February 1, 2023
Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird
Gene Jarrett
Dean of the Faculty and Professor of English, Princeton University
Minutes of the 17th Meeting of the 81st Year
President John Cotton presided. One hundred fifteen members attended, as well as five guests: Audrey Cohen, guest of Michael Kaplan; Anton and Alison Lahnston, guests of Ralph Widner; and John and Carol Convaluika, guests of A. Kaemerlen. Donald Light read the minutes of the preceding meeting.
George Bustin introduced the speaker, Gene Andrew Jarrett, who is Dean of Princeton University and William S. Todd Professor of English. Dean Jarrett received his BA from Princeton University in 1997, his MA and PhD from Brown University, and taught at Boston University and NYU before returning to his alma mater. His wide-ranging interests include African American literary history from the 18th century to the present; US literary history between the Civil War and WW II; and Race, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies. He is the author of three books, has edited eight books of African-American literature, and has won awards and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Professor Jarrett’s most recent book, Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird, was named as a New Yorker “Best Book” of 2022.
Professor Jarrett’s talk was drawn mainly from two chapters of this magisterial biography of Paul Laurence Dunbar (1873-1896), on which he spent 14 years writing. The biography was officially published on the date marking the 150th anniversary of Dunbar’s birth. Dunbar died at the age of 33; Dayton, Ohio was his home town. Between 1888 and his death, Dunbar published 18 volumes of poetry, four novels, and numerous short stories as well as writing the librettos for two Broadway musicals, and essays on African American history.
Jarrett’s talk focused on the relationship of Dunbar, America’s first poet laureate, with his entrepreneurial high school classmate and friend, Orville Wright, who would become a pioneer in aviation. As Jarrett noted, perhaps the two young men were predestined to become close. Orville’s father, a minister and then bishop of the anti-slavery United Brethren Church, officiated at the marriage of Paul’s parents.
The families were a study in contrasts. Paul’s parents were former slaves. His father, who had enlisted in the Massachusetts 55th regiment during the civil war, and came home with PTSD, was an alcoholic with a mercurial disposition who abandoned his family; Paul had to support his mother, Matilda, throughout her life, and she was equally mercurial, although they had a strong relationship. Paul attended segregated schools until he reached high school. By 1887 segregation in education had effectively ended, although some schools had separate classes for colored and white children. Paul was the only student of color in his high school class but was respected and well liked.
The Wrights, by contrast, were an established, educated family when they settled in Dayton in 1874. Both parents were intellectuals, and their children became advanced readers and writers at early ages. Orville may have developed his desire to print newspapers because Ohio was a hub of newspaper activity in the “gilded age,” in which the news business flourished (by 1899 there were no less than 13,000 publications in the US). Dayton journalism offered an opportunity for the enterprising, and Orville wanted to capitalize on this. Moreover, Milton Wright was an editor of United Brethren church publications, and the “bishop’s boys,” as Wilbur and Orville were called, knew the business. Dayton readers craved information of all kinds, although the African American audience was small.
Paul and Orville both dropped out of high school in their junior year to embark on literary careers. Paul was the editor-in-chief of the high school newspaper, and the Wrights were at the apex of the printing business, so Paul was the writer and Orville, the publisher once they started work together. Paul’s exceptional literary talents had been noticed as early as 1888. He was only in high school when his first poem was published, but at Dayton’s Central High School the students were steeped in the classics and the western literary cannon. Paul’s first published work and later output reflected this rigorous schooling, although he also excelled in the popular genres of African dialect and minstrelsy even as he deplored them.
Orville had begun helping his father with the printing of church pamphlets. His father had a library of classical and theological books, including the Cyclopedia. This tome became an invaluable resource for Orville, with its articles on printing, composition and compositors, and other discrete aspects of the printing business. In 1889 Orville started two publications: the West Side News and The Evening Item.” Both only lasted four months. But then Paul and Orville joined forces to found the Dayton Tattler, a weekly published on Saturdays. It cost $1.50 for a year’s subscription. They collected ads from local businesses and published “everything under the sun” in their columns. Paul was not only editor; he wrote most of the copy. His desire to uplift his readers was evident; there was little mention of racial problems. Some of the issues included serialized fiction and the last issue had a prescient story on the imminent arrival of air ships. The Dayton Tattler, which was also short-lived, included a poem on heavy drinking (unwittingly heralding Paul’s future), and three episodes of “The Gambler’s Wife,” an example of Paul’s serialized fiction.
Paul returned to Central High School and graduated in 1891. As his renown grew he came to the attention of William Dean Howells, who became a patron. He cautioned Paul that it was not enough to be a man of letters: he must be a businessman and sell his work. Paul had menial jobs but supplemented them with recital tours in the Midwest and royalties, using the same literary agent as Mark Twain. In 1897 he traveled to England for a recital and lecture tour. Sadly, earning enough money was a chronic problem, especially after he became engaged to Alice Ruth Moor. After a stormy courtship of two years, they married, but separated in 1902, never to reunite. However, Alice retained the Dunbar surname and published a long, sympathetic essay about her husband which humanized him.
In particular, her essay revealed the source of Paul’s feeling that for all his achievements he was a “caged bird,” as he eloquently expressed it in his poem, “Sympathy.” The image derived from his job as assistant librarian at the Library of Congress. He worked in the stacks, which were columns of book-filled iron shelves resembling a cage or jail. They heated up as the sun filtered in. It was also very dusty, so this section of the stacks housing medical books (ironically for a person with a weak constitution), actually contributed to Paul’s ill health. Paul died prematurely in 1906 of tuberculosis and alcoholism, to which he may have had a proclivity. If so, it was exacerbated by his sickness: his doctor prescribed alcohol to numb the pain.
Respectfully submitted,
Priscilla Roosevelt
George Bustin introduced the speaker, Gene Andrew Jarrett, who is Dean of Princeton University and William S. Todd Professor of English. Dean Jarrett received his BA from Princeton University in 1997, his MA and PhD from Brown University, and taught at Boston University and NYU before returning to his alma mater. His wide-ranging interests include African American literary history from the 18th century to the present; US literary history between the Civil War and WW II; and Race, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies. He is the author of three books, has edited eight books of African-American literature, and has won awards and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Professor Jarrett’s most recent book, Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird, was named as a New Yorker “Best Book” of 2022.
Professor Jarrett’s talk was drawn mainly from two chapters of this magisterial biography of Paul Laurence Dunbar (1873-1896), on which he spent 14 years writing. The biography was officially published on the date marking the 150th anniversary of Dunbar’s birth. Dunbar died at the age of 33; Dayton, Ohio was his home town. Between 1888 and his death, Dunbar published 18 volumes of poetry, four novels, and numerous short stories as well as writing the librettos for two Broadway musicals, and essays on African American history.
Jarrett’s talk focused on the relationship of Dunbar, America’s first poet laureate, with his entrepreneurial high school classmate and friend, Orville Wright, who would become a pioneer in aviation. As Jarrett noted, perhaps the two young men were predestined to become close. Orville’s father, a minister and then bishop of the anti-slavery United Brethren Church, officiated at the marriage of Paul’s parents.
The families were a study in contrasts. Paul’s parents were former slaves. His father, who had enlisted in the Massachusetts 55th regiment during the civil war, and came home with PTSD, was an alcoholic with a mercurial disposition who abandoned his family; Paul had to support his mother, Matilda, throughout her life, and she was equally mercurial, although they had a strong relationship. Paul attended segregated schools until he reached high school. By 1887 segregation in education had effectively ended, although some schools had separate classes for colored and white children. Paul was the only student of color in his high school class but was respected and well liked.
The Wrights, by contrast, were an established, educated family when they settled in Dayton in 1874. Both parents were intellectuals, and their children became advanced readers and writers at early ages. Orville may have developed his desire to print newspapers because Ohio was a hub of newspaper activity in the “gilded age,” in which the news business flourished (by 1899 there were no less than 13,000 publications in the US). Dayton journalism offered an opportunity for the enterprising, and Orville wanted to capitalize on this. Moreover, Milton Wright was an editor of United Brethren church publications, and the “bishop’s boys,” as Wilbur and Orville were called, knew the business. Dayton readers craved information of all kinds, although the African American audience was small.
Paul and Orville both dropped out of high school in their junior year to embark on literary careers. Paul was the editor-in-chief of the high school newspaper, and the Wrights were at the apex of the printing business, so Paul was the writer and Orville, the publisher once they started work together. Paul’s exceptional literary talents had been noticed as early as 1888. He was only in high school when his first poem was published, but at Dayton’s Central High School the students were steeped in the classics and the western literary cannon. Paul’s first published work and later output reflected this rigorous schooling, although he also excelled in the popular genres of African dialect and minstrelsy even as he deplored them.
Orville had begun helping his father with the printing of church pamphlets. His father had a library of classical and theological books, including the Cyclopedia. This tome became an invaluable resource for Orville, with its articles on printing, composition and compositors, and other discrete aspects of the printing business. In 1889 Orville started two publications: the West Side News and The Evening Item.” Both only lasted four months. But then Paul and Orville joined forces to found the Dayton Tattler, a weekly published on Saturdays. It cost $1.50 for a year’s subscription. They collected ads from local businesses and published “everything under the sun” in their columns. Paul was not only editor; he wrote most of the copy. His desire to uplift his readers was evident; there was little mention of racial problems. Some of the issues included serialized fiction and the last issue had a prescient story on the imminent arrival of air ships. The Dayton Tattler, which was also short-lived, included a poem on heavy drinking (unwittingly heralding Paul’s future), and three episodes of “The Gambler’s Wife,” an example of Paul’s serialized fiction.
Paul returned to Central High School and graduated in 1891. As his renown grew he came to the attention of William Dean Howells, who became a patron. He cautioned Paul that it was not enough to be a man of letters: he must be a businessman and sell his work. Paul had menial jobs but supplemented them with recital tours in the Midwest and royalties, using the same literary agent as Mark Twain. In 1897 he traveled to England for a recital and lecture tour. Sadly, earning enough money was a chronic problem, especially after he became engaged to Alice Ruth Moor. After a stormy courtship of two years, they married, but separated in 1902, never to reunite. However, Alice retained the Dunbar surname and published a long, sympathetic essay about her husband which humanized him.
In particular, her essay revealed the source of Paul’s feeling that for all his achievements he was a “caged bird,” as he eloquently expressed it in his poem, “Sympathy.” The image derived from his job as assistant librarian at the Library of Congress. He worked in the stacks, which were columns of book-filled iron shelves resembling a cage or jail. They heated up as the sun filtered in. It was also very dusty, so this section of the stacks housing medical books (ironically for a person with a weak constitution), actually contributed to Paul’s ill health. Paul died prematurely in 1906 of tuberculosis and alcoholism, to which he may have had a proclivity. If so, it was exacerbated by his sickness: his doctor prescribed alcohol to numb the pain.
Respectfully submitted,
Priscilla Roosevelt