P 70 Paul Laurence Dunbar Photograph Collection

              P 70
Paul Laurence Dunbar Photograph Collection
Page 1
OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Manuscripts/ Audiovisual Collections
P 70
Paul Laurence Dunbar Photograph Collection
Ca. 1860- 1970
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION
Number:
P 70
Title:
Paul Laurence Dunbar Photograph Collection
Creator:
Ohio Historical Society
Dates:
Ca. 1860- 1970
Media:
Photographs, photomechanical prints, postcards and ephemera
Quantity:
1 cubic foot
Location:
Ohio Historical Center
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE COLLECTION
Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio to former slaves, Joshua and Matilda Dunbar, on June 27, 1872. Joshua and Matilda separated in 1874. Matilda Dunbar worked as a washerwoman to provide Paul with an education. At the age of six Paul began writing poetry. At Central High School, Paul, the only black man in his class, edited the school newspaper, presided over the school’s literary society and composed the class song. Upon high school graduation Paul earned $ 4.00 a week as an elevator operator in Dayton’s Callahan Building while he was working to establish himself as a writer.
For a brief time he published an African American newspaper, The Dayton Tattler, printed by his friends Orville and Wilbur Wright. His first collection of poems, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1892. In 1895 Dunbar published his second book, Majors and Minors, which propelled him to fame. In March 1898 he married Alice Ruth Moore, a poet and teacher. The marriage lasted only four years. On February 6, 1906, at the age of thirty- three, Dunbar died of tuberculosis in his Dayton home. His mother, Matilda, lived in the house until her death in 1934. By the time of his death Dunbar had produced