Ann Petry was a journalist and author of short stories, novels, and children’s books. She lived in a small town in Connecticut, where she began to write short stories while working as a pharmacist. In 1938, she moved to Harlem with her husband where she was able to pursue her literary dreams. She began working as a journalist for the Amsterdam News and the Peoples’ Voice. She became involved with communities of authors, actors, artists, and activists and labor leaders focused on progressive political causes. Her experiences growing up as a black woman in a small, predominately white New England town, as well as living and witnessing inner city life in Harlem would go on to heavily influence her writings. She studied creative writing at Columbia University and her first novel The Street was published in 1946, and follows the struggles faced by a working-class African American woman living in Harlem trying to pursue her dreams of a better life only to be impeded by poverty, racism, and sexism. The book quickly gained critical acclaim, becoming the first novel to sell over one million copies written by an African American woman. After moving back to her hometown in Connecticut, Petry published two more novels which focus on life in small Connecticut towns. Country Place (1947) depicts a group of white people experiencing fear and disillusionment over societal changes, and The Narrows (1953) tells of the tragic interracial love affair between a black man and a white woman. Petry also wrote several historical biographies for children, including ones about Harriet Tubman and Tituba. She stated how books had a great impact on her childhood and wished to inspire young readers and remind them that black men and women have played important roles all through American history and will continue to do so.

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