Ida G. Athens

Who was Ida G. Athens?

Ida G. Athens was the author of a collection of poetry titled Brethren.

Born Ida Bird Gerding in Cleves, Ohio, she came from a poor German-American family.

She was included in the Who's Who of African American Writers because of her candid comments upon racial tension in the United States, perhaps inspired by her own low socio-economic background. She was also supposedly influential in choosing the geranium as Ohio's state flower.

She married to William Wilson Athens II, 23 December 1917, as his second wife. She died in Cincinnati, Ohio.