Carrie Allen McCray Nickens
Originally from Lynchburg, Va., Carrie Allen McCray Nickens was one of the Richland County Public Library’s original Literary Residents and the 2002 recipient of the Friends of RCPL’s Lucy Hampton Bostick Award.
She wrote short stories, poems, and scholarly articles for many years, although she only started writing seriously at the age of 73. She was one of the founders and first Board members of the South Carolina Writers Workshop, and she is the namesake for its Literary Award.
She spent 30 years researching her family history and, in 1998, those decades of work resulted in the publication of the biography of her mother, Freedom’s Child: The Life of a Confederate General’s Black Daughter. She then went on a nationwide speaking tour, traveling from coast to coast. In addition to participating in writers’ workshops and speaking and reading her poetry to community groups, she taught creative writing at Shepherd’s Center of St. Andrews in Columbia.
Carrie’s final major work was the completion of her poem “Ota Benga Under My Mother’s Roof.” Ota Benga was an African pygmy who was brought to America in 1906 and displayed in the Monkey House of the Bronx Zoo. Carrie’s mother, Mary Rice Hayes Allen, was among those protesting this abominable treatment and took Ota into her home. He lived with the Allen family until his death two years later. Carrie was a little girl at the time but the tragedy of Ota Benga stuck with her and now lives in her provocative and poignant poem.
During her years as a social worker, teacher, and social activist, Carrie received dozens of awards and commendations including Social Worker of the Year and the United Negro College Fund’s Teacher of the Year. Carrie earned her BA from Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, and her MSW from New York University.
Source: Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC: www.myRCPL.com
She wrote short stories, poems, and scholarly articles for many years, although she only started writing seriously at the age of 73. She was one of the founders and first Board members of the South Carolina Writers Workshop, and she is the namesake for its Literary Award.
She spent 30 years researching her family history and, in 1998, those decades of work resulted in the publication of the biography of her mother, Freedom’s Child: The Life of a Confederate General’s Black Daughter. She then went on a nationwide speaking tour, traveling from coast to coast. In addition to participating in writers’ workshops and speaking and reading her poetry to community groups, she taught creative writing at Shepherd’s Center of St. Andrews in Columbia.
Carrie’s final major work was the completion of her poem “Ota Benga Under My Mother’s Roof.” Ota Benga was an African pygmy who was brought to America in 1906 and displayed in the Monkey House of the Bronx Zoo. Carrie’s mother, Mary Rice Hayes Allen, was among those protesting this abominable treatment and took Ota into her home. He lived with the Allen family until his death two years later. Carrie was a little girl at the time but the tragedy of Ota Benga stuck with her and now lives in her provocative and poignant poem.
During her years as a social worker, teacher, and social activist, Carrie received dozens of awards and commendations including Social Worker of the Year and the United Negro College Fund’s Teacher of the Year. Carrie earned her BA from Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, and her MSW from New York University.
Source: Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC: www.myRCPL.com