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Marion Wadsworth Cannon

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This article is about the poet born in 1906; for the Congressman born in 1834, see Marion Cannon.
Marion Wadsworth Cannon
A young white woman with dark hair cut in a bob with a sidepart and bangs, in an oval frame
Marion Wadsworth Cannon, from the 1928 yearbook of Barnard College
Born
Marion Babette Wadsworth

November 4, 1905
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedMay 29, 1996
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Other namesMarion Cannon
Occupation(s)Writer, poet
RelativesDannie Heineman (relative)
Jefferson Chapman (son-in-law)

Marion Babette Wadsworth Cannon (November 4, 1905[1] – May 29, 1996) was an American poet and civil rights activist in North Carolina.

Early life and education

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Wadsworth was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, the daughter of Charles Franklin Wadsworth and Sarah (Sadie) James Hirshinger Wadsworth. Her mother's family was Jewish; businessman and philanthropist Dannie Heineman was a relative.[1] Her father died by suicide in 1909.[2] Her mother, a former teacher,[3] remarried to Edmund Pendleton Coles in 1914. She graduated from Barnard College in 1927; she was president of her class,[4] editor of the college yearbook,[5] and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[1]

Career

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In college, Wadsworth wrote a play, Hagar and Ishmael, which was produced at Barnard in 1925.[5][6] During World War II she worked for the American Red Cross in Charlotte.[1]

Cannon was a civil rights activist in Charlotte in the 1950s and 1960s. She served on an interracial committee at the YWCA, and joined in protests and boycotts. She held seats on the boards of Johnson C. Smith University and Barber-Scotia College, and was a life member of the NAACP beginning in 1959. She helped found the Amnesty International chapter in Charlotte. She was named Citizen of the Year at Johnson C. Smith University in 1962,[1] and awarded an honorary doctorate by St. Augustine's College in 1966.[7] In 1985, she was one of the first recipients of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Medallion Award, given by the City of Charlotte.[8]

In widowhood, Cannon briefly ran a business, Services Unlimited. Late in life, she took creative writing classes, and began publishing her poetry,[9] which was collected in three books.[1] She received the Roanoke-Chowan Award for her first book of poems, Another Light (1974).[10]

Publications

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  • Another Light (1974),[11] including "Inheritance"[12]
  • Second Wind: New Poems (1977)[13]
  • Collected Poems (1980)[14]

Personal life

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Wadsworth married her second cousin, Martin Luther Cannon Jr., in 1936; in keeping with her unique style, she wore a black and white tweed suit at her wedding.[15] They had a daughter, Carol, who married archaeologist Jefferson Chapman in 1965.[16] Martin L. Cannon died in 1957, and Carol Chapman died from colon cancer in 1985.[17]

Marion Cannon listed her religious affiliation as "druid", and described herself as a witch in her later years. She listed her hobbies as needlepoint and smoking in a 1983 profile.[1] She spent winters on Captiva Island for many years.[1] She died in 1996, at the age of 90,[18] after several years in a Charlotte nursing home with "severe dementia".[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Chapin, Catherine (1983-01-30). "Marion Cannon: A Traveler Along the Road Less Taken". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 6A, 6E. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Charles Wadsworth Dead". The Concord Daily Tribune. 1909-02-03. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "School Board; Miss Sadie Hirshinger Suspended for Not Being at her Post Jan. 2". The Charlotte News. 1901-01-10. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Barnard College, Mortarboard (1928 yearbook): 53.
  5. ^ a b Barnard College, Mortarboard (1927 yearbook): 87, 91, 198.
  6. ^ "Three Miracle Plays Given by Drama Class" (PDF). Barnard Bulletin. January 8, 1926. p. 1.
  7. ^ "St. Augustine Graduates Told Being is True Goal". The News and Observer. 1966-05-30. p. 28. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "2024 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award Winners Announced". City of Charlotte. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  9. ^ Doar, Harriet (1974-07-14). "First Books: Three From Charlotte Score with Publishers of Poems and Novels". The Charlotte Observer. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Cannon, Marion Wadsworth, Author". North Carolina Literary Map. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  11. ^ Vela, Karen (1974-09-08). "Honesty is Key to 68 Year Old Poet's New Book". The Robesonian. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Cannon, Marion Wadsworth (March 1975). "Inheritance". Barnard Alumnae: 13 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Spearman, Walter (1977-12-31). "The Literary Lantern". The Durham Sun. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Garrison, Eudora (1980-11-16). "Cleanly Delineated Insights in 102 Pages of Poems". The Charlotte Observer. p. 94. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Miss Marion Wadsworth is Bride of Martin Cannon, Jr". The Charlotte News. 1936-10-11. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Hamrick, Grace (1965-07-30). "Cannon Betrothal". The Charlotte Observer. p. 49. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Aston-Wash, Barbara (1987-01-30). "Carol Chapman; Her Experience May Aid Others". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Hostetler, Gerry (1996-06-07). "Marion Cannon: 'Every Man My Brother'". The Charlotte Observer. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Class Notes". Barnard. 83 (4): 33. Fall 1994 – via Internet Archive.
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