Toni Morrison — Timeline
Key moments in the life of Toni Morrison.
1931
Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford on February 18 in Lorain, Ohio
1953
Earned Bachelor's degree in English with a minor in Classics from Howard University
1955
Completed Master's thesis on suicide in the works of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway at Cornell University
1967
Published debut novel 'The Bluest Eye' while working as an editor at Random House
1977
Published 'Song of Solomon,' which became a major critical and commercial success
1988
Won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for 'Beloved'
1993
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first Black woman to receive this honor
1997
Appointed Robert F. Goheen Professorship in the Humanities at Princeton University
2012
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama
2019
Died on August 5 in New York City at age 88