[13] He served for a decade as an editor of the Baháʼí journal World Order.

Robert Hayden. Gender: Male. In response, Hayden read voraciously, developing both an ear and an eye for transformative qualities in literature. He found refuge in literature, developing interests in fiction and poetry. He declined the position later called United States Poet Laureate previously, accepted the appointment for 1976–1977 during America's Bicentennial, and again in 1977–1978 though his health was failing then. Hayden's beliefs about the relationship of the artist to his poems likewise had impact in his refusal to compose emotionally determined protest sonnets. His refusal to revamp himself as indicated by the pictures of the 1960s earned him feedback from a few scholars and analysts. He also created the successful 'Fear Street' series. Cause of death: Cancer - unspecified. [3], Because he was nearsighted and slight of stature, he was often ostracized by his peers. The history of slavery and emancipation was a recurring theme, visible in poems including "Middle Passage" and "Frederick Douglass.". "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Poet Laureate), 1976-78, This page was last edited on 9 October 2020, at 05:59.

Heart-Shape in the Dust (1940, poetry)A Ballad of Remembrance (1962, poetry)Words in the Mourning Time (1970, poetry)The Night-Blooming Cereus (1972, poetry)Angle of Ascent: New and Selected Poems (1975, poetry)American Journal: Poems by Robert Hayden (1980, poetry)The Collected Prose (1984)Collected Poems (1985, poetry), Do you know something we don't? He is best known for helping lead the United States into the Vietnam War.

In 1977 he was interviewed for television in Los Angeles on At One With by Keith Berwick.

Died: 25-Feb - 1980. The trauma he sustained as a result of this experience spurred periods of debilitating depression.

J. Robert Oppenheimer is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for leading the Manhattan Project, the program that developed the first nuclear weapon during World War II. American actor Robert Reed played quintessential family man Mike Brady in the popular sitcom 'The Brady Bunch' from 1969 to 1974. The same year, Hayden married Erma Inez Morris. Robert Hayden (August 4, 1913 – February 25, 1980) was an American poet, essayist, and educator. Born: 4-Aug - 1913. [9], On April 7, 1966, Hayden's Ballad of Remembrance was awarded, by unanimous vote, the Grand Prize for Poetry at the first World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal.

https://www.biography.com/writer/robert-hayden.

He was the first African-American writer to hold the office. His most famous poem is "Those Winter Sundays",[4][8] which deals with the memory of fatherly love and loneliness. On top of that, his severe visual problems prevented him from participating in activities such as sports in which nearly everyone else was involved. Despite his consistent interest in African-American historical and cultural themes, Hayden's status as a black author was uncertain. His foster parents, Sue Ellen Westerfield and William Hayden, raised him in a low-income Detroit neighborhood known as Paradise Valley. He took a job at Fisk University several years later, remaining there for more than 20 years. Hayden used black vernacular phrasing, building on the knowledge he had gained from the Federal Writers' Project and from his own experience. Hayden received many honors for his poetry. He also addressed explicitly political themes, such as the Vietnam War. I feel that's one of the best of the poems. Hayden stayed consistent with his idea of poetry as an artistic frame instead of a polemical demonstration and to his conviction that poetry ought to, in addition to other things, address the qualities shared by mankind, including social injustice. Auden, a poet and professor, became a major influence on Hayden's work, guiding him on issues of poetic form and technique.

Funeral Home Services for Robert are being provided by Berry - Short Funeral Home. He made ready use of black vernacular and folk speech, and he wrote political poetry as well, including a sequence on the Vietnam War. He was taken in by a foster family next door, Sue Ellen Westerfield and William Hayden, and grew up in a Detroit ghetto nicknamed "Paradise Valley". After graduating from high school, he attended Wayne State University (known as Detroit City College at the time). Robert Hayden (August 4, 1913 – February 25, 1980) was an American poet, essayist, and educator. [15], Other famed poems include "The Whipping" (which is about a small boy being severely punished for some undetermined offense), "Middle Passage" (inspired by the events surrounding the United States v. The Amistad affair), "Runagate, Runagate", and "Frederick Douglass".[8].

Hayden became one of the best-known Baháʼí poets. His beliefs influenced much of his work, and he helped to publicize the little-known faith. He is best known as a pioneer of the Romantic movement. Raised as a Baptist, he followed his wife into the Baháʼí Faith during the early 1940s,[4][6] and raised a daughter, Maia, in the religion.

His childhood traumas resulted in debilitating bouts of depression that he later called "my dark nights of the soul". He enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1941 and won a Hopwood Award there.

Poet Robert Burns is considered one of the most famous characters of Scotland's cultural history. [11], The impact of Euro-American innovation on Hayden's poetry and also his continuous assertions that he needed to be viewed as an "American poet" as opposed to a "black poet" prompted much feedback of him as an abstract "Uncle Tom" by African American critics during the 1960s. Hayden witnessed frequent verbal and physical bouts between his foster parents during his childhood years. He spent the following years crafting his first volume of poetry, Heart-Shape in the Dust. He is co-founder and President of River Alliance. He was awarded successive honorary degrees by Brown University (1976) and Fisk, (1978).

His parents, Ruth and Asa Sheffey, separated before his birth, and Hayden spent the majority of his childhood in the foster care system. Birthplace: Detroit, MI. Robert Hayden died in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on February 25, 1980, at the age of 66. While clouding his reputation somewhat, Hayden's feelings on race did not preclude critical success or academic esteem. Robert Hayden studied poetry at the University of Michigan, and went on to teaching at both Michigan University and Fisk University. He served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976 to 1978, a role today known as US Poet Laureate.

He had an emotionally tumultuous childhood and lived at times with his parents and with a foster family. Hayden's practice was to make separation between the speaker and the movement of the poem.

[2] The Haydens' perpetually contentious marriage, coupled with Ruth Sheffey's competition for her son's affections, made for a traumatic childhood. He left college in 1936 to begin working for the Federal Writers’ Project.

[2] After finishing his degree in 1942, then teaching several years at Michigan, Hayden went to Fisk University in 1946, where he remained for twenty-three years, returning to Michigan in 1969 to complete his teaching career.[7]. He later served as a U.S. In this post, Hayden spent time researching African American history and folk life — subjects that would inspire and inform his poetic work. Witnessing fights and suffering beatings, Hayden lived in a house fraught with chronic anger, whose effects would stay with him throughout his life. 1913–1980.

His work addressed the plight of African Americans, frequently invoking his childhood neighborhood, Paradise Valley. Hayden returned to higher education after the publication of his first book, enrolling at the University of Michigan.

He served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976 to 1978, a role today known as US Poet Laureate.

© 2020 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. He eventually returned to Michigan in 1969, remaining in Ann Arbor until his death in 1980. He attended Detroit City College later called Wayne State University with a major in Spanish and minor in English, and left in 1936 during the Great Depression, one credit short of finishing his degree, to go to work for the Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project, where he researched black history and folk culture. but man, He died in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on February 25, 1980, age 66.

[8] Thus the title poem of Words in the Mourning Time ends in a stirring plea in the name of all humanity: a human world where godliness Hayden began his teaching career at Michigan after graduating. [9], In 2012 the U.S. Hayden's Baha'i beliefs, which reject racial categorization, led him to proclaim himself an American poet rather than an African-American poet.

The book was published in 1940. [4], Hayden was elected to the American Academy of Poets in 1975.

Hayden's influences included Wylie, Cullen, Dunbar, Hughes, Bontemps, Keats, Auden and Yeats. Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile, Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile. Robert S. McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth U.S. Secretary of Defense. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

Their home life was tumultuous. One year later (1976), he became the first African American to serve as the Library of Congress' consultant in poetry — a position that was later renamed to "poet laureate.". is neither gook nigger honkey wop or kike Erma Hayden was a pianist and composer and served as supervisor of music for Nashville public schools. AKA Asa Bundy Sheffey. … Robert Hayden.

However, African American history, contemporary black figures, for example, Malcolm X, and African American communities, especially Hayden's native Paradise Valley, were the subjects of a significant number of his poems. Family and friends are welcome to send flowers or leave their condolences on this … [1] He was the first African-American writer to hold the office. This controversial statement alienated Hayden from some of his colleagues, friends and potential audience. Robert Hayden was born Asa Bundy Sheffey in Detroit, Michigan, to Ruth and Asa Sheffey, who separated before his birth. He then pursued a master's degree at Michigan. Location of death: Ann Arbor, MI. Born Asa Bundy Sheffey on August 4, 1913, Robert Hayden was raised in the Detroit neighborhood Paradise Valley.

Hayden remained with the Federal Writers' Project for two years.

As a supporter of his religion's teaching of the unity of humanity, Hayden could never embrace Black separatism. As a noticeably small child with poor vision, Hayden often found himself socially isolated. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is an attorney, a vocal environmental activist and radio host.