Clouds and Sunshine

Sarah Lee Brown Fleming (1876-1963) was an African American poet, novelist, educator, and activist. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Fleming was raised in Brooklyn, where she would become the school system's first Black teacher. In 1902, she married Richard Stedman Fleming, a pioneering African American dentist with whom she would raise a son and a daughter. In addition to her work as a teacher, Fleming was a founder of the New Haven's Women's Civic League and the Phillis Wheatley Home for Girls. A lifelong advocate for Black girls and women, she received honors and awards from the United States Congress and the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Club. She also published works of literature, including Hope's Highway: A Novel (1918) and Clouds and Sunshine (1920), a collection of poems.