17 Facts About Harold Courlander

Harold Courlander was an American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist and an expert in the study of Haitian life.

The author of 35 books and plays and numerous scholarly articles, Courlander specialized in the study of African, Caribbean, Afro-American, and Native American cultures.

Harold Courlander took a special interest in oral literature, cults, and Afro-American cultural connections with Africa.

Harold Courlander was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of the painter David Harold Courlander of Detroit, Michigan.

Harold Courlander attended graduate school at the University of Michigan and Columbia University.

Harold Courlander spent time in the 1930s on a farm in Romeo, Michigan.

Harold Courlander's research focused on religious practices, African retentions, oral traditions, folklore, music, and dance.

Harold Courlander took numerous field trips to the southern United States, recording folk music in the 1940s and 1950s.

From 1942 to 1943, during World War II, Harold Courlander served as a historian for the Air Transport Command for the Douglas Aircraft Project 19 in Gura, Eritrea.

Harold Courlander then worked as a writer and editor for the Office of War Information in New York City and Bombay, India, from 1943 to 1946.

Harold Courlander was an information specialist and speech writer for the US Mission to the United Nations from 1956 to 1957.

Harold Courlander was a writer and editor for The United Nations Review from 1957 to 1960.

From 1960 until 1974, Harold Courlander was African specialist, Caribbean specialist, feature writer, and senior news analyst for the Voice of America in Washington, DC.

Harold Courlander wrote seven novels, his most famous being The African, published in 1967.

In 1978, Harold Courlander filed suit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, charging that Alex Haley, the author of Roots, had copied 81 passages from his novel.

Harold Courlander's novel depicts a successful revolt on the slave ship, a shipwreck in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, a fugitive life as escaped slaves, recapture by French troops, and then transport to New Orleans in 1802.

Harold Courlander received numerous awards, grants, and fellowships during his lifetime, including:.