BUCKMASTER, HENRIETTA (10 Mar. 1909 - 26 Apr. 1983) was a novelist, activist, and journalist known best for her books detailing the historical struggles of AFRICAN AMERICANS and women in the United States.
Buckmaster was born as Henreitta Delancey Henkle on March 10th, 1909 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Rae Delancy Henkle and Pearl Lucille Henkle.
Buckmaster spent her childhood in New York City while attending Friends Seminary and the Brearley School.
As an adult, Buckmaster pursued journalism and wrote historical studies and novels as well as book reviews for the Saturday Review of Literature and the New York Times. In 1944, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. In addition to her literary career, Buckmaster was a civil rights activist and leader of The Committee for Equal Justice.
Buckmaster is most well known for her book Let My People Go (1941). Buckmaster’s other titles include Fight to Freedom (1958), Women Who Shaped History (1966), and The Walking Trip (1972).
For a brief time, Buckmaster was married to author Peter John Stephens, but they soon divorced.
Buckmaster died after a short illness in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Burial information is unknown (As of 2020).
Therese Ruane