# Paul Dunbar

## Biography

Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872, in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been formerly enslaved. He showed an early talent for writing, publishing his first poems while in high school, where he was also the only African American student and served as editor of the school newspaper. Due to financial constraints, Dunbar could not attend college and took a job as an elevator operator, continuing to write in his spare time. In 1893, he self-published his first collection, Oak and Ivy, and gained the patronage of figures like Frederick Douglass. Dunbar became one of the first African American writers to achieve national and international recognition, particularly for his dialect poetry, though his body of work also included novels, short stories, and non-dialect verse. His health deteriorated rapidly due to tuberculosis and alcoholism, and he passed away on February 9, 1906, at the age of 33, leaving behind a significant literary legacy.

## Books

- [The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar](https://samolit.com/books/96714)