Shirley Washington

Countee' Cullen's Secret Revealed by Miracle Book: a Biography of His Childhood in New Orleans Shirley Washington

The mystery of Countee' Cullen's childhood has finally been solved. He was born into an 'elite' African-American family in 1906. His birthplace was New Orleans, Louisiana. His father, James S. Carter, Sr., was the first licensed African-American dentist in Louisiana. His mother was a well-educated Christian lady, Gussie Yeager Carter, from Natchez, Mississippi. James S. Carter, Jr. was Countee' Cullen's birth name signed by him in the book, "Color", which he sent to his mother in 1925. This book that I have written reveals why he changed his identity forever. I am his neice, Shirley Porter Washington, his youngest sister's (Clyde Carter Porter) daughter. I have the 'Miracle Book' and his 'Secret Revealed'.