Born and raised in Charleston, Carolina, E. N. Harleston worked many jobs before self-publishing his first poems. After gaining some popularity in the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the first Black-run newspapers in the United States, he published his sole volume of poetry, The Toiler’s Life, in 1907.
I cannot sing, because when a child,
My mother often hushed me.
The others she allowed to sing,
No matter what their melody.
And since I've grown to manhood
All music I applaud,
...[+]
