St. Louis, Missouri

Maya Angelou’s mother, Vivian Baxter, was born into a poor family in the first decade of the twentieth century in St. Louis, Missouri.

Trinidad

Vivian Baxter’s parents, Maya Angelou’s grandparents, were born in Trinidad. Vivian’s father had evaded immigration authorities by smuggling himself into Florida on a banana boat.

Stamps, Arkansas

When Maya was just one-year old and her brother Bailey, Jr., was just five-years old, Vivian couldn’t deal with taking care of them and sent them to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas.

San Francisco

When Maya was ten, her grandmother took her and her brother to San Francisco, California, to live with Vivian, their mother. It was the first time Maya met her mother.

North Carolina

Maya finally settled in North Carolina in her later years. From there she lectured all over the country...