodward, 2002).