Ralph ellison biography timeline graphic organizer

Mar 1,

Ralph Ellison Born

Ralph Waldo Ellison is born in Oklahoma City, the second of three sons born to Lewis Alfred Ellison and Ida Millsap Ellison. His older brother died before Ellison was born.

His parents name their new son after the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. (Scholars dispute the year of his birth, with some accounts placing it in instead.)

Herbert Ellison Born

Ellison's younger brother Herbert is born.

Ellison's Father Dies

Lewis Ellison works delivering ice and coal to businesses and homes in Oklahoma City.

Ralph ellison biography timeline graphic organizer template

One day at work, when Ellison's father attempts to hoist a hundred-point block of ice, a shard stabs him in the stomach. Lewis Ellison later dies from his injuries, leaving Ida to support her two young sons alone. She is forced to take on a number of jobs in order to support the young family.

Ellison Learns the Trumpet

At the age of eight, Ellison begins playing the trumpet, which sparks a lifelong passion for the instrument