John Frederick Matheus (September 10, 1887 – February 19, 1983) was an American writer and a scholar who was active during the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

in the 1920s. He is well known for his short stories, and he also wrote essays, plays and poetry. His story "Fog" won first place in ''Opportunity'' magazine's literary contest in 1925 and was published that same year in Alain Locke's famous anthology '' The New Negro''. Matheus won first prize in the '' Crisis'' magazine's contest in 1926 with his story "Swamp Moccasin". His works were influenced by

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...

's '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'', Edgar Allan Poe's tales, and the writings of Phillis Wheatley and Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Biography

John Frederick Matheus was born in September 10, 1887, to John William, a former slave, and Mary Susan Brown Matheus in Keyser, West Virginia. After being threatened at his workplace, his father found a job in Steubenville, Ohio, and the family moved to Ohio. This relocation to a new state and new environment next to the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

was the best opportunity for the young Matheus to collect material for his 24 short stories. In addition to stories drawing on the Ohio landscape, he went on to write stories based on his travels to Africa, Europe, and Caribbean. In the terms of his writing, he was influenced by other writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Phillis Wheatley, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. He was interested in writing about themes related to African-American life and experiences.

Education and career

Matheus received a B.A. from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve) in 1910 and received an M.A. from Columbia University in 1921. After starting his graduate studies in Sorbonne in Paris in 1925, he continued his studies at the University of Chicago in 1927. After his first teaching job as Latin instructor and professor of modern languages at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College in Tallahassee in 1911, he continued to teach throughout his life, teaching foreign languages at West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) from 1922 until his retirement in 1958. By the mid-1920s, his creative writing was receiving critical acclaim and attention. In 1925, he won the first prize of the '' Opportunity'' magazine literary contest for his short story "Fog", which was included in Alain Locke's anthology '' The New Negro''. The following year in 1926, Matheus won first prize for drama from ''Opportunity'' with his one-act play ''Cruiter'', and his essay "Sand" won first prize in the magazine's "personal experience" category. He received another first prize in the 1926 '' Crisis'' magazine contest for his story "Swamp Moccasin". Matheus also published poetry in ''The Crisis'' and ''Opportunity'', and his poem "Requiem" was included in Countee Cullen's 1927 anthology ''

Caroling Dusk ''Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Black Poets of the Twenties: Anthology of Black Verse'' is a 1927 poetry anthology that was edited by Countee Cullen. It has been republished at least three times, in 1955, 1974, and 1995 and included work ...

''. He taught in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

from 1927 to the mid-1940s. In 1939, he wrote the libretto of the opera, ''Ouanga!'', based on his knowledge of Haitian history and music. The opera, about

Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: ''Jan-Jak Desalin''; ; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent First Empire of Haiti, Haiti under the Constitution of Haiti, 1 ...

who helped his country to liberate from the French, was performed in Chicago in 1939. In 1956, ''Ouanga!'' was performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Matheus died in Florida on February 19, 1983, aged 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheus, John F. 1887 births 1983 deaths 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American writers Case Western Reserve University alumni Columbia University alumni Florida A&M University faculty People from Institute, West Virginia People from Keyser, West Virginia People from Steubenville, Ohio West Virginia State University faculty Writers from West Virginia