William Meredith Cunningham (1901-1967) was an acclaimed
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
writer of the 1930s, involved in the
Works Progress Administration's
Federal Writer's Project
The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It ...
, and was a supporter of the American
Socialist Party.
[Larry O'Dell, "Cunningham, William Meredith," ''The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CU004 .]
Biography
Bill Cunningham was born on May 13, 1901, in Okeene, Oklahoma and was the brother of
Agnes "Sis" Cunningham.
He graduated from the
University of Oklahoma in 1925 with a degree in Journalism and worked as the editor of the Watonga Herald and a high school teacher.
Cunningham also taught at
Commonwealth College (a leftist and pro-labor school) in Mena, Arkansas in the 1930s.
In 1935, Cunningham published his two books: ''The Green Corn Rebellion'', a fictionalized account of Oklahoma farmers protesting the United States' involvement in
World War I; and ''Pretty Boy'', a novel recounting the legend of Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd.
Notably, Cunningham was involved in the
Works Progress Administration (WPA), serving as the state director of Oklahoma's
Federal Writer's Project
The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It ...
from 1935 to 1938, when he moved to Washington D.C. to serve as the assistant to the national director of the
Federal Writer's Project
The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It ...
. While working for the WPA, Cunningham contributed to the ''W.P.A Guide to Oklahoma,'' ''Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project 1936-1938'', and a Comanche dictionary.
Cunningham then moved to New York, where he worked in journalism and published two more books, including one co-authored with his wife, Sara Brown Cunningham.
[Larry O'Dell, "Cunningham, William Meredith," ''The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CU004 .]
Published works
*''The Green Corn Rebellion''. New York: Vanguard Press, 1935
*''Pretty Boy''. New York: Vanguard, 1936
*''The Real Book about Daniel Boone''. Garden City, N.Y.: Garden City Books, by arrangement with F. ''Watts'', 1952
*''Danny. With Sara Brown Cunningham''. New York: Crown, 1953
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, William Meredith
American writers
1901 births
1967 deaths