Rudolph Fisher (1897 - 1934) was an African-American writer 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...

His first published work, "City of Refuge", appeared in Atlantic Monthly of February 1925. He went on in 1932 to write The Conjure-Man Dies, the first black detective novel. Fisher was also a physician (with a specialty in radiology), dramatist, musician and orator. Fisher was an active participant in the Harlem Renaissance, primarily as a novelist, but also as a musician. The Atlantic Monthly (also known as The Atlantic) is an American literary/cultural magazine that was founded in November 1857. ... This article or section seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ... It has been suggested that medical imaging be merged into this article or section. ... The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of art, literature and music in the United States in the 1920s and early 1930s led by the African American community based in Harlem, New York City. ...

Biography

Born in Washington, DC in the late nineteenth century, Fisher grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and attended Brown University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Brown in 1919 and received a Master of Arts a year later. He went on to attend Howard University Medical School and graduated in 1924. Fisher married Jane Ryder in 1925, and they had one son, Hugh, who was born in 1926. He died in 1934 at the age of 37. Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Flag Seal Nickname: Beehive of Industry, The Renaissance City Location Location in Rhode Island Coordinates , Government Country State County United States Rhode Island Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 20. ... Brown University is an Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island. ... Howard University is an historically black university in Washington, D.C. Notable alumni include Toni Morrison, Thurgood Marshall, Ossie Davis, Debbie Allen, and Phylicia Rashad. ...

Principal Works

• City of Refuge (1925)
• High Yaller
• The Walls of Jericho (1928), about black life in Harlem
• The Conjure-Man Dies (1932)

City of Refuge and another short story, Vestiges, were included in Alain Locke's anthology, The New Negro. Alain LeRoy Locke (1886-1954) was born on September 13, 1886, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania He was an American educator, writer, and philosopher, and is best remembered as a leader and chief interpreter of the Harlem Renaissance. ...

In 1991, an anthology of Fisher's short fiction, City of Refuge: The Collected Stories of Rudolph Fisher, was published by the University of Missouri Press.

Quotations

"The rhythm persisted, the unfaltering common meter of blues, but the blueness itself, the sorrow, the despair, began to give way to hope."

See also

• Countee Cullen
• Langston Hughes
• Zora Neale Hurston
• Wallace Thurman

Countee Cullen, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1941 Countee Cullen (May 30, 1903 - January 9, 1946) was an American poet, one of the finest of the Harlem Renaissance. ... Langston Hughes, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1936 Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and newspaper columnist. ... Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891–January 28, 1960) was an American folklorist and author of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. ... Wallace Thurman (1902-1934) was an African American novelist during the Harlem Renaissance. ...

External links

• Fisher's biography at the D.C. Library website
• Rudolph Fisher Newsletter — includes helpful research resources on the Harlem Renaissance as well as Fisher himself.