Preview
Identifier
MSS114_B02F01_002
Creation Date
5-1-1899
Approximate Date
ca. 1899-1900
Keywords
Paul Laurence Dunbar, primary sources, Black history, Black poets, prominent Ohioans
Description
Date is approximate. Letter contains a reference to getting strong and leaving Washington, which may pertain to his bout with pneumonia and later diagnosis of tuberculosis.
Full text of letter:
(Page 1)
Tuesday
Dear Paul,
This scrap of verse got written last evening and at the risk of being thought sentimental I'm going to show it to you. No one can know what you and Alice are to me, but I hope some day to be able to be of some real use to you. Please let me know if there is any way to that end, other than telling you to go away from Washington and take care of yourself and get strong.
(Page 2)
I wish I could share your burdens and your worries and be of some comfort to you when things look blue. I know it is sometimes hard to believe that everything is coming out right - but it is. So don't lose faith in yourself because you can't do and understand and know everything all at once, and please remember that whatever comes you have not only your Alice, but a sister who wants to make up for a lot of lost time.
Lu
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Primary Item Type
Personal Correspondence
Rights
This item is part of the Paul Laurence Dunbar House collection at Ohio History Connection, Columbus, Ohio. The collection contains items from 219 N. Summit St., Dayton, Ohio (later 219 N. Paul Laurence Dunbar St.), the home Dunbar purchased for his mother, Matilda J. Dunbar, in 1904. Paul Laurence Dunbar lived there until his death in 1906; Matilda lived there until her death in 1934. It is now the Paul Laurence Dunbar House Historic Site, part of the National Park Service.
Keywords
Paul Laurence Dunbar, primary sources, Black history, Black poets, prominent Ohioans
