Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars written by Charles W. Chesnutt and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-03-20 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1900, this groundbreaking novel by a distinguished African-American author recounts the drama of a brother and sister who "pass for white" during the dangerous days of Reconstruction.
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars written by Charles W. Chesnutt and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2007-08-31 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1900, this groundbreaking novel by a distinguished African-American author recounts the drama of a brother and sister who "pass for white" during the dangerous days of Reconstruction.
Download or read book Charles Waddell Chesnutt 1858 1932 The House Behind The Cedars written by and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents an online edition of the novel "The House Behind the Cedars," written by African-American author Charles Waddell Chesnutt (1858-1932) in 1900 and published online as part of the Documenting the American South project of the Academic Affairs Library within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Includes illustrations and biographical information on Chesnutt, an African-American man of letters.
Download or read book House Behind the Cedars by Charles W Chesnutt written by and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As part of ClassicReader.com, Stephane Theroux presents the full text of the book entitled "The House Behind the Cedars," by African-American writer Charles Waddell Chesnutt (1858-1932). The book was published in 1900.
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars written by Charles W. Chestnutt and published by Graphic Arts Books. This book was released on 2020-11-17 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The House Behind the Cedars (1900) is African-American writer Charles Chesnutt’s debut novel. Inspired by his own experience as a Black man capable of passing for white—which Chesnutt consciously chose not to do—as well as by Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, The House Behind the Cedars explores themes of identity, race, and class in the post-Civil War South. Controversial for its portrayal of interracial romance, Chesnutt’s novel was critically acclaimed in its day, but failed financially. It was adapted into a 1927 silent film by pioneering Black director Oscar Micheaux. After years of living in the city, John Warwick visits his hometown to see his mother and sister. Hearing of his success as a lawyer and father, Rena, his sister, is intrigued with city life and decides to join him when he returns. With a black mother and white father, the two are able to pass for white, which allows them—Rena soon discovers—a certain amount of social mobility in the South. It being only a few years after the Civil War, there is of course some risk to this, but the opportunity is too enticing to pass up. Rena soon meets George, a wealthy white man and business partner of her brother, and the two fall in love. When she is called home to care for her sick mother, and as George begins to grow suspicious, it becomes more and more difficult to keep her secret—and her family—safe. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Charles Chesnutt’s The House Behind the Cedars is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.
Download or read book The Literary Career of Charles W Chesnutt written by William L. Andrews and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 1999-03-01 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The career of any black writer in nineteenth-century American was fraught with difficulties, and William Andrews undertakes to explain how and why Charles Waddell Chesnutt (1858-1932) became the first Negro novelist of importance: “Steering a difficult course between becoming co-opted by his white literary supporters and becoming alienated from then and their access to the publishing medium, Chesnutt became the first Afro-American writer to use the white-controlled mass media in the service of serious fiction on behalf of the black community.” Awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1928 by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Chesnutt admitted without apologies that because of his own experiences, most of his writings concentrated on issue about racial identity. Only one-eighth Negro and able to pass for Caucasian, Chesnutt dramatized the dilemma of others like him. The House Behind the Cedars (1900), Chesnutt’s most autobiographical novel, evokes the world of “bright mulatto” caste in post-Civil War North Carolina and pictures the punitive consequences of being of mixed heritage. Chesnutt not only made a crucial break with many literary conventions regarding Afro-American life, crafting his authentic material with artistic distinction, he also broached the moral issue of the racial caste system and dared to suggest that a gradual blending of the races would alleviate a pernicious blight on the nation’s moral progress. Andrews argues that “along with Cable in The Grandissimes and Mark Twain in Pudd’nhead Wilson, Chesnutt anticipated Faulkner in focusing on miscegenation, even more than slavery, as the repressed myth of the American past and a powerful metaphor of southern post-Civil War history.” Although Chesnutt’s career suffered setback and though he was faced with compromises he consistently saw America’s race problem as intrinsically moral rather than social or political. In his fiction he pictures the strengths of Afro-Americans and affirms their human dignity and heroic will. William L. Andrews provides an account of essentially all that Chesnutt wrote, covering the unpublished manuscripts as well as the more successful efforts and viewing these materials in he context of the author’s times and of his total career. Though the scope of this book extends beyond textual criticism, the thoughtful discussions of Chesnutt’s works afford us a vivid and gratifying acquaintance with the fiction and also account for an important episode in American letters and history.
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars written by Charles Waddell Chesnutt and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-08-10 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The House Behind the Cedars is the first novel by American author Charles W. Chesnutt. It was published in 1900 by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. The story occurs in the southern American states of North and South Carolina a few years following the American Civil War. Rena Walden, a young woman of mixed white and black ancestry, leaves home to join her brother, who has migrated to a new city, where he lives as a white man. Following her brother's lead, Rena begins living as a white woman. The secret of her identity leads to conflict when she falls in love with a white aristocrat who learns the truth of her heredity. The ensuing drama emphasizes themes of interracial relations and depicted the intricacies of racial identity in the American south. Chesnutt's autobiography informed the novel's themes. Being of predominantly European ancestry, Chesnutt was light skinned enough to pass as a white man, although he openly identified with his African-American roots.Additionally, his portrayal of interracial romantic relations in The House Behind the Cedars was controversial. Although the novel was critically well received, its controversy contributed to poor financial performance. Plot summary--The novel opens "a few years after the Civil War" with John Warwick, from Clarence, South Carolina, leaving a hotel in Patesville, North Carolina. He walks around the town in which he used to live, and tries to visit Judge Archibald Straight, but he is not in his office. Warwick's attention is captured by a striking young woman, who he does not recognize as Rena, and follows her to the house behind the cedars. Warwick cautiously approaches the house, worried about being seen, and is invited in by Molly Walden. He says that he has a message for Walden from her son, but she then realizes that Warwick is her son who she has not seen in years. Warwick joyfully reunites with his mother and his sister Rena, and tells them what his life has been like since leaving home. He reveals that he has become a successful lawyer, and that he was married, but his wife died and left him with a baby boy. Warwick asks Rena if she would come live with him and help take care of his son Albert. Molly is reluctant to send off her only daughter and Rena does not want to leave her mother alone, but John ultimately convinces his mother that Rena will have a better life with him. The next morning, Warwick visits Judge Straight, his mentor for whom he used to work as an office-boy under the name John Walden. Straight warns him not to stay in town for too long or else people may start to question his presence. He then contemplates that it would have been better for John to move further away from home than South Carolina "even though the laws were with him." Rena says goodbye to her mother and Frank Fowler, one of their workmen who is a close friend of the family and is deeply in love with Rena..... Upon their arrival to Clarence, John and Rena attend a tournament where men dressed as knights participate in a jousting competition. The Warwicks are seated among the most prominent white guests when Rena drops her handkerchief into the ring and one of the knights catches it and uses it as a token of good luck. The knight, George Tryon, wins the tournament and names Rena his "queen of love and beauty." As the winner, Tyron invites Rena to accompany him to the annual tournament ball..... Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 - November 15, 1932) was an African-American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War South. Many families of free people of color were formed in the colonial and early Federal period; some attained education and property; in addition there were many mixed-race slaves, who as freedmen after the war were part of the complex society of the South.
Download or read book Whiteness in the Novels of Charles W Chesnutt written by Matthew Wilson and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2009 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of race and audience in an American innovator's writings
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars written by Charles W Chesnutt and published by . This book was released on 2024-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars written by Charles W. Chesnutt and published by Prabhat Prakashan. This book was released on 2021-01-01 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The House Behind The Cedars by Charles W. Chesnutt: This novel by Charles W. Chesnutt explores themes of racial identity, passing, and social barriers in post-Civil War America. The story revolves around the lives of siblings Rena and John Walden as they navigate issues of race and identity. Key Aspects of the Novel "The House Behind The Cedars": Racial Identity: The novel delves into the complexities of racial identity and passing, as the characters grapple with their heritage and societal expectations. Social and Cultural Context: Charles W. Chesnutt provides a rich portrayal of the post-Civil War South, addressing issues of race, class, and family dynamics. Character Development: "The House Behind The Cedars" offers a deep exploration of the characters' growth and the challenges they face in a racially divided society. Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) was an African American author and essayist known for his contributions to American literature. His exploration of racial themes and social issues in his works, including this novel, made a significant impact during his time.
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars written by Charles W. Chesnutt and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2022-09-20 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reproduction of the original.
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars written by Charles Waddell Chesnutt and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-07-25 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Synopsis: The story occurs in the southern American states of North and South Carolina a few years following the American Civil War. Rena Walden, a young woman of mixed white and black ancestry, leaves home to join her brother, who has migrated to a new city, where he lives as a white man. Following her brother's lead, Rena begins living as a white woman. The secret of her identity leads to conflict when she falls in love with a white aristocrat who learns the truth of her heredity. The ensuing drama emphasizes themes of interracial relations and depicted the intricacies of racial identity in the American south. More Detailed Description The House Behind the Cedars is the story of a brother and sister, John and Rena, who share the misfortune of being one-eighth African American. Their mother is a "quadroon" who was kept by a wealthy white man, but when he died, his will was flawed, so she and the children got no money. John's white skin and thirst for knowledge led him to become a highly intelligent young man, and when he was old enough to leave, he set out to make a new life for himself as a lawyer. He acquired a white wife who passed away after bearing a son, who needed a woman from the family to care for him. John returned home to introduce his newly matured sister into society, partially to help care for his son, but also to bring Rena away from the shame of her heritage. She enjoys the attention she receives and is courted by a handsome and desirable white man. Disaster strikes when their mother falls ill and Rena returns home to care for her. Twists and tangles in the plot bring the family secret dangerously close to being discovered and all the work of breaking into society tumbling down upon them. An early masterwork among American literary treatments of miscegenation, the Victorian era was littered with melodramatic plots such as this where secrets and tangled plots came together in a fast-paced and exciting novel Facts and Trivia Chesnutt's autobiography informed the novel's themes. Being of predominantly European ancestry, Chesnutt was light-skinned enough to pass as a white man, although he openly identified with his African-American roots. Additionally, his portrayal of interracial romantic relations in The House Behind the Cedars was controversial. Although the novel was critically well received, its controversy contributed to poor financial performance. Scroll Up and Get Your Copy! Other Titles Available for Your Reading: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twainhttps://www.createspace.com/6394066 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twainhttps://www.createspace.com/6427418 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baumhttps://www.createspace.com/6426287 The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williamshttps://www.createspace.com/6429910 Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimmhttps://www.createspace.com/6440051 The Call of the Wild by Jack Londonhttps://www.createspace.com/6420473 White Fang by Jack Londonhttps://www.createspace.com/6420475 Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelleyhttps://www.createspace.com/6415211 The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattleshttps://www.createspace.com/6423699 The Science of Being Great by Wallace D. Wattleshttps://www.createspace.com/6423727 The Science of Being Well by Wallace D. Wattleshttps://www.createspace.com/6423755 My Man Jeeves by P. G. Wodehousehttps://www.createspace.com/6350043 Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehousehttps://www.createspace.com/6351425 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austenhttps://www.createspace.com/6425513 Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austenhttps://www.createspace.com/6428190 Northanger Abbey by Jane Austenhttps://www.createspace.com/6428537
Download or read book Paul Marchand F M C written by Charles W. Chesnutt and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evoking the atmosphere of early-nineteenth-century New Orleans and the deadly aftermath of the San Domingo slave revolution, this historical novel begins as its protagonist puzzles over the seemingly prophetic dream of an aged black praline seller in the famous Place d'Armes. Paul Marchand, a free man of color living in New Orleans in the 1820s, is despised by white society for being a quadroon, yet he is a proud, wealthy, well-educated man. In this city where great wealth and great poverty exist side by side, the richest Creole in town lies dying. The family of the aged Pierre Beaurepas eagerly, indeed greedily, awaits disposition of his wealth. As the bombshell of Beaurepas's will explodes, an old woman's dream takes on new meaning, and Marchand is drawn ever more closely into contact with a violently racist family. Bringing to life the entwined racial cultures of New Orleans society, Charles Chesnutt not only writes an exciting tale of adventure and mystery but also makes a provocative comment on the nature of racial identity, self-worth, and family loyalty. Although he was the first African-American writer of fiction to gain acceptance by America's white literary establishment, Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) has been eclipsed in popularity by other writers who later rose to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance. Recently, this pathbreaking American writer has been receiving an increasing amount of attention. Two of his novels, Paul Marchand, F.M.C. (completed in 1921) and The Quarry (completed in 1928), were considered too incendiary to be published during Chesnutt's lifetime. Their publication now provides us not only the opportunity to read these two books previously missing from Chesnutt's oeuvre but also the chance to appreciate better the intellectual progress of this literary pioneer. Chesnutt was the author of many other works, including The Conjure Woman & Other Conjure Tales, The House Behind the Cedars, The Marrow Tradition, and Mandy Oxendine. Princeton University Press recently published To Be an Author: Letters of Charles W. Chesnutt, 1889-1905 (edited by Joseph R. McElrath, Jr., and Robert C. Leitz, III). Originally published in 1999. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Download or read book Charles W Chesnutt and the Fictions of Race written by Dean McWilliams and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Chesnutt (1858-1932) was the first African American writer of fiction to win the attention and approval of America's literary establishment. Looking anew at Chesnutt's public and private writings, his fiction and nonfiction, and his well-known and recently rediscovered works, Dean McWilliams explores Chesnutt's distinctive contribution to American culture: how his stories and novels challenge our dominant cultural narratives--particularly their underlying assumptions about race. The published canon of Chesnutt's work has doubled in the last decade: three novels completed but unpublished in Chesnutt's life have appeared, as have scholarly editions of Chesnutt's journals, his letters, and his essays. This book is the first to offer chapter-length analyses of each of Chesnutt's six novels. It also devotes three chapters to his short fiction. Previous critics have read Chesnutt's nonfiction as biographical background for his fiction. McWilliams is the first to analyze these nonfiction texts as complex verbal artifacts embodying many of the same tensions and ambiguities found in Chesnutt's stories and novels. The book includes separate chapters on Chesnutt's journal and on his important essay "The Future American." Moreover, Charles W. Chesnutt and the Fictions of Race approaches Chesnutt's writings from the perspective of recent literary theory. To a greater extent than any previous study of Chesnutt, it explores the way his texts interrogate and deconstruct the language and the intellectual constructs we use to organize reality. The full effect of this new study is to show us how much more of a twentieth-century writer Chesnutt is than has been previously acknowledged. This accomplishment can only hasten his reemergence as one of our most important observers of race in American culture.
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars 1900 Novel by Charles W Chesnutt written by Charles Waddell Chesnutt and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-04-02 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An early masterwork among American literary treatments of miscegenation, Chesnutt's story is of two young African Americans who decide to pass for white in order to claim their share of the American dream. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Charles Waddell Chesnutt (1858-1932)-African-American educator, lawyer, and activist-was the most prominent black prose author of his day. In both his fiction and his essays, he addressed the thorny issues of the "color line" and racism in an outspoken way. Despite the critical acclaim resulting from several works of fiction and non-fiction published between 1898 and 1905, he was unable to make a living as an author. He kept writing, however, and several works which were not published during his lifetime have been rediscovered (and published) in recent years. He was awarded the Springarn Medal for distinguished literary achievement by the NAACP in 1928. The library at Fayetteville State University, in North Carolina, is named after him. The Wife of His Youth (1899) was Chesnutt's second collection of short stories, drawing upon his mixed race heritage. These deal largely with race relations, the far-reaching effects of Jim Crow laws, and color prejudice among African Americans toward darker-skinned blacks. Eric J. Sundquist wrote: "Chesnutt's color-line stories, like his conjure tales, are at their best haunting, psychologically and philosophically astute studies of the nation's betrayal of the promise of racial equality and its descent into a brutal world of segregation. He made the family a means of delineating America's racial crisis, during slavery and afterward." I have added three of Chesnutt's essays on the "color line" in an Appendix to this collection.
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars written by Charles W. Chesnutt and published by . This book was released on 2017-02-09 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The House Behind the Cedars is the first novel by American author Charles W. Chesnutt. It was published in 1900 by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. The story occurs in the southern American states of North and South Carolina a few years following the American Civil War. Rena Walden, a young woman of mixed white and black ancestry, leaves home to join her brother, who has migrated to a new city, where he lives as a white man. Following her brother's lead, Rena begins living as a white woman. The secret of her identity leads to conflict when she falls in love with a white aristocrat who learns the truth of her heredity. The ensuing drama emphasizes themes of interracial relations and depicted the intricacies of racial identity in the American south. Chesnutt's autobiography informed the novel's themes. Being of predominantly European ancestry, Chesnutt was light skinned enough to pass as a white man, although he openly identified with his African-American roots.Additionally, his portrayal of interracial romantic relations in The House Behind the Cedars was controversial. Although the novel was critically well received, its controversy contributed to poor financial performance. Plot: The novel opens "a few years after the Civil War"[3] with John Warwick, from Clarence, South Carolina, leaving a hotel in Patesville, North Carolina. He walks around the town in which he used to live, and tries to visit Judge Archibald Straight, but he is not in his office. Warwick's attention is captured by a striking young woman, who he does not recognize as Rena, and follows her to the house behind the cedars. Warwick cautiously approaches the house, worried about being seen, and is invited in by Molly Walden. He says that he has a message for Walden from her son, but she then realizes that Warwick is her son who she has not seen in years. Warwick joyfully reunites with his mother and his sister Rena, and tells them what his life has been like since leaving home. He reveals that he has become a successful lawyer, and that he was married, but his wife died and left him with a baby boy. Warwick asks Rena if she would come live with him and help take care of his son Albert. Molly is reluctant to send off her only daughter and Rena does not want to leave her mother alone, but John ultimately convinces his mother that Rena will have a better life with him. The next morning, Warwick visits Judge Straight, his mentor for whom he used to work as an office-boy under the name John Walden. Straight warns him not to stay in town for too long or else people may start to question his presence. He then contemplates that it would have been better for John to move further away from home than South Carolina "even though the laws were with him...". Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 - November 15, 1932) was an African-American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War South. Many families of free people of color were formed in the colonial and early Federal period; some attained education and property; in addition there were many mixed-race slaves, who as freedmen after the war were part of the complex society of the South. Two of his books were adapted as silent films in 1926 and 1927 by the African-American director and producer Oscar Micheaux. Following the Civil Rights Movement during the 20th century, interest in the works of Chesnutt were revived. Several of his books were published in new editions, and he received formal recognition. A commemorative stamp was printed in 2008. During the early 20th century in Cleveland, Chesnutt established what became a highly successful court reporting business, which provided his main income. He became active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, writing articles supporting education as well as legal challenges to discriminatory laws.
Download or read book The House Behind the Cedars 1900 written by Charles W. Chesnutt and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2018-11-11 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The House Behind the Cedars is the first novel by American author Charles W. Chesnutt. It was published in 1900 by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. The story occurs in the southern American states of North and South Carolina a few years following the American Civil War. Rena Walden, a young woman of mixed white and black ancestry, leaves home to join her brother, who has migrated to a new city, where he lives as a white man. Following her brother's lead, Rena begins living as a white woman. The secret of her identity leads to conflict when she falls in love with a white aristocrat who learns the truth of her heredity. The ensuing drama emphasizes themes of interracial relations and depicted the intricacies of racial identity in the American south. Chesnutt's autobiography informed the novel's themes. Being of predominantly European ancestry, Chesnutt was light skinned enough to pass as a white man, although he openly identified with his African-American roots.Additionally, his portrayal of interracial romantic relations in The House Behind the Cedars was controversial. Although the novel was critically well received, its controversy contributed to poor financial performance. Plot: The novel opens "a few years after the Civil War"[3] with John Warwick, from Clarence, South Carolina, leaving a hotel in Patesville, North Carolina. He walks around the town in which he used to live, and tries to visit Judge Archibald Straight, but he is not in his office. Warwick's attention is captured by a striking young woman, who he does not recognize as Rena, and follows her to the house behind the cedars. Warwick cautiously approaches the house, worried about being seen, and is invited in by Molly Walden. He says that he has a message for Walden from her son, but she then realizes that Warwick is her son who she has not seen in years. Warwick joyfully reunites with his mother and his sister Rena, and tells them what his life has been like since leaving home. He reveals that he has become a successful lawyer, and that he was married, but his wife died and left him with a baby boy. Warwick asks Rena if she would come live with him and help take care of his son Albert. Molly is reluctant to send off her only daughter and Rena does not want to leave her mother alone, but John ultimately convinces his mother that Rena will have a better life with him. The next morning, Warwick visits Judge Straight, his mentor for whom he used to work as an office-boy under the name John Walden. Straight warns him not to stay in town for too long or else people may start to question his presence. He then contemplates that it would have been better for John to move further away from home than South Carolina "even though the laws were with him...". Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 - November 15, 1932) was an African-American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War South. Many families of free people of color were formed in the colonial and early Federal period; some attained education and property; in addition there were many mixed-race slaves, who as freedmen after the war were part of the complex society of the South. Two of his books were adapted as silent films in 1926 and 1927 by the African-American director and producer Oscar Micheaux. Following the Civil Rights Movement during the 20th century, interest in the works of Chesnutt were revived. Several of his books were published in new editions, and he received formal recognition. A commemorative stamp was printed in 2008. During the early 20th century in Cleveland, Chesnutt established what became a highly successful court reporting business, which provided his main income. He became active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, writing articles supporting education as well as legal challenges to discriminatory laws.
