James Baldwin was born the illegitimate son of Emma Berdis Jones on August 2, 1924, in Harlem Hospital. In James’s third year, his mother married the Reverend David Baldwin, a fire and brimstone lay preacher, who legally adopted James.
James attended Public School 24 in Harlem, where he met a young white teacher named Orilla Miller. Nicknamed “Bill” by the young Baldwin, Miller was to have a profound effect on Baldwin’s life. She directed his first play and encouraged his talents. The two discussed literature and went to museums together. Miller even won David Baldwin’s permission to take James to the theater, an activity strictly forbidden by the elder Baldwin. Later, James was to give credit to Bill for her lack of racism. He explained that it was “certainly partly because of her, who arrived in my terrifying life so soon, that I never really managed to hate white people.”
After elementary school, Baldwin went on to Frederic Douglas Junior high. It was here that he met Countee Cullen (an American poet) and Herman W. Porter, both of whom were teachers at the school during the years that Baldwin attended, and both would have a lasting impact on his life. Cullen encouraged James to participate in the school’s literary club, which he was the founder and advisor of. Baldwin was enchanted by Cullen’s warmth and openness, and soon Cullen became a father figure to the troubled and lonely youth.
Porter was in charge of The Douglas Pilot, the school magazine, and made Baldwin the editor of the publication to which he would also contribute. Porter introduced James to the public library and taught him how to overcome the racial slurs and hostility that he sometimes encountered there. These two teachers and role models had a profound impact on Baldwin’s life by showing him that black men could be successful, educated, and strong.
In the summer of 1938, James experienced a religious conversion and began preaching. Standing in the pulpit, he was overcome with a sense of wonder and power in the art of rhetoric. The speaking skills that he developed as a minister would later serve him well in his vocation as a writer. More immediately, however, James found that his position as minister gave him power at home. He soon began to openly defy his father, who was forced to surrender now that his son was also a member of the ministry. For instance, when David suggested that James find a job and quit school, the younger Baldwin refused, opting to continue on to high school.
Luckily James had taken the advice of Countee Cullen and applied for admittance to the prestigious De Witt Clinton High School, from which scores of successful and famous people had graduated. His classmates were mainly white, but they came from liberal families who were more interested in James’s talent than his skin tone. Here he formed close ties with other students with whom he worked on The Magpie, the school’s newspaper.
At 16, James left the ministry because of what he perceived as hypocrisy and racism, which had destroyed his faith in the church. This split had its beginnings when James met Beauford Delany. A mutual friend had introduced the two at a point when James was very depressed and confused. Delany, an artist, was perhaps the most influential person in Baldwin’s life. He introduced the young man to music, took him to galleries, taught Baldwin to think like an artist, and showed him that it was possible to make a living at it.
