Muriel Draper

Who was Muriel Draper?

Muriel Draper was an American writer, artist and social activist. Moving in English and American art circles she participated prominently in the Harlem renaissance. A follower of Russian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff she collaborated with other of his followers such as Jean Toomer. In 1929 she published her major work Music at Midnight, for which she became widely known. After a trip to the Soviet Union in 1934 she became active in left wing politics. She also visited Spain during the Civil War and later raised funds for the loyalists in New York. In 1949 she was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee and ceased her political activities as a result. Her papers are stored at Yale University. She was a member of the Women's International Democratic Federation, and its American affiliate the Congress of American Women of which she was president in 1949.