(Bloom & Smith).
In 1909, Nina Pinchback died suddenly from complications following an appendectomy; soon after, Toomer returned to Washington D.C. to live with the Pinchbacks. His grandparents had under gone some huge changes since he had last lived there; they suffered from financial problems, so they moved from their up-town mansion into a middle-class section of town. In 1910, for the first time in Jean Toomer's life, he found himself living in close contact with significant numbers of black people, but for him this was a joy and he took full advantage of the experience. While here he attended the M Street High School, which is one of the most famous black secondary schools in the country, and he did very well. In the following year or so he was tormented by sexual anxieties that left him emotionally drained also he and his grandfather were in constant struggles about money. After graduating from high school, Toomer had several months to contemplate his college career. He also pondered the meaning of racial identity in one's relationship to the world. Eventually he decided to go to college at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he intended to study scientific agriculture.(McKay).
During his first year at Wisconsin he discovered that he had no interest or intentions in studying scientific agriculture. Also he had a failing social life, so he lift at the beginning of the spring term. He seemed to repeat this pattern often and continued doing this for the next four years. During the years 1914 to 1918 he attended six separate educational institutions without ever receiving a degree. Through all of this and even afterwards he was still dependent upon his grandparents for financial support.(Smith) .
During these years though Toomer's thinking led him to formulate a concept of a "American race." This would be a group of people that would encompass most Americans since bloodlines stretch across nations and continents.