The Book of American Negro Poetry eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 148 pages of information about The Book of American Negro Poetry.

The Book of American Negro Poetry eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 148 pages of information about The Book of American Negro Poetry.

COTTER, JOSEPH S., JR., 1895-1919.  Born at Louisville, Kentucky, in the room in which Paul Laurence Dunbar first read his dialect poems in the South.  He was precocious as a child, having read a number of books before he was six years old.  All through his boyhood he had the advantage and inspiration of the full library of poetic books belonging to his father, himself a poet of considerable talent.  Young Cotter attended Fisk University but left in his second year because he had developed tuberculosis.  A volume of verse, The Band of Gideon, and a number of unpublished poems were written during the six years in which he was an invalid.

DANDRIDGE, RAY G. Born at Cincinnati, Ohio, 1882.  Educated in the grammar and high school of his native city.  In 1912, as the result of illness, he lost the use of both legs and his right arm.  He does most of his writing lying flat in bed and using his left hand.  He is the author of The Poet and Other Poems.

DAVIS, DANIEL WEBSTER.  Born in Virginia, near Richmond.  For a number of years he was a minister and principal of the largest public school in Richmond.  He died in that city some years ago.  He was the author of ’Weh Down Souf, a volume of verse.  He was very popular as an orator and a reader of his own poems.

DETT, R. NATHANIEL.  Born at Drummondville, Canada, 1882.  Graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.  He is a composer, most of his compositions being based on themes from the old “slave songs.”  His “Listen to de Lambs” is widely used by choral societies.  He is director of music at Hampton Institute.  He is also the author of The Album of a Heart, a volume of verse.

DU BOIS, W. E. BURGHARDT.  Born at Great Barrington, Mass., 1868.  Educated at Fisk University, Harvard University and the University of Berlin.  For a number of years professor of economics and history at Atlanta University.  Author of the Suppression of the Slave Trade, The Philadelphia Negro, The Souls of Black Folk, John Brown, Darkwater, etc.  He is the editor of The Crisis.

DUNBAR, PAUL LAURENCE.  Born at Dayton, Ohio, 1872; died 1906.  Dunbar was educated in the public schools.  He wrote his early poems while working as an elevator boy.  His first volume of poems, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1893 and sold largely through his own efforts.  This was followed by Majors and Minors, Lyrics of Lowly Life, Lyrics of the Hearthside, Lyrics of Love and Laughter, Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow and Howdy, Honey, Howdy. Lyrics of Lowly Life, published in New York in 1896 with an introduction written by William Dean Howells, gained national recognition for Dunbar.  In addition to poetical works, Dunbar was the author of four novels, The Uncalled, The Love of Landry, The Sport of the Gods, and The Fanatics.  He also published several volumes of short stories.  Partly because of his magnificent voice and refined manners, he was a very successful reader of his own poems and was able to add greatly to their popularity.

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The Book of American Negro Poetry from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.