January 2 - Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio to parents who had escaped from slavery; his father was a veteran of the American Civil War, having served in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment. His first collection of poetry, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1892 and attracted the attention of James Whitcomb Riley, the popular "Hoosier Poet". Both Riley and Dunbar wrote poems in both standard English and dialect. He moved to Washington, D.C., in the LeDroit Park neighborhood. While in Washington, he attended Howard University. His wife Alice Dunbar Nelson was a famous poet as well. 

For more information access www.poemhunter.com/paul-laurence-dunbar/biography/

​The poem I'm reading is titled “We Wear the Mask”.

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