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Paul Laurence Dunbar,
(1872-1906)
Paul Laurence Dunbar was
the first African-American to
gain national acclaim as a
poet. Born in 1872 in Dayton,
Ohio, he was the son of
ex-slaves and classmate to
two other Dayton residents
who gained notoriety -- Orville
and Wilbur Wright. Dunbar
penned a large body of short
stories, novels, librettos, plays,
poems, songs and essays
before he died at the age of
33. His work often dealt with
the difficulties encountered by
African-Americans to achieve
equality in America. His
literary voice encompasses
both the standard English of
the classical poet and the
evocative dialect of
19th-Century black
Americans.
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