Eugenia Collier Eugenia Collier (b. 1928), African-American educator and writer, was born in Baltimore, MD. Her father was a physician. Her mother, Eugenia, was an educator. In the 1940s and 1950s, few African-American women were pursing professional educations. But Collier was one of the pioneers. In 1948, she earned a B.A. from Howard University, graduating magna cum laude. Two years later, she was awarded an M.A. from Columbia University. In 1976, she earned a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. After finishing her M.A., Collier worked for the Baltimore Department of Public Welfare as a caseworker (1950-1955). In 1955, she began to teach at Morgan State College in Baltimore. Over the years, she worked her way up from assistant instructor to assistant professor of English. Collier taught at a number of other colleges and universities until her retirement in 1996. In the late 1960s, Collier began contributing her writing and editing to books. She has published scholarly and critical articles as well as stories, personal essays, and poems in numerous periodicals. Her 1969 short story "Marigolds" is one of the most widely-anthologized short stories in secondary school English textbooks. In 1992, with Richard A. Long, she co-edited an anthology, Afro-American Writing and in 1993, her stories were collected in Breeder and Other Stories. Her newest novel, Beyond the Crossroads, was released in February 2010. All of her work is motivated by her love for African American literature, drama, and culture. DIRECTIONS: Using the article on Eugenia Collier, answer the following questions in complete sentences. 1. What do you believe influenced Eugenia Collier’s pursuit of education? ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. How was Collier a pioneer? Explain why, at this time in history, her actions were considered unique. ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Name one of Eugenia Collier’s greatest accomplishments. ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What motivates Collier’s work? ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. If you were completing a research project on Eugenia Collier, what two research questions would you want to investigate further? ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ .