Piri Thomas

Disciplines: Literature
Disciplines: Literature
Based in Bronx, NY
Residencies: 1978
Piri Thomas (1928 – 2011) was a writer and poet whose memoir Down These Mean Streets became a best-seller. Juan Pedro Tomas was born to a Puerto Rican mother and Cuban father. He grew up in New York’s Spanish Harlem neighborhood during a time it was riddled with crime and violence. According to Thomas, children were expected to be gang members at a young age, and Thomas was no exception. He was also exposed to racial discrimination because of his Afro-Latin heritage and identified as Black. He became involved with drugs, gang warfare, and crime and spent seven years in prison. During that period, Thomas reflected on the teachings of his mother and father, and decided to use his street and prison know-how to reach at-risk youth to try to help them avoid a life of crime once he came out of prison. In 1967, Thomas received funds from the Rabinowitz Foundation to write and publish his best-selling autobiography Down These Mean Streets. The book describes his struggle for survival as a Puerto Rican/Cuban born and raised in the barrios of New York. His other works include Savior, Savior Hold My Hand; Seven Long Times; and Stories from El Barrio.

Studios

Mansfield

Piri Thomas worked in the Mansfield studio.

The Helen Coolidge Mansfield Studio was donated by graduates of the Mansfield War Service Classes for Reconstruction Aides. Mrs. Mansfield helped found the New York MacDowell Club, which was among the biggest clubs by the same name around the country honoring the legacy of Edward MacDowell and supporting MacDowell. The small…

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