Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African American poet to become nationally known. His books of poems include Oak and Ivy (1892), Majors and Minors (1895), Lyrics of a Lowly Life (1896), Poems of Cabin and Field (1899), When Malindy Sings (1903), and Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow (1905). His works of fiction include The Uncalled (1898), Folks from Dixie (1898), The Strength of Gideon (1900), and The Sport of the Gods (1902). He also wrote the lyrics for In Dahomey, the first musical written and performed entirely by African Americans to appear on Broadway.
Dunbar married Alice Dunbar-Nelson in 1898 and moved to DC where Dunbar briefly took at job at the Library of Congress. In 1900, diagnosed with tuberculosis and alcoholic, he left the area to try to regain his health. He returned to DC briefly, but the pair separated in 1902 (but never divorced), and Dunbar returned to his mother’s home in Dayton, Ohio where he died in 1906 at the age of 33.
Dunbar is remembered locally with a DC public high school named in his honor.
The Homes
Paul Laurence Dunbar
1934 4th St. NW, Washington DC
Located in Ledroit Park neighborhood, Northwest - East of Rock Creek