Published in 1969, Maya Angelou’s adult memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was an immediate national bestseller and a critical success. The book, the first in a series recounting her early life in the 1960s, helped establish Angelou (1928–2014) as a significant figure in American letters.

In this handwritten page from the book, Angelou captures the moment when she and her brother, Bailey, arrived in Arkansas to be raised by their paternal grandmother, foreshadowing the personalities that she and Bailey would later develop. Today, the manuscript is preserved at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, part of the New York Public Library.

• Published in 1969
• Autobiography of Maya Angelou
• Established Angelou as a significant figure in American letters
• Important historical text