Reprinted from: The Negro in American History: Men and Women Eminent in the Evolution of
the American of African Descent, By John Wesley Cromwell, Published by The American Negro Academy, 1914
It is a sign of extraordinary talent or genius when one before he reaches his thirtieth year is recognized in representative journals as
being among the literary men of his times, yet Paul Laurence Dunbar enjoyed this proud distinction.
The story of his life should be an inspiration to the millions of young Negroes throughout the land, although not one of them may,
like him, seek and find a literary career. He was the son of Joshua and Matilda Dunbar and was born at Dayton, Ohio, June 27, 1872.
His parents were both former slaves. His father had escaped from Kentucky to Canada and remained there until the Civil War, when,
returning, he enlisted as a private in the 55th Massachusetts Regiment. After the war he made his home in Dayton, Ohio, and married
Matilda Murphy, a young widow.
Paul was a delicate child who did not care for such outdoor sports as kites, tops or marbles. He preferred to read,
to write and debate such questions as were within the comprehension of his childish mind with great vigor and earnestness. His zeal
and ability in mastering these topics excited both the surprise and the alarm of his mother, who at the time of his graduation at the
age of eighteen from the Dayton high school, was his sole surviving parent. He not only debated and discussed topics, but he was always
writing pieces which he treasured up with great tenderness. These he placed in the possession of his mother with the request that
she save them, for some day he would make a book of them. Although his mother thought this was but a childish fancy, she saved these papers.
On the death of his father he obtained employment as elevator boy and supported both himself and his mother, but he did not stop studying.
Although he could not go to college he made up the deficiency by private study, and in this way steadily increased his information and
strengthened his mind. He wrote from time to time for the papers in his native city; he acquired some reputation in the West and did some
work for Eastern magazines whose editors did not dream that their brilliant Dayton, Ohio, contributor was a black elevator boy not yet
out of his teens.
With his constant experience, he acquired literary confidence. One day he said to his mother, "Give me all my papers. I am going to make a book."
Naturally credulous at such an ambitious undertaking for one so young, she replied:
"A book! You can't, my son; you have no money."
"But I will make a book."
Paul took his papers to a publishing house in Dayton, but the head of the firm threw cold water on the enterprise by refusing to print the book
without an advance payment of one hundred dollars to cover expenses. But the manager who saw literary merit in the poems and promise in the lad
said, "Leave your poems with me, I will print your book and you can pay me after you have sold them."
Paul, thus encouraged, left with a lighter heart and followed his usual work in the elevator awaiting the issue of his first book,
''Oak and Ivy,'' from the press. One day a box of books was delivered to him in the elevator where he sold them all, in a very short time.
A copy interested Dr. H. A. Tobey, superintendent of the State Asylum at Toledo, who gave an order for a dozen, then for twenty copies
which he distributed among many friends both within and without the State. All were captivated with "The Voice of the New Singer," and
were anxious to learn more of him personally. Dunbar was sent for, to entertain some of these friends by recitals from his
poem.
A second invitation followed and a reception in his honor was given at which Dunbar 's mother was present to witness the honors which
her son had won.
During the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, Dunbar, whose reputation had begun to spread, was a familiar sight at the
Haitian Building where the stalwart and historic form of Frederick Douglass welcomed all who came to view exhibits of the island republic,
Haiti, the Queen of the Antilles.
Dunbar's second book, "Majors and Minors" published in 1895 made him known to a larger public. William Dean Howells, the novelist,
for many years editor of the Atlantic Monthly and subsequently of Harper's Magazine, wrote very kindly of Dunbar 's genius in reviewing
the new book. He said this:
"Dunbar is the first black man to feel the life of the Negro esthetically and to express it lyrically." Richard Watson Gilder,
editor of the Century, commended him and his work most heartily, and Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, sister of President Cleveland, was as unstinted and cordial in her criticism and praise. ''
Lyrics of Lowly Life,'' dedicated to his mother, came next and sold rapidly. Other works that followed were
"Polks from Dixie," "The Uncalled," "Lyrics of the Hearthside," "Poems of Cabin and Field," "The Strength of Gideon,"
"The Love of Landry," "The Fanatics," "The Sport of the Gods," "Lyrics of Love and Laughter," and "Candle Lighting Time."
"The Uncalled" which was Mr. Dunbar's first novel, appeared first in Lippincott's Magazine and all critics pronounced it "A strong
character study," with such attention to details of plot, personages and construction as to prove that Mr. Dunbar thoroughly understood
the literary art and had the power to produce a novel in which the interest can be kept up to the end.
He was without a rival in dealing with the dialect of his race found on the plantations and among its illiterate members. In this he is so true
to nature; there is no artificial copying. His humorous and dialect pieces demonstrate his ability as a first-class story teller, the pathos
shows his deep insight in the workings of the human heart. His sketches show him to be an artist whose models are life itself, which he has
studied with close observation and seen in their true relations. His characters live and move with all the elasticity, spirit, tone and
naturalness with which they are found from day to day; and exhibit a correct knowledge of human nature.
It is also a proof of the high rank which Dunbar had taken to find his "Conscience and Remorse" in the "Library of the World's Best Literature,"
completed in 1898, when his fame was just beginning to be made known. It is quite sure had this publication been delayed a couple of years later
more of his productions would have been selected, together with an analytical sketch of his work.
Among the most popular of his poems are "When Malindy Sings," "When the Co'n Pone's Hot," and "The Party." "The Poet and His Song" has been
cited as example of his ease, his sincerity, sensitiveness to the outer world, his philosophy of life and the sweetness and pathos in the
temper of his race.
In an interview given a few years before his death speaking of the development of his literary career and his preparation for it,
Mr. Dunbar said:
"My mother who has no education except what she picked up herself, taught me to read when I was four years old, and my parents being
both fond of books, used to read aloud to us in the evening as we sat around the fire. To this I owe a great deal, but, generally
speaking, the early influences surrounding me were not conducive to growth, and any development in myself came from fighting against them.
'' Through the evening readings I was introduced to Robinson Crusoe,' Uncle Tom's Cabin' and many other things. The former I have never
read for myself, but I did run over the latter and was disappointed in it. The author saw things through the lens of her own intense feeling,
and they were magnified. I was educated in the public schools of Dayton, graduating at the high school, and afterward having two years' study.
"My first attempt at rhyming was made when I was six years old. I came across a verse from Wordsworth and a gentleman living in Dayton
happening to have that name, I thought it was written by him. This impressed upon my mind, and as I crossed the railroad track, in going
home from school, I remember trying to put words together having a jingling sound. After that I rhymed continually, my mother writing
down my productions and preserving them in pasteboard boxes. My father used to tell her that I was not an ordinary boy, and one of my
regrets is that he did not live to realize any of his hopes in regard to me.
"What I may call my first poetical achievement grew out of an Easter celebration at the Sunday School to which I went, when I composed
the verses I had been asked to recite. I was then thirteen years old, and at the same time, Mr. Samuel Wilson, a teacher at the
intermediate school which I attended, did much to shape and influence me. He was himself a writer of verse, and refined, traveled and
wonderfully well read, he criticised my work and encouraged me both to compose and recite.
"After I entered the high school the fact of my being the only Negro in my class was a great spur to my ambition.
"The boys were very kind to me, however, and during the second year, I was admitted to their literary society, of which I afterward became
president. At this time I contributed frequently to the high school paper, later being the editor.
"The first literary work for which I was paid was a prose composition, brought out by a syndicate, my patrons taken in the order in which
they came being the Chicago Record, Detroit Free Press, Boston Green Bag and New York Independent."
Dunbar made a trip to England in 1897, where his popularity as a reader of his own poems and sketches became as marked as in his native land.
In London he was given a number of receptions, he was the guest at many clubs and his books were re-published in handsome editions. He returned
home the same year and was appointed to a position in the Library of Congress which he retained only for a short time, his literary engagements
being such that he found his time fully occupied with literary work.
In 1898 he was married to Miss Alice Ruth Moore, a native of New Orleans,
a young lady not only of literary tastes, but a considerable success as a writer. The story of their courtship and marriage is as romantic as
we would naturally expect of two poets.
A poem entitled "The Haunted Oak," published in The Century for December, 1900, tells in a pathetic way the story of an oak tree beneath
whose shadow one of his own race was lynched and on which thereafter no leaves grew. This poem with its weird and uncanny imagery,
its faithful representation of disgraceful scenes, which neither the law nor the civilization of our land has proven itself able to prevent,
appeals to millions and is destined to be one of the most striking of his productions. It voices the verdict of posterity in its
denunciation of lynching. Its literary merit brought forth unmistakable evidences of appreciation from its publishers.
After the receipt of a check from the publishers, a second check was sent him by the publishers, an exceptional and unusual evidence of merit.
Mr. Dunbar was an excellent type of his race. There was no other than Negro blood coursing through his veins. He was slender of build,
slightly above the average height and with regular features. He dressed in faultless style and was what he looked to be, a true gentleman in black.
After a most brilliant career he died at the early age of thirty-four at the home of his mother in Dayton, Ohio, February 9, 1906.
Telegrams and letters of condolence came to the stricken family from all parts of the country and the last sad funeral rites were such
as might have been given to one of the first citizens of the Republic.
