Bessie Woodson Yancey

Bessie Woodson Yancey (May 1882 – 11 January 1958) was an African-American poet, teacher, and activist, She was educated in a school run by her uncles, John Morton and James Buchanan Riddle, until 1892, when the family moved back to Huntington, West Virginia, where they had lived during the 1870s. by Katharine Capshaw Smith. Capshaw has described Yancey's poetry as being "cross written for and cross read by Black children and adults." Her only published collection, Echoes from the Hills, "acknowledges the pressure on youth to become race leaders, and positions the child... as the visionary who will lead the community forward."

Despite never publishing another book, Yancey continued to write poetry, letters, and editorials, which were published in newspapers.

Bessie Woodson Yancey died on January 11, 1958 of a stroke, in the home of her brother Carter G. Woodson.