(August 2, 1906-October 1, 1960) Born in New York City. Educated at St. Bonaventure College, University of Michigan, and St. John's Law School (Brooklyn, New York). Worked for Amsterdam News as reporter, columnist, and editor, 1931-1937. Joined New York City Writers' Project as editor in 1937. Published New World A-Coming: Inside Black America in 1943, incorporating Writers' Project reports; it became a bestseller and was adapted into a series of radio programs. Worked as a war correspondent for PM, Pittsburgh Courier, and Liberty; publicity director of national CIO War Relief Committee in 1943. Other books include Black Odyssey: The Story of the Negro in America (1948), No Green Pastures (1951), The Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S. Abbott (1955). White Marble Lady (1965), a novel, and The Negro in New York: An Informal Social History, 1626-1940 (1967, with William J. Weatherby) were published after his death.