Toni Morrison was born under the name Chloe Anthony Wofford in Ohio in February 1931. Her parents were both from the Southern United States and that culture heavily influenced her upbringing. Even though her writing is not a direct reflection of her life, her life did influence her work. For instance, Beloved, arguably her most famous novel, is set in Ohio. Her maternal grandparents’ stories became the inspiration for Song of Solomon.
Morrison loved to read from a young age and was very skilled in school. She majored in English at Howard University, a historically Black university. When she graduated from Howard, she began to go by “Toni,” as a shortened version of her middle name. She...
