Literature / Civil rights & activism
Margaret Danner
1915–1984 · poet, editor, cultural organizer
Chicago poet who moved to Detroit in 1959, founded the Boone House arts center and helped launch Detroit's 1960s Black poetry scene.
- Born
Pryorsburg, Kentucky- Died
Chicago, Illinois- Birth name
- Margaret Esse Danner
- Also known as
- Margaret Danner Cunningham
- Detroit years
- 1959–1960s
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Danner, who came of age in Chicago's South Side literary circles and became the first African American assistant editor of Poetry magazine, moved to Detroit in 1959 to join the city's lively community of Black writers and artists. She became part of the so-called Detroit Group with Dudley Randall, Oliver LaGrone, Woodie King Jr., James Thompson and Naomi Long Madgett, and in 1962 was named poet-in-residence at Wayne State University. That year she opened Boone House, a cultural center that from 1962 to 1964 hosted readings by the Detroit poets and visitors such as Langston Hughes, Robert Hayden and Hoyt Fuller. Her joint book with Randall, Poem Counterpoem (1966), was one of the first titles of Broadside Press. Her poems celebrate African art and heritage long before 'Black is beautiful' became a slogan.
Highlights
- Founded Boone House, Detroit's Black arts center, 1962–1964
- Poet-in-residence at Wayne State University (1962)
- Poem Counterpoem (1966) with Dudley Randall, an early Broadside Press book
- First African American assistant editor of Poetry magazine (1956)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1962–1964
Boone House
Closed · 1962–1964
The Black arts center she ran, home of the Detroit Group of poets and host to Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden.
Worked here · 1962
Wayne State University
She was named poet-in-residence here in 1962.