Charles W. Chesnutt to George Washington Cable, 10 January 1889
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TELEPHONE 605.
CHAS. W. CHESNUTT,
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
ROOM 8, 219 SUPERIOR ST.
NOTARY PUBLIC.
CLEVELAND, O. Jan'y. 10, 1889
My Dear Mr. Cable:-
I have written something on the Negro question, which, at your kind suggestion, I enclose to you herewith.1 I do not know that there are any new ideas in it, or that the old ones are expressed with sufficient originality to merit attention. I have tried to write it as well as I could, with the limited time I have been able to devote to it, though I am painfully aware that it could be improved upon. Perhaps there are some things in it which you may not think it wise to publish. I have kept pretty closely to your view of the subject, as I understand it, which seems to me the correct one; and I have doubtless, and unavoidably, trenched upon ground which you have covered. I have indicated by pencil marks on the margin certain passages which it occurs to me you might think better left unsaid; and I am quite willing to accept your advice and suggestions. This is my first attempt at a serious composition of this description, and I would not have ventured to trouble you with it, but for your friendly offer, of which I trust you have not since repented. The difficulty I meet with in in writing upon this question is not a dearth of ideas, but rather a superabundance of them, and it is quite possible that I have written too long an article.
If you can place the enclosed, (in its present shape, or with such emendations as you may suggest, or choose to make in the way of omissions) where it will be read, I will feel that I have tried to do something in a good cause.
There could hardly be any question that the writer of such an article is a colored man; and it has been suggested to me by a gentleman of some literary standing and authority, that a knowledge of that fact would adversely affect my chances for literary success. I hardly think so, for I am under the impression that a colored writer of literature is something that editors and the public would be glad to recognize and encourage. I may be mistaken, but if your opinion agrees with mine, I am not afraid to make a frank avowal of my position, and to give the benefit of any possible success or reputation that I may by hard work win, to those who need it most.
As the reading of my MS. will occupy a good deal of your time, I will not trouble you with a longer letter, but remain
Very respectfully yours, Chas. W. Chesnutt. To Mr. Geo. W. Cable, Northampton, Mass.
In stating the negro question I have abbreviated your statement; perhaps it would have been better if I had given it more fully,—but I think I have covered the ground elsewhere in my paper—
CWCCorrespondent: George Washington Cable (1844–1925) was a White reporter, novelist, and critic. He began his career at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, writing nearly one hundred columns in two years. After working on a collection of journalistic essays based mostly on historical accounts, Cable turned to writing short stories, novellas, and novels, typically set in New Orleans. In the 1880s, Cable began lecturing, writing essays, and forming organizations focused on social reform, specifically in the areas of Black rights and prison conditions, and in 1885 he moved to Northampton, Massachusetts. Cable and Chesnutt met for the first time in Cleveland, on December 21, 1888, at the Congregational Club's Forefather's Day celebration, where Cable was the principal speaker. They began corresponding immediately, and in mid-1889 Cable offered to employ Chesnutt as his secretary in Northampton; Chesnutt declined. Cable visited the Chesnutt home in the fall of 1889, and for two years, their correspondence was frequent, typically about Cable's political efforts on race issues, Chesnutt's writings, or recent publications. After 1891, they corresponded only occasionally.
1. There are two typed incomplete drafts of the essay Chesnutt sent to Cable. For a reconstruction of this essay, see "An Inside View of the Negro" in Charles W. Chesnutt: Essays and Speeches, eds. Joseph R. McElrath, Jr., Robert C. Leitz, III, and Jesse S. Crisler (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999), 57–68. [back]
