Anne Spencer

Anne Spencer (1882–1975) was an American poet and civil rights activist whose work is associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Based in Lynchburg, Virginia, she wrote lyric poems that appeared in leading Black periodicals, including *The Crisis* and *Opportunity*. Spencer and her husband, Edward Spencer, made their home a gathering place for writers and activists; their garden and the small writing retreat she called “Edankraal” became central to her creative life. She was active in the NAACP and supported campaigns against segregation and racial violence. Though she published relatively little in book form during her lifetime, her poetry is now widely anthologized.