“A heritage beyond St. Louis”, a line from the sentimental recollection of memories of Colleen McElroy’s poem “For My Children”. Fascinatingly, McElroy was born just right across the river/40 minute drive from our very own house, on October 30, 1935 (Reid). Although born in St. Louis, Missouri she took up the studies and writing with a distinct African tone in her work. Colleen McElroy’s poem “For My Children” incorporates her African American heritage as well as African language and dialect, as that is a pretty common way of writing for her.
1. Personal Life Born to Ruth Celeste and Purcia Purcell Rawls, Colleen McElroy grew up with her two parents, but in 1938 her parents divorced (Reid). Following the divorce, she and her mom moved in with her grandparents who also lived in St. Louis, McElroy says that the move triggered her “romance with language” (Reid). She continued to live with her grandparents on and off until she was 14 years old because of the fact that her mom had remarried to an army sergeant, Jesse Dalton Johnson in 1943 (Reid). Being in the army meant always moving around, deciding to stay …show more content…
Even though McElroy moved around a lot in her younger days St. Louis will always be her hometown and will have significance for her. Despite her just being a city girl, she tried to discover her heritage and African descent which I think also triggered her to write just like going to her grandparents when her mother’s sisters were there to tell stories and legends that intrigued her. While she started out to be a speech pathologist fate ended up taking her to writing and earning herself a long list of awards and accomplishments. All in all, even if the poem may not intrigue everyone, I think it does a good job at describing her childhood memories while also taking you back to
1. Personal Life Born to Ruth Celeste and Purcia Purcell Rawls, Colleen McElroy grew up with her two parents, but in 1938 her parents divorced (Reid). Following the divorce, she and her mom moved in with her grandparents who also lived in St. Louis, McElroy says that the move triggered her “romance with language” (Reid). She continued to live with her grandparents on and off until she was 14 years old because of the fact that her mom had remarried to an army sergeant, Jesse Dalton Johnson in 1943 (Reid). Being in the army meant always moving around, deciding to stay …show more content…
Even though McElroy moved around a lot in her younger days St. Louis will always be her hometown and will have significance for her. Despite her just being a city girl, she tried to discover her heritage and African descent which I think also triggered her to write just like going to her grandparents when her mother’s sisters were there to tell stories and legends that intrigued her. While she started out to be a speech pathologist fate ended up taking her to writing and earning herself a long list of awards and accomplishments. All in all, even if the poem may not intrigue everyone, I think it does a good job at describing her childhood memories while also taking you back to