MS_0056 - John F. Matheus Collection

was an American writer and a scholar who was active during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s.[1] He is well known for his short stories, and he also wrote essays, plays and poetry. His story "Fog" won first place in Opportunity magazine's literary contest in 1925 and was published that same year in Alain Locke's famous anthology The New Negro. Matheus won first prize in the Crisis magazine's contest in 1926 with his story "Swamp Moccasin".[1] His works were influenced by Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Edgar Allan Poe's tales, and the writings of Phillis Wheatley and Paul Laurence Dunbar.[2]