Paul Laurence Dunbar
I recently visited Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s grave in Ohio. I went there to pay my respects to this master of words. His poetry is a true powerful reality when it comes to creating art in word play.
Paul Laurence Dunbar was born June 27th 1872 and passed away Feb. 9th 1906. He was a major African American Poet of the 19th and early 20th century. His most famous poem and the one that caused national recognition was the 1896 Ode to Ethiopia. He is known for using dialect and very colorful language to get his point across in many of his works.
The Poem: Ode to Ethiopia (This Poem is about showing respect and honor for Africa’s Struggle)
Be proud, my race, in mind and soul;
Thy name is writ on Glory's scroll
In characters of fire.
High 'mid the clouds of Fame's bright sky
Thy banner's blazoned folds now fly,
And truth shall lift them higher.
His parents escaped from slavery in Kentucky. His dad was a vet of the Civil War served in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment.

The picture above is me standing behind his grave holding a collected book of his poems paying my respect.
Dunbar was the only African American student during the years he was in High School at Dayton’s Central High School in Dayton Ohio. Amazingly he was the editor of his school paper and also class president and also president of the school literary society which was unheard at the time because of the black and white ordeal. He wrote his first poem at age 6.
In 1890 he edited Dayton’s weekly African American newspaper called The Tattler which also was the first African American newspaper in Dayton. Dunbar's first book was published in 1893 titled Oak and Ivy, his second book Majors and Minors was published in 1895, this one would gain him his national fame.
He was friends with Frederick Douglas and Booker T. Washington. President Theodore Roosevelt honored him and gave him a ceremonial sword. He wrote a dozen of poetry books, four books of short stories and an amazing four novels and a play.
Also wrote lyrics to the first African American musical called In Dahomey and it appeared on Broadway. He married Alice Ruth Moore a fellow writer. He took a job with Library of Congress in Washington. Sadly he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1900. From this diagnosis his world seemed to turn upside down.
He and his wife divorced in 1902 and deep depression set in along with his declining health where he turned to alcohol which created a more harmful reality to his health.
Dunbar died on Feb. 9th 1906 at the young age of 33. He was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Dayton Ohio which is where I visited his grave.
In 2002 Paul Laurence Dunbar was listed as 1 of 100 greatest African Americans.
His talent and grace for poetry and written word will always be remembered in the history of true writing. He was a masterpiece word god that truly knew how to capture living art on paper and express the beauty of words as a soul.
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