Jean Toomer, an American poet as well novelist, was born on 26th December 1894 and died on 30th March 1967. He was also a significant figure of the Harlem Renaissance.
He attended various institutions the University of Wisconsin, the Massachusetts College of Agriculture, the American College of Physical Training in Chicago, the University of Chicago, New York University, and the City College of New York between 1914 and 1917 for higher education of agriculture, fitness, biology, sociology, and history. However, he could never complete any degree.
In 1931, he married the writer Margery Latimer, who died in the same year during childbirth leaving a daughter Margery. In 1934, he married to Marjorie.
Throughout 1930, he faced numerous troubles to get his work published and the next year he moved to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he joined the Society of Friends but soon he withdrew from it. He could write a small amount of fiction and published essays in Quaker publications, but he dedicated most of his time to serving on Quaker committees and working with high school students.
His last literary work was Blue Meridian, a long poem describing “the potential of the American race”. After 1950, he stopped writing for publication but continued writing for himself until he died in 1967 following a prolonged illness. Some of his notable works are An Interpretation of Friends Worship, The Flavor of Man, The Collected Poems of Jean Toomer and Cane, his very first book, which is considered as his most significant work of his lifetime
