Olivia Ward Bush Banks (May 23, 1869 - 1944) was an American author, poet and journalist of both African American and Montaukett Native American descent . Ward celebrated both of her heritages in her poetry and writing . She was a regular contributor to the Colored American magazine and wrote a column for the Westchester Record-Courier . Born May 23, 1869 in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, Ward was the daughter of Eliza Draper and Abraham Ward, both of whom were of mixed African American and Montaukett descent . Ward’s mother died when she was about nine months old, and she and her father moved to Providence, Rhode Island . When Abraham remarried, he handed young Olivia over to her mother's sister, Maria Draper, who reared Olivia as her own . In 1889, Ward married Frank Bush. The couple had two daughters, Rosamund and Maria. Ward commuted between Providence and Boston, working whatever jobs she could find to support her family. Despite long days working and commuting, she still managed to write and publish her first book of poetry, a slim volume called Original Poems, for which she received great reviews from Paul Laurence Dunbar, another African American poet. In the 1930s, Ward returned east to live in New Rochelle, New York and New York City. She counted civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, poet and novelist Countee Cullen, and actor/singer Paul Robeson among her friends and she helped sculptor Richmond Barthé and author/poet Langston Hughes get their starts during the Harlem Renaissance. In the 1930s she wrote an arts column and acted as arts editor for the Westchester Record-Courier during this time as well as served as a drama coach at the Abyssinian Baptist Church's Community Center. Abyssianian served as an important location for secular as well as religious music and art during the Harlem Renaissance. Ward wrote several plays and short stories, most of which were never published. Olivia Ward Bush Banks died in 1944. .