Dorothy West Biography, Book, Family, and Net Worth

On June 2, 1907, the birth of a very well-known celebrity. Dorothy West was born in Boston, MA. Also, she is an American short story writer by profession. 

This article conveys Dorothy’s net worth, Biography, Age, Height, Dating/Relationships, Physical Stats, Family and Career reports. 

Additionally, the sorts of queries in your mind are also acknowledged, like how rich is she in the current year and how tall is she? 

Furthermore, you will also know how she attained the vast majority of her net worth when she was 89 years old.

Popular As	N/A
Occupation	Actress, Writer
Age	89 years old
Zodiac Sign	Virgo
Born	June 2, 1907
Birthplace	Boston, MA
Date of death	August 16, 1998
Died Place	Boston, MA
Nationality	MA

Get to Know Dorothy West

Dorothy West was born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 2, 1907, to Virginian Isaac Christopher West and Rachel Pease Benson of Camden, South Carolina. She was the only child of her parents and the poet Helene Johnson was her cousin. 

Her father, Isaac, was enslaved at birth but became a successful businessman. 

In her later years, she wrote about how in Boston Blacks “were taught very young to take the white man in stride or drown in their own despair”. She detailed how her mother guided her and her many cousins – all with different skin tones – through life.

Dorothy attended Girl’s Latin School, which is now called Boston Latin Academy. She graduated at 16 and went to Boston University and the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Dorothy West Height, Weight & Measurements

At present by the age of 89 years, the height of Dorothy West’s is not accessible.

As soon as could really be expected, we will refresh Dorothy West’s Height, Weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe, and Dress size.

Physical Status
Height	Not Available
Weight	Not Available
Body Measurements	Not Available
Eye Color	Not Available
Hair Color	Not Available

Dating & Relationship status

Dorothy never married, but she did have two marriage proposals in her lifetime. 

The first was from Countee Cullen, who proposed to her because his father thought it would end his homosexuality. 

After their trip to Russia, West offered a marriage proposal in writing to Langston Hughes, who declined.

She is currently single. She is not dating anyone. 

We don’t have much information about She’s past relationship and any previous engagement. According to our database, she has no children.

Family
Parents	Not Available
Husband	Not Available
Sibling	Not Available
Children	Not Available

The Career of Dorothy West

Dorothy West was an American storyteller and short story writer who was highly active during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. She is best known for her 1948 novel The Living Is Easy, which tells the story of an upper-class black family during the Harlem Renaissance. 

She was a master of the short story form, and her work is characterized by its insight into the lives of everyday people. 

Dorothy was also a committed civil rights activist, and her writing helped to break down barriers between races and genders. 

In addition to this well-received work, she has also written many other short stories and essays that are just as impactful.

Becoming a Story Writer

At just seven years old, West reportedly penned her first story. A mere 14 years later, she saw her first published work – a short story entitled “Promise and Fulfillment” – in The Boston Post. 

So, what inspired this precocious young writer? 

An advertisement for a writing contest in NAACP’s Crisis magazine caught her eye while flipping through her aunt’s copy. From there, she went on to win several local writing competitions.

In 1926, she was awarded second place in a writing contest sponsored by Opportunity, a journal published by the National Urban League, for her short story “The Typewriter”. She tied with the future novelist, Zora Neale Hurston. 

Her work, The Typewriter, also appeared in the annual anthology of Dodd Mead, The Best Short Stories of 1926, alongside the works by Ernest Hemingway, Ring Lardner, and Robert Sherwood.

West’s early writings were published in the Saturday Evening Quill between 1928 and 1930. 

The Quill was a short-lived annual literary magazine that was created by a literary club of the same name, of which West was a founding member.

During the Harlem Renaissance

Just after she won the Opportunity writing contest, Dorothy moved with her cousin, the poet, Helene Johnson, to Harlem, where she met other writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

She got to meet the novelist, Wallace Thurman, and other writers like Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen.

Dorothy was known for quoting: “We didn’t know it was the Harlem Renaissance, because we were all young and all poor.”

Langston Hughes gave Dorothy the nickname “The Kid,” which she was known during the Harlem Renaissance.

Dorothy was among the group of African Americans who traveled on a trip to Russia in 1932 for a film about race. This provided material for a 1985 essay that described Dorothy’s encounter with the film director, Sergei Eisenstein. 

However, the film was left by the Russians, and she returned to the US after a year when she found out her father died.

West was a key player in the Harlem Renaissance, most notably through her founding and publication of the magazine Challenge in 1934. 

Challenge was a hugely successful magazine that published many groundbreaking pieces by writers such as Richard Wright, Margaret Walker, and Ralph Ellison. 

However, the magazine was forced to close after just three years in 1937 due to the Great Depression. 

West attempted to revive the magazine with a new publication called New Challenge, but it too was unsuccessful and only lasted for one issue.

Acting Career

West took a break from writing as she spent a few years working as an actor. She applied for a playwright position in 1927 with the original stage production of Porgy and Bess. 

However, she was only offered a small role in the project. But she saw this as an opportunity to travel and in 1929, the production went to London where it ran for three months. 

Then, in June 1932, she took another opportunity to visit the Soviet Union along with other Harlem Renaissance intellectuals to film Black and White, a story about racism in the United States.

Dorothy West as a Novelist and Journalist

After Dorothy struggled as a magazine publisher, she secured employment with the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers’ Project until the mid-1940 in which she wrote a number of stories for the New York Daily News. She was the first black writer published in the mentioned medium.

Dorothy moved to her family’s home in Oak Bluffs in 1947 where she wrote her first novel, The Living Is Easy, published in 1948.

For 40 years, Dorothy worked as a journalist writing for a small newspaper on Martha’s Vineyard. She started her weekly column in 1948 about Oak Bluffs’ people, events, and nature. 

Then, her novel, The Living Is Easy, was brought by The Feminist Press back into print, giving new attention to Dorothy and her role in the Harlem Renaissance. She was also included in the Daughters of Africa 1992 anthology. 

As a result, Dorothy finished her second novel, The Wedding, at the age of 85. She dedicated the novel to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who became the editor at Dorothy’s publisher, Doubleday.  

Dorothy West Net Worth

In 2022,  Dorothy’s net worth has been developing expressively. 

Anyway, how much is Dorothy West worth at 89 years old? 

The pay source of Dorothy is generally from being an efficacious actress. By belonging, she is from the MA. 

We have evaluated the total net worth, cash, compensation, pay, and resources of Dorothy.

Net Worth in 2022	$1 Million – $5 Million
Salary in 2021	Under Review
Net Worth in 2020	Pending
Salary in 2020	Under Review
House	Not Available
Cars	Not Available
Source of Income	Actress

Dorothy West’s Last Years and Death

Re-emerging as a writer later in life, she was celebrated by many on the Vineyard. 

Henry Louis Gates Jr., Anita Hill, Jessye Norman, and Charles Ogletree were all in attendance at her 90th birthday party. 

Just two years before her death, West won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Dorothy passed away on August 16, 1998, at 91, at the New England Medical Center in Boston. 

The official cause of her death was never released to the public. However, it is speculated that she died of natural causes. 

At the time of her death, West was one of the last living members of the Harlem Renaissance. When asked what she wanted her legacy to be remembered as she responded: “That I hung in there. That I didn’t say I can’t.” 

Dorothy’s response speaks volumes about her drive and determination not just throughout her life, but especially during her involvement in the Harlem Renaissance – one of the most prolific and important periods in African American history.

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