Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) was an American poet, novelist and songwriter, one of the first African American writers to win national fame. His poems in standard English, such as We Wear the Mask, and in dialect made him widely read before his early death.
Genres
poetry, novels and stories
Dayton
Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio, on 27 June 1872, the son of Joshua and Matilda Dunbar, both formerly enslaved in Kentucky. His mother loved poetry and encouraged him.
The only Black student in his class at Dayton's Central High School, he edited the school newspaper and was class president; his classmate Orville Wright printed a short-lived newspaper Dunbar edited for the Black community.
The elevator boy
Unable to find other work because of racial prejudice, he became an elevator operator, writing poems between trips. He published his first collection, Oak and Ivy (1893), at his own expense and sold copies to his passengers.
Majors and Minors (1895) was praised by the novelist William Dean Howells in Harper's Weekly in 1896, which made him famous. Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896) followed, with an introduction by Howells.
Fame and illness
Dunbar toured England, worked at the Library of Congress, wrote novels and short stories, and the lyrics of In Dahomey (1903), one of the first Broadway musicals written and performed by African Americans.
He married the writer Alice Ruth Moore in 1898; they separated in 1902. Ill with tuberculosis, he died in Dayton on 9 February 1906, aged thirty-three.
Anecdotes
A friend named Wright
Dunbar was a classmate and friend of Orville Wright, who with his brother Wilbur later built the first powered aeroplane. The Wrights printed Dunbar's newspaper, the Dayton Tattler, in 1890.
I know why the caged bird sings
The title of Maya Angelou's autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), comes from a line of Dunbar's poem Sympathy.
Frequently asked questions
What is We Wear the Mask about?
The hidden suffering of African Americans behind the smiles they show to a hostile world.
Why did Dunbar write in dialect?
Dialect poems were popular with readers and editors; Dunbar also wrote in standard English and regretted that his dialect work was preferred.
Where is Dunbar's house?
In Dayton, Ohio; the Paul Laurence Dunbar House is part of a national historical park.