Often seen as a single-work author or a children's writer, Petry published six short stories prior to The Street.

"Marie of the Cabin Club" appeared in the BaltimoreAfro-American newspaper in 1939; in 1943 "On Saturday the Siren Sounds at Noon" appeared in Crisis.

Other stories preceding The Street were published in so-called "Negro Journals." These were written during Petry's stint as journalist. In 1944 "Doby's Gone" was published in Phylon, the scholarly journal associated with W. E. B. DuBois and Atlanta University. In 1945 "Olaf and His Girlfriend" and "Like a Winding Sheet" appeared in Crisis. In each of these stories female characters figure prominently.

The Narrows As in Petry's first novel, female characters are prominent in her last novel, The Narrows (1953). AfricanAmerican women are both major and minor characters, and they move the plot and shape the themes. Abigail Crunch is very much a New Englander, and strives to...