Paul Laurence Dunbar Digital Collection

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Dayton, Ohio poet and novelist, Paul Laurence Dunbar, was the first African American poet to become internationally renowned. “At age seventeen he published his own newspaper, the Dayton Tattler, an African-American newspaper printed by his high school classmate and friend, Orville Wright. His first book of poems, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1893. The book contained Dunbar’s first dialect poem, “A Banjo Song.” Dunbar published numerous books of poetry, novels and music during his career. He died in Dayton on February 9, 1906.”

In 1992, the Wright State University Libraries honored Paul Laurence Dunbar by establishing this digital collection of his works. The collection may be searched or browsed alphabetically. The site has a gallery of photos of Mr. Dunbar as well as images of the covers of his many books.

To learn more about Paul Laurence Dunbar and hear his poems read by Herbert Woodward Martin, University of Dayton professor emeritus, go to the University of Dayton’s Paul Laurence Dunbar Website