Q 01/05

In which New York neighbourhood was James Baldwin born in 1924?

A) The Bronx

B) Brooklyn Heights

C) Harlem

D) Greenwich Village

Answer · why

C) Harlem

He was born at Harlem Hospital to Emma Berdis Jones, who had come north from Maryland in the Great Migration.

Q 02/05

What was Baldwin's surname at birth?

A) Delaney

B) Jackson

C) Johnson

D) Jones

Answer · why

D) Jones

He took the name of his stepfather David Baldwin, a Baptist preacher his mother married in 1927.

Q 03/05

What was the occupation of Baldwin's stepfather, David Baldwin?

A) Pullman porter

B) Baptist preacher

C) Jazz trumpeter

D) Schoolteacher

Answer · why

B) Baptist preacher

Their difficult relationship fed Go Tell It on the Mountain and the essay Notes of a Native Son.

Q 04/05

Which Renaissance-era poet taught Baldwin French at Frederick Douglass Junior High?

A) Claude McKay

B) Langston Hughes

C) Countee Cullen

D) Jean Toomer

Answer · why

C) Countee Cullen

Baldwin said his dream of living in France was sparked by Cullen's early impression on him.

Q 05/05

Which future photographer worked with Baldwin on the De Witt Clinton school magazine?

A) Irving Penn

B) Gordon Parks

C) Diane Arbus

D) Richard Avedon

Answer · why

D) Richard Avedon

The Magpie staff also included the future publishers Emile Capouya and Sol Stein.