American author and Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison was born on this day in history, February 18, 1931.
Morrison was born the second of four children in Lorain, Ohio, and was given the birth name Chloe Anthony Wofford, according to the National Women's History Museum.
As a child, Morrison focused on her studies and became an avid reader.
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She was a member of her school's debate team and yearbook staff and became the head librarian at the Lorain Public Library.
Morrison converted to Catholicism at the age of 12 and was baptized Anthony in honor of St. Anthony of Padua, taking the nickname Toni, the National Women's History Museum reports.
Author Toni Morrison speaks at a Newsday Books and Authors Luncheon at Huntington Town House in Huntington, New York, on October 18, 1977. (J. Michael Dombroski/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
In 1949, Morrison moved to Washington, DC, to attend Howard University, a historically black university.
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Morrison toured frequently through the then-racially segregated South with the university's theater group called the Howard University Players.
Morrison graduated with his bachelor's degree in English and furthered his education at Cornell University, where he earned his master's degree in English.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison in New York City in 1979. (Jack Mitchell/Getty Images)
After graduating in 1955, Morrison went on to teach English at Texas Southern University and then returned to teach at Howard University.
Returning to her alma mater, Morrison taught civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael and met her husband, Harold Morrison.
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Morrison taught at Howard for seven years before accepting a job as a textbook editor at Random House publishing house in Syracuse, New York.
Two years later, Morrison moved to the company's New York City branch and began editing fiction and books written by black authors.
Novelist Toni Morrison talks about her foray into playwriting in Albany, New York, on December 23, 1985. (Getty Images)
Morrison published his first book, “The Bluest Eye,” at age 39 in 1970.
This book was followed by his second novel, “Sula,” and his third, “Song of Solomon,” in 1977, which made Morrison a household name, according to the museum.
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In 1987, Morrison published her novel “Beloved,” based on the true story of an enslaved woman.
This book was a bestseller for 25 consecutive weeks and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Nobel laureate Toni Morrison (front, dressed in black) accepts applause from partygoers Susan Taylor, Rita Dove, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou and others in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. (Will and Deni McIntyre/Getty Images)
Morrison became the first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.
She was also honored with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation three years later.
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“Beloved” was adapted to film in 1998, starring leading actors such as Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandiwe Newton and Kimberly Elise.
While continuing her writing career, Morrison worked as a professor at Princeton University's Creative Writing Program and wrote children's books with her son.
American author Toni Morrison smiles in her office at Princeton University in New Jersey, while being interviewed by journalists on October 7, 1993. (DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)
Morrison received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University, according to the museum, and was consistently praised for her work.
In 2000, the Library of Congress named Morrison a living legend, the National Women's History Museum reports.
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He also earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, the same month he published his last book with his son.
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Morrison died on August 5, 2019 in New York after complications from pneumonia.
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