April 28, 1979

A made-for-television movie whose script was written by Maya Angelou and adapted from her autobiographical novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was aired by CBS. The book, based on Angelou’s life growing up in Stamps (Lafayette County), was published by Random House in 1970 and was nominated for a National Book Award. It was the first of six autobiographical novels written by Angelou that cemented her place as one of the great voices of African-American literature.