Ann Petry

Ann Petry (1908–1997) was an African American writer, journalist, pharmacist, teacher, and community activist. Born in Connecticut, she moved to New York in 1938 and worked as a journalist for several newspapers in Harlem. She began publishing short stories in the 1940s. Her work includes three novels, numerous short stories, journalistic writings, and children’s books, many of which address racism and the lives of African Americans. Her novel *The Street* (1946) was a bestseller and is regarded as the first novel by an African American woman to sell more than a million copies.