Editing Paul Laurence Dunbar (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===

Paul Laurence Dunbar was born at 311 Howard Street in [[Dayton, Ohio]], on June 27, 1872, to parents who were enslaved in Kentucky before the [[American Civil War]].<ref name=Alexander17>Alexander, 17.</ref> After being emancipated, his mother Matilda moved to Dayton with other family members, including her two sons Robert and William from her first marriage. Dunbar's father Joshua escaped from slavery in Kentucky before the war ended. He traveled to [[Massachusetts]] and volunteered for the [[55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment]], one of the first two black units to serve in the war. The senior Dunbar also served in the [[5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment]]. Paul Dunbar was born six months after Joshua and Matilda's wedding on Christmas Eve, 1871.<ref name=Alexander17/>

The marriage of Dunbar's parents was troubled, and Dunbar's mother left Joshua soon after having their second child, a daughter.<ref>Alexander, 19.</ref> Joshua died on August 16, 1885, when Paul was 13 years old.<ref name=Wagner75>Wagner, 75.</ref>

Dunbar wrote his first poem at the age of six and gave his first public recital at the age of nine. His mother assisted him in his schooling, having learned to read expressly for that purpose. She often read the Bible with him, and thought he might become a minister in the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]].<ref name="Best, 13">Best, 13.</ref> It was the first independent black denomination in America, founded in [[Philadelphia]] in the early 19th century.

Dunbar was the only African-American student during his years at Central High School in Dayton. [[Orville Wright]] was a classmate and friend.<ref>[http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/dunbar/biography.php "Paul Laurence Dunbar: Highlights of A Life"], Wright State Universities, Special Collections & Archives.</ref> Well-accepted, he was elected as president of the school's literary society, and became the editor of the school newspaper and a debate club member.<ref name="Best, 13"/><ref name="poetry">[http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/paul-laurence-dunbar "Paul Laurence Dunbar"], Poetry Foundation.</ref>

===Writing career===
[[File:Howard Univ., Washington, D.C., ca. 1900 - class picture LCCN2001705793.tif|thumb|Howard University 1900 – class picture with Dunbar in the rear right]]
At the age of 16, Dunbar published the poems "Our Martyred Soldiers" and "On The River" in 1888 in Dayton's ''[[Dayton Herald|The Herald]]'' newspaper.<ref name=Wagner75/> In 1890, Dunbar wrote and edited ''The Tattler'', Dayton's first weekly African-American newspaper. It was printed by the fledgling company of his high-school acquaintances, [[Wright brothers|Wilbur and Orville Wright]]. The paper lasted six weeks.<ref name=howard >{{cite book|title=Wilbur and Orville: A Biography of the Wright Brothers|author=Fred Howard|publisher=[[Courier Dover Publications]]|year=1998|pages=560|isbn=0486402975}}</ref>

After completing his formal schooling in 1891, Dunbar took a job as an elevator operator, earning a salary of four dollars a week.<ref name=Wagner75/> He had hoped to study law, but was not able to because of his mother's limited finances. He was restricted at work because of racial discrimination. Dunbar was an elevator attendant in the same building in which [[Eva Best]]'s father conducted an architect's office, and she became acquainted with Dunbar and his literary endeavors through seeing him in her father's building. She was among the first persons to recognize the poetry of Dunbar and was influential in bringing him before the public.<ref name="TheDaytonHerald1925">{{cite news |title=Woman Writer Succumbs With Long Illness |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dayton-herald-woman-writer-succumbs/146845196/ |access-date=8 May 2024 |work=The Dayton Herald |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |date=18 April 1925 |page=9 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref>

In 1892, Dunbar asked the Wrights to publish his dialect poems in book form, but the brothers did not have a facility that could print books. They suggested he go to the [[Church of the United Brethren in Christ|United Brethren]] Publishing House which, in 1893, printed Dunbar's first collection of poetry, ''Oak and Ivy''.<ref name=howard /> Dunbar subsidized the printing of the book, and quickly earned back his investment in two weeks by selling copies personally,<ref>Wagner, 76.</ref> often to passengers on his elevator.<ref name="Alexander, 38">Alexander, 38.</ref>

The larger section of the book, the ''Oak'' section, consisted of traditional verse, whereas the smaller section, the ''Ivy'', featured light poems written in dialect.<ref name="Alexander, 38"/> The work attracted the attention of [[James Whitcomb Riley]], the popular "Hoosier Poet". Both Riley and Dunbar wrote poems in both standard English and dialect.

His literary gifts were recognized, and older men offered to help him financially. Attorney Charles A. Thatcher offered to pay for college, but Dunbar wanted to persist with writing, as he was encouraged by his sales of poetry. Thatcher helped promote Dunbar, arranging work to read his poetry in the larger city of [[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]] at "libraries and literary gatherings."<ref name="poetry"/> In addition, psychiatrist Henry A. Tobey took an interest and assisted Dunbar by helping distribute his first book in Toledo and sometimes offering him financial aid. Together, Thatcher and Tobey supported the publication of Dunbar's second verse collection, ''Majors and Minors'' (1896).<ref name="poetry"/>

Despite frequently publishing poems and occasionally giving public readings, Dunbar had difficulty supporting himself and his mother. Many of his efforts were unpaid and he was a reckless spender, leaving him in debt by the mid-1890s.<ref>Alexander, 94.</ref>

On June 27, 1896, the novelist, editor, and critic [[William Dean Howells]] published a favorable review of Dunbar's second book, ''Majors and Minors'' in ''[[Harper's Weekly]]''. Howells' influence brought national attention to the poet's writing.<ref>Wagner, 77.</ref> Though Howell praised the "honest thinking and true feeling" in Dunbar's traditional poems, he particularly praised the dialect poems.<ref>Nettels, 80–81.</ref> In this period, there was an appreciation for folk culture, and black dialect was believed to express one type of that. The new literary fame enabled Dunbar to publish his first two books as a collected volume, titled ''Lyrics of Lowly Life'', which included an introduction by Howells.

Dunbar maintained a lifelong friendship with the Wright brothers. Through his poetry, he met and became associated with black leaders [[Frederick Douglass]] and [[Booker T. Washington]], and was close to his contemporary [[James D. Corrothers]]. Dunbar also became a friend of [[Brand Whitlock]], a journalist in Toledo who went to work in Chicago. Whitlock joined the state government and had a political and diplomatic career.<ref name="DaytonLibrary">[http://home.dayton.lib.oh.us/archives/dunbar/DSeries3.html Paul Laurence Dunbar, Printed Material<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060203151339/http://home.dayton.lib.oh.us/archives/dunbar/DSeries3.html|date=February 3, 2006}}</ref>

By the late 1890s, Dunbar started to explore the short story and novel forms; in the latter, he frequently featured white characters and society.

===Later work===
[[File:Paul Laurence Dunbar.jpg|right|thumb|1897 sketch by Norman B. Wood]]
Dunbar was prolific during his relatively short career: he published a dozen books of poetry, four books of short stories, four novels, lyrics for a musical, and a play.

His first collection of short stories, ''Folks From Dixie'' (1898), a sometimes "harsh examination of racial prejudice", had favorable reviews.<ref name="poetry"/>

This was not the case for his first novel, ''The Uncalled'' (1898), which critics described as "dull and unconvincing".<ref name="poetry"/> Dunbar explored the spiritual struggles of a white minister Frederick Brent, who had been abandoned as a child by his alcoholic father and raised by a virtuous white spinster, Hester Prime. (Both the minister and woman's names recalled [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]]'s ''[[The Scarlet Letter]],'' which featured a central character named Hester Prynne.)<ref name="poetry"/> With this novel, Dunbar has been noted as one of the first African Americans to cross the "[[color line (civil rights issue)|color line]]" by writing a work solely about white society.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Matthew|title=Whiteness in the Novels of Charles Chesnutt|year=2004|publisher=University of Mississippi|location=Jackson}}</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2014}} Critics at the time complained about his handling of the material, not his subject. The novel was not a commercial success.

Dunbar's next two novels also explored lives and issues in white culture, and some contemporary critics found these lacking as well.<ref name="poetry"/> However, literary critic [[Rebecca Ruth Gould]] argues that one of these, ''[[The Sport of the Gods]]'', culminates as an object lesson in the power of shame – a key component of the scapegoat mentality – to limit the law’s capacity to deliver justice.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gould |first1=Rebecca Ruth |title=Justice Deferred: Legal Duplicity and the Scapegoat Mentality in Paul Laurence Dunbar's Jim Crow America |journal=Law & Literature |date=2 September 2019 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=357–379 |doi=10.1080/1535685X.2018.1550874 |s2cid=149619725 }}</ref>

In collaboration with the composer [[Will Marion Cook]], and [[Jesse A. Shipp]], who wrote the libretto, Dunbar wrote the lyrics for ''[[In Dahomey]],'' the first musical written and performed entirely by African Americans. It was produced on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1903; the musical comedy successfully toured England and the United States over a period of four years and was one of the more successful theatrical productions of its time.<ref>Riis, Thomas L., ''Just Before Jazz: Black Musical Theater in New York, 1890–1915'' (Smithsonian Institution Press: London, 1989), p. 91.</ref>

Dunbar's essays and poems were published widely in the leading journals of the day, including ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'', the ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]'', the ''[[Denver Post]]'', ''Current Literature'' and others. During his life, commentators often noted that Dunbar appeared to be purely black African, at a time when many leading members of the African-American community were notably of [[mixed race]], often with considerable European ancestry.

In 1897 Dunbar traveled to England for a literary tour; he recited his works on the London circuit. He met the young black composer [[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor]], who set some of Dunbar's poems to music. Coleridge-Taylor was influenced by Dunbar to use African and American Negro songs and tunes in future compositions. Also living in London at the time, African-American playwright [[Henry Francis Downing]] arranged a joint recital for Dunbar and Coleridge-Taylor, under the patronage of [[John Hay]], a former aide to President [[Abraham Lincoln]], and at that time the American ambassador to Great Britain.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Roberts|first=Brian|title=A London Legacy of Ira Aldridge: Henry Francis Downing and the Paratheatrical Poetics of Plot and Cast(e)|journal=Modern Drama|year=2012|volume=55|issue=3|pages=396|doi=10.3138/md.55.3.386|s2cid=162466396 }}</ref> Downing also lodged Dunbar in London while the poet worked on his first novel, ''The Uncalled'' (1898).<ref>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Brian|title=Artistic Ambassadors: Literary and International Representation of the New Negro Era|year=2013|publisher=University of Virginia Press|location=Charlottesville|isbn=978-0813933689|pages=83}}</ref>

Dunbar was active in the area of civil rights and the uplifting of African Americans. He was a participant in the March 5, 1897, meeting to celebrate the memory of abolitionist [[Frederick Douglass]]. The attendees worked to found the [[American Negro Academy]] under [[Alexander Crummell]].<ref>Seraile, William. ''Bruce Grit: The Black Nationalist Writings of John Edward Bruce''. University of Tennessee Press, 2003. p. 110–111</ref>

===Marriage and declining health===
[[File:Paul Laurence Dunbar Gravestone.JPG|right|thumb|Dunbar grave site at Woodland Cemetery, 2007]]
After returning from the United Kingdom, Dunbar married [[Alice Dunbar Nelson|Alice Ruth Moore]], on March 6, 1898. She was a teacher and poet from [[New Orleans]] whom he had met three years earlier.<ref>Wagner, 78.</ref> Dunbar called her "the sweetest, smartest little girl I ever saw".<ref>Best, 81.</ref> A graduate of Straight University (now [[Dillard University]]), a [[historically black college]], Moore is best known for her short story collection, ''Violets''. She and her husband also wrote books of poetry as companion pieces. An account of their love, life and marriage was portrayed in ''Oak and Ivy,'' a 2001 play by Kathleen McGhee-Anderson.<ref>[http://bestof.riverfronttimes.com/2001-02-14/culture/color-bind/ "Color Bind", Review: ''Oak and Ivy''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095607/http://bestof.riverfronttimes.com/2001-02-14/culture/color-bind/ |date=September 29, 2007 }}, "Best of St. Louis", ''Riverfront Times'', February 14, 2004.</ref>

In October 1897 Dunbar took a job at the [[Library of Congress]] in Washington, DC. He and his wife moved to the capital, where they lived in the comfortable [[LeDroit Park, Washington, D.C.|LeDroit Park]] neighborhood. At the urging of his wife, Dunbar soon left the job to focus on his writing, which he promoted through public readings. While in Washington, DC, Dunbar attended [[Howard University]] after the publication of ''Lyrics of Lowly Life''.<ref name="Song of America 2017">{{cite web | title=Dunbar | website=Song of America | date=September 13, 2017 | url=https://songofamerica.net/composer/dunbar-paul-laurence/ | access-date=December 3, 2019}}</ref>

In 1900, he was diagnosed with [[tuberculosis]], then often fatal, and his doctors recommended drinking [[whisky]] to alleviate his symptoms. On the advice of his doctors, he moved to [[Colorado]] with his wife, as the cold, dry mountain air was considered favorable for TB patients. Dunbar and his wife separated in 1902, after he nearly beat her to death<ref>Alexander, 168.</ref> but they never divorced. Depression and declining health drove him to a dependence on alcohol, which further damaged his health.

Dunbar returned to Dayton in 1904 to be with his mother. He died of tuberculosis on February 9, 1906, at the age of 33.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dunbarsite.org/biopld.asp | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041021235933/http://www.dunbarsite.org/biopld.asp | url-status = dead | archive-date = October 21, 2004 | title = Biography page at Paul Laurence Dunbar web site | publisher = University of Dayton | date = February 3, 2003 }}</ref> He was [[interred]] in the [[Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum|Woodland Cemetery]] in Dayton.<ref>Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 13250). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.</ref>