Charles W. Chesnutt to George Washington Cable, 2 February 1889
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TELEPHONE 605.
CHAS. W. CHESNUTT,
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
ROOM 8, 219 SUPERIOR ST.
NOTARY PUBLIC.
CLEVELAND, O. Febry. 2, 1889
My Dear Mr. Cable:-
MS. received, with accompanying note. I have adopted your suggestions literally, and have given the paper the title last suggested by you.1 I have only to look at the re-written MS. to see that your cuts have enhanced the dignity and effectiveness of the paper, and thereby more than compensated for any loss made by the excisions.
I will forward you in a few days several type–written copies of the MSS., of which you are at liberty to make any use you may see fit.
Thanks for the criticisms contained in your marginal notes; they will be of value to me in other ways than in connection with this article. I return the MS. herewith, and hope to be able at some time, to express to you in person my thanks for your favors to me.
Very respectfully yours, Chas. W. Chesnutt.Correspondent: 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. This version includes the phrase Chesnutt asked Cable to add in a second letter on January 10, 1889, but omits the commas Chesnutt used to bracket the phrase. [back]
