Mary Elizabeth Vroman was born in Buffalo, New York, and raised in the British West Indies. She attended Alabama State Teachers College and graduated in 1949. Her experiences as a teacher inspired her short story, “See How They Run,” which was published in Ladies’ Home Journal in 1951. The story won a Christopher Award and was adapted into the film Bright Road in 1953.

Vroman’s work on the film enabled her to join the Screen Writers Guild. She was their first African-American woman member.

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