Ralph Ellison, born on March 1, 1914 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, studied music before moving to New York City and working as a writer. He published his bestselling, acclaimed first novel Invisible Man in 1952; it would be seen as a seminal work on marginalization from an African-American protagonist's perspective. Ellison's unfinished novel Juneteenth was published posthumously in 1999.

(http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-ellison-9286702#awesm=~oFGVUbc5w8Fsip)