Julious C. Hill (poet)

Julious Caesar Hill (September 15, 1902 – July 15, 1983) was an African-American and Creek poet from Oklahoma. He was the first Black poet laureate in America.[1] He was named the Poet Laureate of Oklahoma by the Poet Laureate League of America in 1939.[2]

Early life and education

Hill was born in Laurel, Mississippi on September 15, 1902 to John Calhoun Hill, an attorney and poet, and Alberta Hill Hair, a school teacher and musician.[3] Hill had Sudanese and Creek Freedman ancestry.[4] He attended public school in Meridian, Mississippi, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, junior high and military training at the Tuskegee Institute, and high school at Alcorn Agricultural & Mechanical College.[4] He completed his A.B. degree in English at Langston University in 1932.[5] Hill served in the United States Navy for five years during both world wars with the sixth Atlantic fleet.[6][7]

In 1949 Hill applied to the University of Oklahoma to study for a master's degree in English in order to pursue a teaching career.[8][9] He listed his race as American, and was denied student housing in Norman due to segregation and sundown laws.[10] Oklahoma Attorney General Mac Q. Williamson argued that Hill be denied admission to the graduate program.[8] In the fall of 1949 OU created its first dormitory to house Black students due to Hill's advocacy.[11] The board of regents sided with Hill, ordering the University to provide him with housing.[10] He became the first Black student to live in OU housing.[6]

Poetry

Hill moved to Oklahoma in 1926 on a poetry fellowship.[4] He authored poetry collections, The Upreach,[5] Sooner Song (Empire Publishing, 1935),[3][12] and A Song of Magnolia (Meador Publishing, 1937).[13] His poetry was featured at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, and appears in the World's Fair Anthology of Verse.[1] Five of his poems from Sooner Song were anthologized in Modern Troubadour by Brounsworth of New York in 1936.[14]

His poem "A Windy Night" was anthologized in Oklahoma and Arkansas Poets in 1935 and reprinted in Paebar Anthology of Verse, 8th edition.[3] He was also published in The Paper Anthology of Verse,[13] Tuskegee Student, Tulsa Daily World, The Tulsa Tribune, Modern American Poetry, True-Fact Magazine, and The Skyline.[3] He was one of four Black poets to be listed in the 1935 edition of Who's Who in American Poetry.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Poet laureate honored at NY Fair, Oklahoman of honor on Poet's Day". California Eagle. 15 June 1939. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b "State's Black Poet Laureate to recite works at program". Tulsa World. 18 November 1979. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d "Laurels for Julius Hill, Tulsa Poet". The Call. 18 December 1936. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b c Foreman, Grant (12 Apr 1937). Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian and Pioneer Historical Collection, Interview with Julius Caesar Hill. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Oklahoma Historical Society. p. 27-28. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  5. ^ a b "Langston graduate writes poems". The Black Dispatch. 22 July 1937. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  6. ^ a b Callarman, Naomi (22 September 1949). "First Negro moves into OU housing". The Oklahoma Daily. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  7. ^ "Negro checks enrollment status". El Reno Daily Tribune. 3 February 1949. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  8. ^ a b "2nd Break in Racial Ban made at Oklahoma University". St. Louis Argus. 18 February 1949. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  9. ^ "OU Negroes tell of life on campus". The Oklahoma Daily. 16 December 1949. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  10. ^ a b "Student finds chink in two unwriten u. of Oklahoma bias laws". St Louis Argus. 23 September 1949. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  11. ^ Ross, Fordie Edward (15 October 1949). "Oklahoma U to house negro students, 40 expected to enroll this term". The Chicago Defender. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  12. ^ Barrus, Maxine (1 December 1935). "Negro writer has verse book out". Tulsa Tribune. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  13. ^ a b "J.C. Hill has another volume of verse published". The Call. 7 May 1937. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  14. ^ "Julius Hill's Poems to be in Modern Troubadours". The Call. 16 October 1936. Retrieved 17 March 2026.


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