Eloise Greenfield was born Eloise Glynn Little on May 29, 1929, in Parmele, North Carolina. She grew up in Washington, D.C., in her beloved Langston Terrace housing community, which provided a warm childhood experience for her. She was the second oldest of five children of Weston W. Little and his wife Lessie Blanche (née Jones) Little. A shy and studious child, Eloise loved music and took piano lessons. She also loved to read. She graduated from Cardozo Senior High School in 1946 and attended Miner Teachers College until 1949.
In 1950, she married Robert J. Greenfield, a long-time friend. She began writing poetry and songs in the 1950s while working at the U.S. Patent Office. She finally succeeded in getting her first poem published in the Hartford Times in 1962 after many years of writing and submitting poetry and stories. After joining the DC Black Writers Workshop in 1971, she began to write books for children. She has published more than 48 children's books, including picture books, novels, poetry and biographies.
Dismayed by the depiction of African Americans in popular media, Greenfield focused her work on realistic portrayals of African American communities, families, and friendships. One of her best-known books, Honey I Love and Other Love Poems, (1978), is a collection of poems for people of all ages, concerning the daily lives and loving relationships of children and families. Her autobiographical book Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir (1979), which was written with her mother Lessie Jones Little, describes her happy childhood in a neighborhood with strong positive relationships. In the introduction to that book, Eloise says,
“People are a part of their time. They are affected during the time that they live by the things that happen in their world. Big things and small things. A war, an invention such as radio or television, a birthday party, a kiss. All of these help to shape the present and the future. If we could know more about our ancestors, about the experiences they had when they were children, and after they had grown up, too, we would know much more about what has shaped us and our world.”
Eloise's marriage to Robert Greenfield (deceased in 2013) ended in separation. She is survived by 2 children, Steve and Monica, 4 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren, and 3 siblings, Gerald Little, Vedie Jones, and Vera Darby. Her brother, Wilbur Little, died in 1987.
Eloise will be greatly missed by her family.
Loading ...
