Edith Anisfield Wolf
Edith Karolyn Anisfield Wolf (August 2, 1889 – January 23, 1963) was an American poet and philanthropist from Cleveland. She created and endowed an award in 1935 for non-fiction books that advance racial understanding, and in 1941 expanded the award to include fiction and poetry; the awards are now called the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.
Also recorded as Edith Karolyn Anisfield Wolf
Edith Anisfield Wolf
- Name
- Edith Anisfield Wolf
- Born
- August 2, 1889
- Birthplace
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Education
- Western Reserve University
- Known for
- Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
- Died
- 1963 · Cleveland.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- poet · writer
- Fields
- literature
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wikidata · Q18159329 · wikipedia · Edith Anisfield Wolf
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Edith Anisfield Wolf • Born — August 2, 1889 • Birthplace — Cleveland, Ohio • Place of death — Cleveland, Ohio • Fields — Literature, Family Office • Education — Western Reserve University • Known for — Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Life and career
Life and career
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1889 to Jewish parents Daniela (Guttenberg) and John Anisfield (born in Vienna), Edith Anisfield was her parents’ only child. Her father, a successful clothing manufacturer, realtor, civic leader and philanthropist, encouraged her extensive education and well-developed passion for social welfare. Able to read in French, German and Spanish, Wolf devoted her life to literature and charitable work. She was an active volunteer at the Cleveland Public Library for twenty years, serving as a trustee from 1943 to 1946, and she managed her father's philanthropy and the family holdings. A prolific poet, Wolf published several poetry books including Snacks (1934), Cinquainiana (1935), Twin Brochures (1939), Balance (1942), and Wordmobile (1956). Edith married attorney Eugene E. Wolf on August 7, 1918. She and Eugene had no children. Upon her death, Edith willed all her books to the Cleveland Public Library, her family home on East Boulevard to the Cleveland Welfare Federation, and funds to The Cleveland Foundation for a $5,000 community service award, aid for the needy, and continuation of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Her remains were interred at the mausoleum at Knollwood Cemetery.
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
In 1935, she created an annual book award for non-fiction books that advance racial understanding, which she named the John Anisfield Award in honor of her father. In 1941 she added a second prize for creative literature in honor of her husband, and the awards were collectively called the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. While Wolf never participated in the selection of awardees, she made certain that the Anisfield-Wolf juries were composed of highly respected literary figures. Ashley Montagu served as jury chairman from 1954 through 1995. Since 1996, the jury has been headed by Henry Louis Gates Jr. The Book Awards honored Harold Foote Gosnell in 1936 for his “Negro Politicians: Rise of Negro Politics in Chicago.” With over 200 honorees since the inception of the awards, notable recipients during Wolf's lifetime included Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Martin Luther King Jr. Notable recipients after her death have included Alex Haley, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nadine Gordimer, Toni Morrison, Derek Walcott, Wole Soyinka, Henry Louis Gates Jr., (also current Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards jurist), Ralph Ellison, Quincy Jones, Junot Díaz, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Oprah Winfrey. The awards, $1,000 per recipient in the 1930s, now amount to $10,000 each. The categories are fiction, nonfiction, poetry and Lifetime Achievement. The Saturday Review magazine administered the awards while Wolf was alive. The awards are now managed by the Cleveland Foundation.
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Edith Anisfield Wolf, revision 1372843650 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1774-1973
- 2.Case Western Reserve University. The Cleveland Encyclopedia: Edith Anisfield Wolf.
- 3."The Biggest Little-Known Book Award" Belt Magazine 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
- 4.Case Western Reserve University. John Anisfield. The Cleveland Encyclopedia.
- 5.Cleveland Public Library. Cleveland Public Library Trustee: Edith Anisfield-Wolf. cpl.org.
- 6.EBSCO Publishing. John Anisfield Award.
- 7.The Cleveland Foundation. Ashley Montagu Chairs Awards.
- 8.Anisfield Wolf Book Awards. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s biography on the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards website. anisfield-wolf.org/.
- 9.Anisfield Wolf Book Awards. Anisfield Book Award Winners. www.anisfield-wolf.org.
- 10.Marino, Jacqueline. The Biggest Little-Known Book Award. Belt Magazine. 9 September 2013.
- 11.The Cleveland Foundation. www.clevelandfoundation.org.
- 12.Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Snacks, a bookful of little thoughts. Horace Carr. 99. 1938.
- 13.Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Cinquainiana, a bookful of cinquains. The Verse-Land Press. 68. 1935.
- 14.Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Twin Brochures. Pegasus Studios. 1939.
- 15.Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Balance, a bookful of little thoughts. The Erie Press. 50. 1942.
- 16.Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Wordmobile, collected from the writer's poems appearing through the years in Blue River publications. 1956.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 5
- Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Snacks, a bookful of little thoughts. Horace Carr. 99. 1938.
- Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Cinquainiana, a bookful of cinquains. The Verse-Land Press. 68. 1935.
- Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Twin Brochures. Pegasus Studios. 1939.
- Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Balance, a bookful of little thoughts. The Erie Press. 50. 1942.
- Wolf, Edith Anisfield. Wordmobile, collected from the writer's poems appearing through the years in Blue River publications. 1956.
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Studied at
1- Case Western Reserve UniversityOrganisation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 September 2026.
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