A talented sculptor, Augusta Savage battled racism, sexism, and poverty to become one of the most distinguished members of the Harlem Renaissance, the effervescence of African-American creativity in the 1920s and 1930s in New York and elsewhere. As artist, educator, and tireless fighter for the civil rights of blacks, Savage is remembered for her indomitable spirit as much for her tragically few remaining works of art. Savage suffered from a chronic lack of funds so that many of her statues never made it past the plaster-cast stage. Her huge sculpture for the 1939 World's Fair, for example, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," was in fact destroyed at the close of the event.

Born in 1892 (some sources say 1900), Savage was the seventh of fourteen children born to Edward and Cornelia Fells. Her birthplace, Green Cove, Florida, was renowned for its red clay topsoil, which was used in the local brick-making...