Louise Meriwether (May 8, 1923 – October 10, 2023) was a writer of children’s biographies of historically significant African Americans as well as a novelist, essayist, journalist, and activist.
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She is best known for her debut book, Daddy Was a Number Runner (1970), which incorporates autobiographical elements about growing up in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood during the Great Depression and the years following the Harlem Renaissance.
A classic novel that uses autobiographical elements about growing up in Harlem during the Depression and in the years following the Harlem Renaissance, Daddy Was a Number Runner (with a foreword by James Baldwin) was published by the author in 1970.
Louise Meriwether Education
While a student at Manhattan’s Central Commercial High School, she discovered a love for literature and writing. She earned her diploma in 1942, spent a few years working as a secretary, and then enrolled in New York University in 1944 with the aid of a scholarship. She majored in English and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1946.
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Louise Meriwether Books
She has written a number of books, including Fragments of the Ark and Shadow Dancing, as well as young readers’ histories of famous African Americans including Dr. Daniel Hale Williams and Rosa Parks. She was a founding member of the Watts Writers Workshop, the Harlem Writers Guild, and many other organizations.
Louise Meriwether First Book Prize
The author of Knitting the Fog (July 2019), Claudia D. Hernández, has been named the 2018 Louise Meriwether First Book Prize winner.
Louise Meriwether Movies
Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (2003), Maya Angelou And Still I Rise (2016), and American Masters (1985) are some of Louise Meriwether’s best-known movies.
Louise Meriwether Awards
The Louise Meriwether First Book Prize was established in 2016 by the Feminist Press and TAYO Literary Magazine for “debut women/nonbinary writers of color.” The Before Columbus Foundation honored her with a lifetime achievement award that same year for her contributions to ethnic literature.
Louise Meriwether Death
On October 10, 2023, Louise Meriwether, who was 100 years old, passed away in a nursing home in the New York borough of Manhattan.
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