Vivian Ayers Allen, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet, scholar, and artist who was also the mother of Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad, has died at 102. On Thursday, Debbie Allen shared the news with a poetic tribute that reflected her mother’s own creative spirit.
“Mommie you have transformed into that cosmic bird Hawk that lives and breathes Freedom. We will follow your trail of golden dust and continue to climb higher. We promise to be true, be beautiful, be Free. Love Love Love Love Love,” wrote Allen.
A native of Chester, South Carolina, Vivian Ayers Allen was a trailblazer in her own right. Her literary career began in Houston, Texas, with the publication of her collection of poems, Spice of Dawns, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1952.
Enlarged reproductions of her writings were exhibited at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. Ms. Allen was celebrated as one of the “Hidden Figures” of the Apollo 11 Space Mission, and her contributions were honored by NASA when Building 12 at the Johnson Space Center was renamed the “Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of Women of Apollo.”
Ms. Allen attended Barber-Scotia College and Bennett College and received honorary doctorate degrees from both Bennett College and Wilberforce University. She was the founder of the Brainerd Institute, a cultural center in South Carolina, and established her own publishing company, Adept House.
She is survived by her children, Hugh Allen, Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, Andrew Arthur “Tex” Allen Jr, and her numerous grandchildren, including Condola Rashad and Vivian Nixon; and a host of other family members
