Josephine
Lyons Scott Pinckney (January 25, 1895 – October 4, 1957) was a novelist and
poet in the literary revival of the American South after World War I. Her
first best-selling novel was the social comedy, Three O'clock Dinner
(1945). Queer Places:
Columbia University (Ivy League), 116th St and Broadway, New York, NY 10027
Harvard University (Ivy League), 2 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138
College of Charleston, 66 George St, Charleston, SC 29424, Stati Uniti
36 Chalmers St, Charleston, SC 29401, Stati Uniti
21 King St, Charleston, SC 29401, USA
Magnolia Cemetery, 70 Cunnington Ave, Charleston, SC 29405, Stati Uniti
Josephine
Lyons Scott Pinckney (January 25, 1895 – October 4, 1957) was a novelist and
poet in the literary revival of the American South after World War I. Her
first best-selling novel was the social comedy, Three O'clock Dinner
(1945).
Josephine Pinckney was born in Charleston on January 25, 1895 to Thomas Pinkney and Camilla Scott. She attended Ashley Hall School and established a literary magazine there, graduating in 1912. She then attended college at the College of Charleston, Radcliffe College, and Columbia University, and held an honorary degree from the College of Charleston, given 1935. She received the Southern Authors Award in 1946.
As a poet, novelist, and essayist, Pinckney was an active participant in the Charleston Renaissance. In 1920, she co-founded the Poetry Society of South Carolina. She was involved in institutions such as the Charleston Museum and Dock Street Theatre and was an early proponent of the historic preservation of Charleston. She was an active member of the Society for the Preservation of Spirituals, which transcribed and annotated African American songs. Both organizations met for the first time at Pinckney's home at 21 King St. in Charleston.
She was Laura Bragg’s best friend when this latter lived next door to her, at 36 Chalmers Street. Pinckney was a free woman of color, she was not gay, but befriended many people who were, most notably the gay artist Prentiss Taylor. It was Pinckney who invited Taylor to Charleston; he produced images for two of her dust jackets. A sophisticated woman with cosmopolitan tastes, she glancingly referred to gay or “fey” characters in her novels, including her best known work, “Three o’Clock Dinner,” one of the best Charleston novels. She also befriended Harry Hervey; Hervey used Josephine Pinckney’s mother as a character in his novel “The Damned Don’t Cry,” and two of Pinckney’s works seem to mirror a plot used by Hervey in his Charleston novel, “Red Ending.”
In 1941
She died October 4, 1957, and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery.
My published books:
