Born Chloe Anthony Wofford, Toni Morrison grew up in Ohio. Her parents were both from Southern states, and the Mid-Western and Southern cultures both heavily influence her work. Even though her writing is not autobiographical, her life and her family members lives do also appear in her work. For instance, both Beloved and The Bluest Eye are set in Ohio.
Morrison was a good student from a very young age. She loved to read and decided to major in English at Howard University, a historically Black university. It was after her graduation from Howard that she decided to go by “Toni.” She taught for a short while at Texas Southern University and then returned to Howard where she met her...
