Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

Paul Laurence Dunbar had a prolific and influential writing career before his early death at age 33. At age 18, he joined a long line of Black Ohio newspaper editors when he founded the Dayton Tattler with friend Orville Wright in 1890. Dunbar’s poetry famously celebrated Black Southern language and culture by borrowing rhythms and patterns from Black vernacular English and themes from Black American music and folk tales. Dunbar was also a master of English verse forms like the sonnet, and he published several short stories and a novel.

Like the works of Phillis Wheatley and Frances E.W. Harper before him, Dunbar’s verse tackled a wide range of topics from politics and history to nature, spirituality, and love. While Dunbar championed mastery of multiple traditions, he also expressed frustration that the publishing industry and largely white audiences only seemed interested in his dialect verse and stereotypical representations of Black people. Poems like “We Wear the Mask” speak to the pressures of remaining true to oneself and to one’s craft under the constraints of white supremacy. While best known for his poetry, Dunbar also published short stories, novels, plays, and lyrics for musicals.

Paul Laurence Dunbar. Poems of Cabin and Field. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1899.

Poems of cabin and field - book cover

Poems of Cabin and Field features previously published poems paired with photographs taken by Hampton Institute’s Camera Club. Now Hampton University, Hampton Institute was among the early Historically Black Colleges founded just after the Civil War in 1868. Famed artist Alice Cordelia Morse designed the book’s distinctive cover.

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Paul Laurence Dunbar. Lyrics of Love and Laughter. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903.

Lyrics of love and laughter - book cover

“He sang of love when earth was young, / And Love, itself, was in his lays. / But ah, the world, it turned to praise / A jingle in a broken tongue.”

This collection features poetry in praise of Abraham Lincoln, Civil War veterans, and everyday Black life. Though the collection features a mix of vernacular and standard English, several poems reflect Dunbar’s frustration at audiences’ preference for dialect.

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Paul Laurence Dunbar. Howdy, Honey, Howdy. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1905.

Howdy, honey, howdy - book cover

Howdy, Honey, Howdy was published less than a year before Dunbar’s death. Like Poems of Cabin and Field, it features previously published poems paired with photographs, this time taken by a white photographer, Leigh Richmond Minor, who taught art at the Hampton Institute.

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Paul Laurence Dunbar. Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow. First edition. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1906.

Lyrics of sunshine and shadow - book cover

“I found you and I lost you, / All on a golden day, / But when I dream of you, dear, / It is always brimming May” (“A Golden Day”).

Among the last of Dunbar’s poetry collections, Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow featured a mix of mostly new poems in vernacular and standard English.

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Paul Laurence Dunbar. Joggin' Erlong. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1906.

Joggin' erlong - book cover and spine

The last collection of poetry composed during Dunbar’s lifetime, Joggin’ Erlong, features previously published poetry paired with Leigh Richmond Minor’s photographs.

Book covers featuring pictorial embellishment in the form of photographic or other paper onlays became popular in the 1890s. It was not uncommon to see copies within a single edition available in more than one binding style, offering consumers a choice of color, decoration, or materials.

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Charles R. Dinkins. Lyrics of Love. Columbia: The State Company, 1904.

"With peace abroad and war at home, / We glory in our cherished shame: / Our vessels manned, o'er seas we roam. / Our foes we bless, our friends we blame / Forgive Thine erring people, Lord, / Who lynch at home and love abroad!" (“Invocation”)

Charles Roundtree Dinkins was a minister and political activist in Columbia, SC. Lyrics of Love offers a mix of Christian faith, love of Black people, and frustration with white supremacy. Many of the poems argue for justice based on common humanity (“We Are Black, but We Are Men”) and, like David Walker and others before, call on white Americans to return to first principles.

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