Elizabeth jennings born

Elizabeth Jennings was born in Boston, Lincolnshire before moving to Oxford aged six, where she remained almost exclusively for the rest of her life. She attended OHS during the 1940s and memorably wrote about the teaching she had there in her late poem ‘A Classroom’ (see below). On leaving OHS, she went to St Anne’s College, Oxford, where she studied English Literature.

After graduating from St Anne’s, she started a DLitt on Matthew Arnold but broke this off in order to begin a spell of work at a London publishing house, where she mixed with many of the leading literary figures of the day. She then returned to Oxford where she worked in the City Library for eight years and became an admired poet, editor, and reviewer.

Jennings’ early poetry was published in journals such as Oxford Poetry, New English Weekly, The Spectator, Outposts and Poetry Review, leading her to be grouped with the Movement poets (Larkin, Amis, et al) – though this was a label she neither recognised nor appreciated. Her first book, Poems, was not published until she was 27, while her second collection, A Way of Looking, earned her a Somerset Maugham Award that enabled her to travel to Rome – an experience which added a new dimension to her Roman Catholicism as well as new depth to her poetic imagination.

In all, her literary career spanned fifty years and a total of twenty-seven volumes of poetry, constituting a major contribution to modern verse that was recognised in 1992 by conferral of a CBE. Her greatest influences were the more lyrical poets such as Hopkins, Auden, Graves and Muir, but her work is also characterised by a strong confessional element, which led to her being compared to Sylvia Plath.

“Only one thing must be cast out, and that is the vague. Only true clarity reaches to the heights and the depths of human, and more than human, understanding.”

With a literary prestige sometimes obscured by her reputation for eccen

British poet (1926–2001)

"Elizabeth Joan Jennings" redirects here. Not to be confused with Elizabeth Jean Jennings or Elizabeth Jennings.

Elizabeth Joan JenningsCBE (18 July 1926 – 26 October 2001) was a British poet.

Life and Career

Elizabeth Jennings was born at The Bungalow, Tower Road, Skirbeck, Boston, Lincolnshire, younger daughter of physician Henry Cecil Jennings (1893–1967), MA, BSc (Oxon.), MB BS (Lond.), DPH, medical officer of health for Oxfordshire, and (Helen) Mary, née Turner. When she was seven, her family moved to Oxford, where she remained for the rest of her life. There she later attended St Anne's College. After graduation, she became a writer.

Jennings's early poetry was published in journals such as Oxford Poetry, New English Weekly, The Spectator, Outposts and Poetry Review, but her first book of poems was not published until she was 27. The lyrical poets she cited as having influenced her were Hopkins, Auden, Graves and Muir. Her second book, A Way of Looking (155), won the Somerset Maugham Award and marked a turning point, as the prize money allowed her to spend nearly three months in Rome, which was a revelation. It brought a new dimension to her religious belief and inspired her imagination.

Regarded as traditionalist rather than a

African-American activist (1830–1901)

Elizabeth Jennings Graham (March 1827 – June 5, 1901) was an African-American teacher and civil rights figure.

In 1854, Graham insisted on her right to ride on an available New York Citystreetcar at a time when all such companies were private and most operated segregated cars. Her case was decided in her favor in 1855, and it led to the eventual desegregation of all New York City transit systems by 1865.

Graham later started the city's first kindergarten for African-American children, operating it from her home on 247 West 41st Street until her death in 1901.

Early life

Jennings was born free in March 1827 (the exact date is unknown). Her parents, Thomas L. Jennings (1791–1856) and his wife, born Elizabeth Cartwright (1798–1873), had three children: Matilda Jennings Thompson (1824–1886), Elizabeth, and James E. Jennings (1832 – May 5, 1860). Her father was a Freeman and her mother was born enslaved. He became a successful tailor and an influential member of New York's black community. He has been identified as the earliest known example of a Black person to hold a patent in the United States in their own name; in 1821, he was awarded a patent from the U.S. government for developing dry scouring, a new method to dry clean clothing. With the proceeds he received from his patented dry-cleaning process, Thomas Jennings bought his family's freedom. His wife would have otherwise been the legal property of her owner until 1827, under New York state's gradual abolition law of 1799.

Jennings Graham's mother, Elizabeth Cartwright Jennings, was a