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Charles W. Chesnutt to W. E. B. Du Bois, 16 September 1924

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  CHAS. W. CHESNUTT HELEN C. MOORE CHESNUTT & MOORE SHORTHAND REPORTERS 1106 WILLIAMSON BUILDING CLEVELAND Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, Editor The Crisis,1 69 Fifth Avenue, New York City. My dear Dr. DuBois,

As I said in a previous letter that I would, I enclose you herewith a copy of a story which you may be able to use for the CRISIS. It is in my earlier manner, but I think has a thread of interest which might be interesting to your readers.2

Perhaps it is too long for one number, in which event you could divide it at a convenient point, the middle of page fifteen would be a dramatic point at which to make the division, but if that is n't consistent with the makeup of the good magazine, you can probably find one equally as good.

If you do not find the story available, kindly return it, and I will look up another one.

Yours very truly, Chas W. Chesnutt. CWC:WEnc.



Correspondent: William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868–1963) was a sociologist, historian, and world-renowned civil rights activist. After completing coursework at the University of Berlin and Harvard, Du Bois became the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard in 1895. He was a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Atlanta University (1897-1910 and again in the 1930s). He was a prominent leader of the Niagara Movement and helped found the NAACP in 1909. As the editor of the NAACP's journal, The Crisis, from 1910 to 1931, Du Bois published four of Chesnutt's short stories as well as two of his essays. See "The Doll" (April 1912), "Mr. Taylor's Funeral" (April/May 1915), "The Marked Tree" (Dec 1924/Jan 1925), and "Concerning Father" (May 1930); and "Women's Rights" (1915) and "The Negro in Art" (November 1926).



1. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began in February 1909, with a Committee on the Negro and "The Call," a statement protesting lawlessness against Negroes. In 1910, the organization adopted its current name and began publication of a monthly journal, The Crisis, under editor W. E. B. Du Bois. Chesnutt's involvement with the NAACP extended over many years, and included attending conferences, presiding at NAACP events in Cleveland, publishing four stories and one essay in The Crisis (1912, 1915, 1924, 1926, and 1930), and being awarded in 1928 the organization's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal.[back]

2. Chesnutt's short story "The Marked Tree", was published in The Crisis 29, no. 2 (December 1923): 59–64; and 29, no. 3 (January 1925): 110–113.[back]