The New Negro by Alain LeRoy Locke — Read

Early in 1905, Locke submitted two essays for that year's Bowdoin Prize competition, "The Romantic Movement as Expressed by John Keats" and "The Prometheus Myth: A Study in Literary Tradition." The Bowdoin was Harvard's most prestigious prize for literary criticism, with an outside committee of distinguished critics who read the essays and generally awarded only one first prize to an undergraduate each year. Winning such a prize would not only enhance Locke's reputation as a literary figure on Harvard's campus but also ease his financial situation. The prize brought a cash award of $250, which he needed to pay his expenses that first year at Harvard when, without a scholarship, he barely scraped by. To improve his chances of success, Locke submitted two essays, perhaps hoping that if he did not win, he would at least catch the attention of the committee. But his written note to himself on the first one, "The Romantic Movement as Expressed by John Keats," dated January 1905, suggests who he was becoming as a person.

I know and say now before I know definitely the Committee's decision that I am confident no more thoughtful or literary essay has been entered in this contest. It is my best work and should rank with other best work, without apologizing for the comparison. Believe in yourself-in greek "That above all to thine own self be true" I have resolved not to worry or be discouraged over the outcome of this; and to go on proud and determined as ever. Correct and turn this in again next year. Good Luck: Alain Le Roy Locke. Student of Romanticism.