Paul Laurence Dunbar: Born OTD 1872

Paul Laurence Dunbar, the gifted poet, was born on this day in 1872 to formerly enslaved parents in Dayton, OH. He died on February 9, 1906. He wrote poetry, novels, short stories, and the lyrics to at least one musical, Dahomey.

Dunbar began his writing career as a teenager, publishing poetry in Dayton’s local paper, The Herald. The poet James Whitcomb Riley praised his work, as did James Weldon Johnson and numerous other writers and reviewers.

Below is a short bibliography of works examining law-related issues in Dunbar’s writings.

Dichter, T. A., Paul Laurence Dunbar’s The Sport of the Gods and the Modern Discourse of Black Criminality, 4 J19: The Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists 65-98 (Spring 2016).

Gould, R. R., Justice Deferred: Legal Duplicity and the Scapegoat Mentality in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Jim Crow America, 31  Law & Literature, 357–379 (2019).

Guilamo, Daly, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Juan Bosch Converse on Racial Violence: Writing Justice and Injustice, 35 Afro-Hispanic Review 22-35 (Spring 2016).