Jean Toomer Jean Toomer was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C, the son of a Georgian farmer. Though he passed for a white during certain periods of his life, he was raised in a predominantly black community and he went to black high schools. In 1914, he went to college at the University of Wisconsin but he transferred to the College of New York City until 1917. He spent the next four years writing and published poetry …showed first 75 words of 421 total…

…showed last 75 words of 421 total…moved to Chicago to create a new branch of followers. Toomer was married twice to wives who were white, and was criticized by the black community for leaving Harlem and rejecting his roots for a life in the white world; however, he saw himself as an individual living above the boundaries of race. His meditations center around his longing for racial unity, as illustrated by his long poem "Blue Meridian." He died in 1967. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**