November 28, 1960

Author Richard Nathaniel Wright died of a heart attack. He was cremated along with a copy of his most famous work, the autobiographical Black Boy, which was a controversial bestseller that opened the eyes of the nation to the evils of racism. Born in Roxie, Mississippi, in 1908, Wright moved with his mother and brother to Elaine (Phillips County) in 1916. Wright wrote fiction and nonfiction. His many works, influenced by the injustices he faced as an African American, protested racial divides in America.