海角社区

BATON ROUGE 鈥� After 50 years of searching for their grandfather鈥檚 long-lost publications as part of a family genealogical project, two cousins from Maryland, Renee Anderson and Sharon Young, had no idea that they would find what they had been searching for more than 1,000 miles from home at 海角社区.

Initially, Young reached out to the Library of Congress for help and discovered through them that 海角社区 Libraries Special Collections has a signed, first edition of their grandfather鈥檚 1938 book, 鈥淕ems of the Soul: A Book of Verse and Poetic Prose,鈥� written by their grandfather Harry Wilson Patterson.

鈥淎fter searching for so many years, to be able to call 海角社区 and say, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 my grandfather!鈥� makes the whole thing come alive in a different way. It鈥檚 not just a book on a shelf. It gives it energy. It has made a family be proud of their legacy. It is such a gift,鈥� Anderson said. 

海角社区 acquired Patterson鈥檚 book as part of the Wyatt Houston Day Collection of Poetry by African Americans, which 海角社区 purchased in 2022. This important collection of Black poetry includes more than 800 works from the 18th century, the Harlem Renaissance, and through to the 21st century. Some of the more prominent items in the collection include books by Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks; the original typed manuscript of the music cues for Langston Hughes鈥� 12-part poem, 鈥淎sk Your Mama鈥�; and a first edition of Paul Laurence Dunbar鈥檚 rare second book 鈥淢ajors and Minors鈥� once owned by Frederick Douglass鈥� family.

Patterson鈥檚 book was among the first items in the collection to have been cataloged and listed online in December 2022, which enabled the Library of Congress to find it just in time when Young contacted them in January 2023. Had she contacted the Library of Congress only a few weeks earlier, there would have been no record of it. 

When Anderson and Young contacted 海角社区, they discovered that not only did 海角社区 have Patterson鈥檚 book, but it also had a broadside of his poem "Sleep On!" which he wrote in honor of the lives lost on Pearl Harbor Day during World War II and which had not been cataloged yet. 鈥淪leep On!鈥� won him a citation from the Navy Department and was distributed around the world.  

About Poet Harry Wilson Patterson

Patterson was born in Wake County, North Carolina, in 1897 and moved to Washington D.C. when he was 20 years old. Shortly thereafter, he served in World War I as a corporal of infantry and later as an acting sergeant. Patterson attended Howard University鈥檚 School of Religion, and by 1938 he was serving as an ordained minister. During World War II, he worked as a draftsman and artist for the Navy, where he created many wartime Defense Department posters. He retired from government service in 1952. In a brief autobiography that Patterson included at the beginning of 鈥淕ems of the Soul,鈥� he wrote, 鈥淚 am determined not only to serve this present age, but to leave an imprint upon the sands of time, that the coming generations may rise up and call me blessed. I shall leave to my children a heritage of which they may be proud.鈥�

鈥淭he autobiography at the beginning of the book gave us so much information about our family that we didn鈥檛 know about. It was like a roadmap for us to go all the way back to 1897,鈥� Anderson said, 鈥淪o many things have come out of this. It鈥檚 not just about the book. It鈥檚 about how much we are learning still. It鈥檚 like an awakening鈥攖hat鈥檚 the best way I can describe it.鈥�

According to John David Miles, 海角社区 Libraries鈥� Curator of Books, 鈥淲hile Patterson may not be a particularly well-known poet, this story represents exactly the type of real-world impact we want this collection to have on members of the public. It highlights the scope and vibrancy of African American poetic accomplishments and the importance of this collection for Louisiana and beyond.鈥�

鈥淗aving it at 海角社区 means it lives on forever. I鈥檓 honored that it will live on forever,鈥� Anderson said.