He began using the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh as his main resource of learning. As he spent so long there he was able to study enough to be awarded an honorary high school diploma. The only diploma in which he would ever receive. He was inspired by the writers he stumbled across in the library such as: Ralph Ellison, Richard Write, Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps. Wilson aspired to be a writer, however, his mother completely disagreed. She wanted him to become a lawyer. He was forced to leave the family home and so he enlisted in the American army for three years before leaving to go back to his previous employments.
He changed his name from Frederick August Kittel Jr to August Wilson to honor his mother after his father’s death in 1965.
He changed his name from Frederick August Kittel Jr to August Wilson to honor his mother after his father’s death in 1965.