Paul Laurence Dunbar collection

1892-1902

Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872, to freed slaves from Kentucky. He became one of the first influential Black poets in American literature, and was internationally acclaimed for his dialectic verse in collections such as Majors and Minors (1895) and Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896). These poems, however, constitute only a small portion of Dunbar's canon, which is replete with novels, short stories, essays, and many poems in standard English. In its entirety, Dunbar's literary body is regarded as an impressive representation of Black life in turn-of-the-century America.

In 1897, Dunbar obtained a clerkship at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Soon afterwards he married fellow writer Alice Ruth Moore. Although his health suffered during the two years he lived in Washington, the period nonetheless proved fruitful for Dunbar. In 1898, he published his first short story collection, Folks From Dixie, and his first novel, The Uncalled. Dunbar's health took a turn for the worse and he died on February 9, 1906, at age thirty-three.