- James Arthur Baldwin was born August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York
- Novelist, essayist, activist, playwright, poet
- Graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1942
- Awarded Eugene F. Saxton Memorial Trust Award in 1945
- Go Tell It on the Mountain published in 1953
- The Amen Corner published in 1954
- Notes of a Native Son published in 1955
- Giovanni’s Room published in 1956
- Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son published in 1961
- Another Country published in 1962
- The Fire Next Time published in 1963
- Awarded George Polk prize in 1963
- No Name in the Street published in 1972
- Professorship of Literature and Afro-American Studies at the Five College Network in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1983
- La Légion D’Honneur, France’s highest honor, awarded by President François Mitterand in 1986
- Died December 1, 1987 at the age of 67