Lucine Finch (c. 1875 – April 26, 1947) was a dramatist, graphic artist, magazine storywriter and poet born in Alabama. She traveled across the United States performing a series of slave narratives and songs. She was one of the earliest people to teach the public about The Bible Quilt and its background.

Biography

Finch attended the University of Chicago for five years, though she did not graduate. Mammy's Stories
Early in her dramatic career, she developed a program consisting of slave narratives and songs called her " Mammy Stories". Finch traveled across the United States and performed in theaters and colleges. She also performed at the University of California, Berkeley

Wheeler Hall Wheeler Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California in the Classical Revival style. Home to the English department, it was named for the philologist and university president Benjamin Ide Whee ...

to positive reviews: "The artist ... has achieved a reputation for her work through the novel means she employs in giving a true portray of

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who ...

and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

negro humor. With no stage settings or "make-up" she tells her stories of plantation superstitions and sings the songs of jubilees and revivals of a day gone by, from an arm-chair in the simple narrative fashion." In 1931, Finch hosted a 15-minute radio program called ''Stories of the Old South''. The Bible Quilt
In 1914, Outlook Magazine published "A Sermon in Patchwork" by Finch. The article describes a unique covering stitched by

Harriet Powers Harriet Powers (October 29, 1837 – January 1, 1910) was an American folk artist and quilter. Born into slavery in rural northeast Georgia, she married young and had a large family. After the American Civil War and emancipation, she and her hus ...

of Athens, Georgia. Powers, a former slave, created an appliqued quilt featuring Bible stories. The article included quotes, presumably, from Powers, who had died four years earlier as well as a photograph of the quilt, known as the Bible Quilt. The Finch article was one of the earliest known abou
The Bible Quilt
now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...

in Washington, DC. Later Career
In the 1930s, Finch taught drama at the Edgewood School in Greenwich, Connecticut. Additionally, she and partner Clare Hamilton owned the Little Shop, an antiques and gift store, according to the Greenwich, Connecticut, city directories from the 1930s to 1941. Finch died 1947 and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham, AL.

Selected bibliography

Books * Two in Arcadia. Brentanos, 1907. * The Finch Players' Annual Benefit for the Finch School Day Nursery. New York: Finch School Neighborhood Assoc., 1916. Stories and Poems * "The Adopted Child," (poem),

The American Magazine ''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded ''Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904), ' ...

, vol. 68, July 1909, p. 262 * "Aunt 'Liza" One of the Slaves Who Stayed," American Magazine, vol. 67, February 1909, pp. 395 – 397. * "The Boy at the Window,"

Harper's Monthly Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

, vol. 129, October 1914, pp. 790 – 795. * "Children," (poem), Outlook, vol. 107, July 25, 1914, p. 709. * "David," Harper's Monthly Magazine, vol. 127, June 1913, pp. 102 – 111. * "Experience," (poem), Harper's Monthly Magazine, vol. 115, June 1907, p. 107. * "Let There Be Light," (poem), Harper's Monthly Magazine, vol. 134, January 1917, p. 273. * "Life and Death," (poem), Outlook, vol. 101, July 27, 1912, p. 683. * "Nathan's Little Old Lady," American Magazine, vol. 70, July 1910, pp. 330 – 337. * "The Other Boy," Harper's Monthly Magazine, vol. 123, November 1911, pp. 933 – 938. * "A Sermon in Patchwork," Outlook, vol. 108, October 28, 1914, pp. 493 – 495. * "The Singing Gates," American Magazine, vol. 71, November 1910, pp. 42 – 50. * "Slaves Who Stayed: Mammy," American Magazine, vol. 64, September 1907, pp. 551 – 553. * "Slaves Who Stayed: Phil's Tom," American Magazine, vol. 65, December 1907, pp. 132 – 135. * "The Spirit in the Old House: The Story of a Young Wife Who Understood,"

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

, vol. 29, May 1912, p. 20. * "Two on the Battlefield," (poem), Outlook, vol. 110, July 21, 1915, p. 668. * "Uncle Carter of the Peg-Leg: A Sketch from Life,"

Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...

, vol. 76, May 1908, pp. 90 – 92. * "When Life Comes Knocking at They Door," (poem), Harper's Monthly Magazine, vol. 131, August 1915, p. 456. * "The Woman Who Waited," American Magazine, vol. 79, May 1915, pp. 51 – 54. Plays * Finch, Lucine, and Elizabeth L. Mullin. ''The Butterfly''. Boston, 1910.

Collections

* Lucine Finch Manuscripts. Birmingham Public Library, Department of Archives and Manuscript. * Julia Neely Finch Papers, W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama. Includes letters between Lucine Finch and her mother, including a letter about Finch performing at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Lucine 1870s births 1947 deaths Writers from Birmingham, Alabama Writers from Alabama 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American women dramatists and playwrights University of Chicago alumni