Photos Of Toni Morrison's Life Through The Years

By Essence · Updated October 23, 2020

In the span of 88 years, Toni Morrison lived a rich and impactful life that we’ll be celebrating for generations to come. The author, professor and speaker became a trailblazer in so many respects – the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Black woman to become a senior editor at Random House, and the list goes on. Morrison, in her own genius and unique way, became famous of her exquisite works dedicated to telling the story of the Black experience. She was a success in every way – as the New York Times put it, “Ms. Morrison was one of the rare American authors whose books were both critical and commercial successes. Her novels appeared regularly on The New York Times best-seller list, were featured multiple times on Oprah Winfrey’s television book club and were the subject of myriad critical studies.

Her mastery of storytelling will always be remembered, and we take solace in the fact that Morrison received so many of her flowers while still here in the physical.

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Toni Morrison With Her Sons Slade And Ford

photographed with her sons Slade and Ford at her home in December 1978.

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Author Toni Morrison

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison photographed in New York City in 1979.

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Toni Morrison

discusses her venture into playwriting in Albany. Morrison has earned a reputation as one of America’s best fiction writers with her four novels. 1985 Albany, New York.

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Toni Morrison

Award-winning New York author reads tonight at Harbourfront’s International Festival of Authors.

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Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize Winner For Literature

is congratulated by a Princeton University colleague after she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. October 07, 1993.

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Columbia President Michael Sovern with Pulitzer Prize winners Toni Morrison and Alfred Uhry

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Toni Morrison

Milan, Italy, 23rd November 1994.

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Maya Angelou w. Nobel laureate Toni Morrison

at party in honor of poet Rita Dove & Morrison, at Angelou’s home; Winston-Salem.

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Toni Morrison, Susan Taylor, Oprah Winfrey, Rita Dove, Maya Angelou, Angela Davis

accepting the applause of partygoers Susan Taylor, Rita Dove, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou & others; Winston-Salem.

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Toni Morrison and Oprah Winfrey

at film premiere of Winfrey’s Beloved, based on Morrison’s novel.

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Glenn Close and Toni Morrison

during Sundance Institute Hosts Risk Takers in The Arts at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, New York, United States.

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Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison

is presented the Carl Sandburg Literary Award by Jim Tyree (L) and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack during the annual Carl Sandburg Literary Award Dinner October 20, 2010, in Chicago, Illinois. The Carl Sandburg Literary Award is presented each year to an author whose significant body of work has enhanced the public’s awareness of the written word.

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Oprah Winfrey and Toni Morrison

attend the Carl Sandburg literary awards dinner at the University of Illinois at Chicago Forum on October 20, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois.

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President Obama and Toni Morrison

during an East Room event May 29, 2012 at the White House in Washington, DC. The Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, is presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

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President Obama and Toni Morrison

receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House on May 29, 2012 in Washington, DC.