Bio: This blog post was written by Maris Tiller, SCRC Research Services GRA. Maris is a Graduate student pursuing her Master’s in Creative Writing with a concentration in fiction.
SCRC houses several first editions of important literary works in our rare books collection. Today, we’re highlighting important African American literary figure, Paul Laurence Dunber, with two first editions of his poetry collections, Come Lightin’ Time and When Malindy Sings.
Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872, in Ohio. Both of his parents had been enslaved in Kentucky, prior to emancipation. In his youth, Dunbar attended Dayton Central high school and was the only black student in his class. He got his literary beginnings as editor-in-chief of the school paper and a member of multiple literary clubs. Notably, he befriended future co-inventor of the airplane, Orville Wright, who would facilitate the first publishing of Dunbar’s poems through use of his own printing press. Dunbar’s main poetic inspirations were Romantic and American poets, including but not limited to William Wordsworth, John Greenleaf Whittier, John Keats, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His first poetry collection, Oak and Ivy, was self-published in 1893, which he paid for by selling copies of the book to people he met at his job as an elevator operator. His poems started to appear in large national newspapers and were reviewed favorably by author William Dean Howells. Unfortunately, Dunbar’s life was cut short by tuberculous, which he believed had been exacerbated by dust inhalation during his time working at the Library of Congress. Dunbar died at the age of 33 in 1906, leaving behind 12 poetry collections, 5 novels, 4 collections of short stories, and numerous articles and lyrics (Daniel-Cox).
Dunbar was the first African American to make his living from writing, making him both a lauded and contentious figure. Notably, Dunbar was famous for writing poetry both in standard English and in a “folk” dialect, which he called his “major” and “minor” poems, respectively (Academy of American Poets). The review by William Dean Howells of his collection Majors and Minors wound up being a bit of a mixed blessing in this respect, as Howells praised Dunbar’s dialect poems over his standard English poems. This trapped Dunbar; selling other poems outside of ones written in dialect became difficult (Daniel-Cox). For this reason, black literary critics and historians have had mixed feelings on Dunbar, critiquing his use of dialect for black voices in his poems as catering to white audience’s views of black people. Critics have pointed out Dunbar’s popularity as evidence of this, as many of his poems were often recited and sung by white performers such as Kitty Cheatham. It is difficult to know, due to the shortness of his life, what Dunbar’s artistic output would have looked like in light of these criticisms, but his contributions to poetry remain historically and stylistically important (Robinson).
When Malindy Sings and Come Lightin’ Time feature poems written in dialect. These first edition copies also feature photographs by the Hampton Institute Camera Club to accompany Dunbar’s poems. Additionally, there are floral decorations around the text and images created by Margaret Armstrong, a notable illustrator, author, and book cover designer.
Dunbar’s poems in these collections focus on themes of domestic life and nature. His poetic imagery and characters evoke folktales and black life in the antebellum south. One such poem, “W’en Dey ‘Listed Colored Soldiers,” is about an enslaved woman mourning the potential loss of her son during the Civil War.
By far his most popular poem in these two collections is the titular, “When Malindy Sings,” which was often performed, recited, and set to music during the heyday of Dunbar’s popularity.
Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poems and other literary output remain important to American literature today. While his reputation as a prominent African American author has gone under re-evaluation since his death in 1906, Dunbar’s success paved the way for many African American literary figures. His prolific yet tragically short career inspired the work of important writers like Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Nikki Giovanni, and Margaret Walker (Daniel-Cox). Dunbar’s legacy, in many ways, lives on through the work his art inspired.
- Daniel-Cox, Minnita. “The Brief but Shining Life of Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Poet Who Gave Dignity to the Black Experience.” The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2025, theconversation.com/the-brief-but-shining-life-of-paul-laurence-dunbar-a-poet-who-gave-dignity-to-the-black-experience-191553.
- Dunbar, Paul Laurence, et al. Come Lightin’ Time. Dodd, Mead and Co., 1901.
- Dunbar, Paul Laurence, et al. When Malindy Sings. Dodd, Mead and Co., 1903.
- “Paul Laurence Dunbar.” Poets.Org, Academy of American Poets, 24 Oct. 2025, poets.org/poet/paul-laurence-dunbar.
- Robinson, Lillian S., and Greg Robinson. “Paul Laurence Dunbar: A Credit to His Race?” African American Review, vol. 41, no. 2, 2007, pp. 215-225. ProQuest, http://mutex.gmu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/paul-laurence-dunbar-credit-his-race/docview/209806427/se-2.
