Paul Laurence Dunbar: "The Caged Bird"

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar was a poet, novelist and short story writer. He is known as the first African American poet. He was born to formerly enslaved parents and achieved both a national and international reputation. Although the bulk of his poets were written in standard or conventional English, he is best known for his work in "Negro Dialect." Before and like Zora Neale Hurston, Dunbar understood the importance of preserving black speech and folk ways and presenting them to the world. This was critically important given that fact that his work was produced in the first-generation following slavery. This informational blog contains portraits from a recent visit to the Paul Laurence Dunbar House in Dayton, Ohio. All of the photos are courtesy of Historianspeaks. This is the first in a series on Dunbar's life and times. Enjoy.