Countee Cullen was born on the 30th of March in 1903, It is unsure where he was born but his transcript places his birth at Louisville, Kentucky. Sometime before 1918, Cullen was adopted by the Reverend Frederick A. and Carolyn Belle Cullen. It is unknown when he was adopted however. He went by the name of Countee Porter until 1918. By 1921 he became Countee P. Cullen and eventually just Countee Cullen. Cullen was an outstanding student at DeWitt Clinton High School. He edited the school's newspaper, assisted in editing the literary magazine, Magpie, and began to write poetry that achieved notice. While in high school Cullen won his first contest, a citywide competition, with the poem "I Have a Rendezvous with Life,". At New York University,