Melvin Tolson

Melvin Tolson (born Feb. 6, 1898, Moberly, Mo., U.S.—died Aug. 29, 1966, Dallas, Texas?) was an African-American poet who worked within the modernist tradition to explore African-American issues. His concern with poetic form and his abiding optimism set him apart from many of his contemporaries. Writing after the Harlem Renaissance but adhering to its ideals, Tolson was hopeful of a better political and economic future for African-Americans.

Tolson attended Lincoln University (B.A., 1923) and received a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1940. His first collection of poetry, Rendezvous with America (1944), includes one of his most popular works, “Dark Symphony,” a poem in six “movements” that contrasts European-American history with African-American history. The success of this collection led to Tolson’s appointment as poet laureate of Liberia in 1947. The last of his works to be published during his lifetime was Harlem Gallery: Book I, The Curator (1965), planned as the first of a projected five-volume history of African-Americans.

Tolson’s most important work is the posthumous collection A Gallery of Harlem Portraits (1979). Modeled on Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology, this collection is an epic portrait of a culturally and racially diverse community. The lives and emotions of its characters are portrayed in blues lyrics, dramatic monologues, and free verse.