Vivian Ayers Allen

Vivian Elizabeth Ayers Allen (born July 30, 1923) is an American poet, playwright, cultural activist, museum curator and classicist.^[1][2]

Vivian Ayers Allen
Born	(1923-07-30) July 30, 1923 (age 101) Chester, South Carolina, United States
Education	Brainerd Institute
Alma mater	Barber-Scotia College Bennett College
Occupation(s)	poet, playwright, cultural activist, museum curator and classicist
Spouse	Andrew Arthur Allen Sr. (div. 1954)
Children	4, including Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad
Relatives	Condola Rashad (granddaughter), DeVaughn Nixon (grandson), Vivian Nixon (granddaughter)

Family and education

She was born in Chester, South Carolina,^[3] in 1923.^[4] She is African-American and has indigenous heritage, as her grandfather was Cherokee.^[5]

She was educated at the historic Brainerd Institute in Chester, where her parents and her grandparents had also been educated,^[6] growing up in a house across the street from the school.^[7] Her sister Sarah Mildred Ayers Smith was valedictorian of the class of 1937,^[7] whilst Allen graduated in 1939 as a member of the final graduating class from the institution.^[8] Whilst at school there, she studied Latin and French^[9] and learned to play concert piano.^[10]

She then studied at Barber-Scotia College and Bennett College.^[11] She has received Honorary Doctorate degrees from Wilberforce University, in 1995,^[12][13] and her alma mater Bennett College, in 2006.^[12][14]

She married dentist Andrew Arthur Allen Sr. in New York City^[15] and they had four children: jazz trumpet musician Andrew Arthur "Tex" Allen Jr.;^[16] actress and dancer Debbie Allen;^[17] regional president of TD Bank Hugh Allen;^[9] and actress Phylicia Rashad.^[18][19] The couple divorced in 1954 after nine years of marriage due to being "manifestly incompatible."^[20] She is known as "Ma Turk" by her family and her daughter Debbie named her own daughter Vivian Nixon after Allen.^[21]

Allan has attended high-profile Hollywood events with her daughters, including the unveiling of Debbie's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991 and the 65th Academy Awards in 1993.^[22]

Poetry

Allen's poetry is usually written in the form of prose paragraph with frequent use of dashes and ellipses.^[15] One of her earliest poems, "Spice of Dawn" (1952), was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1953.^[22][23]

Her 1957 book-length poem "Hawk" (1957)^[1] was an allegory of freedom, personal struggle and responsibility set in space during 2052.^[15][11] The poem foreshadowed the first successes in space travel,^[24] published just 11 weeks before the launch of Sputnik I (the first artificial satellite sent from Earth into orbit).^[25] It earned praise from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),^[24] who have described Allen as "a distinguished woman of Apollo, whose remarkable contributions significantly advanced our understanding of space exploration."^[26] There are enlarged reproductions of select lines exhibited at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.^[11] The poem was formally published for the first time by Clemson University Press in 2023,^[1] based on an exemplar of the original self-published version held in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Special Collections.^[27]

In 1964, her poetry was included in Langston Hughes' collection New Negro Poets, USA.^[28][29] In 1971, she began publishing a literary magazine, The Adept Quarterly.^[15]

Allen was also a playwright. She wrote "Bow Boly" about an angel who comes to earth for a mission that it becomes entangled with,^[15] and in 1973 wrote "The Marriage Ceremony," which explored communal or "tribal" involvement in African-American marriage ceremonies.^[30]

Academic

Allen also had an academic career, becoming the librarian^[4] and first African-American faculty member at Rice University,^[31] Houston, Texas, in 1966.^[12]

In 1973, she collaborated with the Harris County Community Association and a group of certified teachers to produce the program “Workshops in Open Fields.” It aimed to educate preschool children in the arts.^[11] She also mentored young black artists, including the filmmaker Carroll Parrott Blue.^[32]

Mexico

Allen lived in Texas for over forty years.^[2] She moved with her children to Mexico for a year to give them the opportunity to have new experiences away from the "racist" American south.^[10][18][33] Her children learned to speak Spanish and attended ballet performances by Mexican dancers.^[2] Her daughter Debbie danced with the Ballet Nacional de Mexico.^[17][34]

In Mexico, Allen studied Greek literature, the Mayan culture,^[10] and Mesoamerican Math-Astronomy.^[12]

New York and ADEPT

In 1984, Allen moved to New York where she founded the ADEPT New American Museum of the Southwest in Mount Vernon,^[5][28][35] organising community arts projects for the local black community,^[36] supporting underrepresented minority artists, and stressing the contributions of both African-Americans and Indigenous American peoples to the arts.^[5]

She became friends with Jimmie Durham^[37][38] and performed with him and Muhammed Ali in a production of Durham's work "My Land."^[39]

Later life

In 1994, Allen was honored by the National Council of Negro Women for her "progressive thinking" and for the "positive image she projects" for black women.^[40]

Allen's daughter Phylicia purchased the 12-acre property which the Brainerd Institute once occupied in 1999.^[41] Allen became the founding director of the Brainerd Institute Heritage,^[9] supported by the Chester Historical Society, and aiming both to preserve the history of a school that helped shape her but also to commemorate the long struggle of black Americans to provide their children with a good education.^[7] Work to restore the structural integrity of Kumler Hall was completed in 2012.^[42] Literacy summer programs were launched in 2017,^[43][44] and free dance classes have been held in partnership with the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.^[6]

In 2007, Allen and her daughters received the Arts Honor from the Jack and Jill of America Foundation.^[45] In 2008, Allen was awarded a Medal of Honor by Winthrop University.^[46]

Her poem "On Status,"^[47] was performed in 2006 on HBO's Def Poetry Jam.^{[citation needed]} It was also sampled by Solange Knowles on the song "S McGregor" from her 2019 album When I Get Home.^[48][49]

Centenary

Allen became a centenarian in 2023.^[9][25] A 100th birthday party was held on the grounds of the Brainerd Institute where her daughter Phylicia read "Hawk" with musical accompaniment from the Claflin University Choir.^[50] Another celebration event was held at the Rhimes Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles,^[25] with readings and performances by celebrities including Angela Bassett, Jesse Williams, Alexis Floyd, Cory Henry, and her daughter Debbie Allen, amongst others.^[1]

Allen celebrated her 101st birthday in 2024.^[51]