ABSTRACT
Born on 1 May 1901 into middle-class respectability, SterlingAllen Brown was the sixth child and only son of the Reverend Sterling Nelson Brown, a professor of religion at Howard University and minister of Lincoln Temple Congregational Church, and Adelaide Allen. Reverend Brown often spoke of his friendships with noted African-American leaders such as Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. Brown's mother graduated valedictorian of her class at Fisk; although his father's life was inspirational, the poet credits his mother with introducing him to poetry and encouraging his literary career.
