Toward "a more complete . . . corpus": Recovering Two Lost Pieces by Marita Bonner

Abstract:

This “Forgotten Manuscripts” includes two pieces—one entirely undocumented—that were not included in Marita Bonner’s Frye Street and Environs (1987). The first is a modernist essay, “—And I Passed By,” which appeared under a pseudonym in the landmark volume Ebony and Topaz (1927). The second is an undocumented short story, “A Crown of Paste,” which appeared in the Pittsburgh Courier near the end of Bonner’s career. Both texts return to the issues of religion and faith that weave throughout the body of Bonner’s creative endeavors. I situate “—And I Passed By” biographically and theologically within the Social Gospel. “A Crown of Paste” continues Bonner’s treatments of religion more than twelve years later in a spare, realistic mode, illustrating the perils of the Great Migration as well as the failures of the storefront church and government relief efforts to alleviate suffering. The quality of Bonner’s work rivals that of her better-known contemporaries. These two pieces serve as markers of an accomplished career and a beautiful body of work that deserves additional scholarly and popular attention.