Charles W. Chesnutt to Alfred Anderson, 3 September 1921
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Chicago Defender
September 3, 1921.
Mr. Alfred Anderson,
Editor Chicago Defender,
3435 Indiana Avenue,
Chicago, Ill.
My dear Mr. Anderson:-
I am sending you herewith a copy of a very good picture of mine which was used as an illustration several years ago, and which I think will answer your purpose.
I also enclose some press notices from various literary and other papers on my "House Behind the Cedars,"1 which will probably be what you want in the way of press comment.2
Your very truly,Correspondent: Thomas Alfred "Alf" Anderson (1868–1942) was a Black journalist, editor, and poet from Janesville, Wisconsin, who became editor of the Chicago Defender in 1920 and later worked as business manager of Provident Hospital, the first Black-owned and operated hospital in the US (founded in 1891). He also wrote song lyrics and was involved in musical comedy productions.
1. The House Behind the Cedars (Houghton Mifflin, 1900) was Chesnutt's first published novel. House evolved over more than a decade from a short story, "Rena Walden," first drafted in the late 1880s. It was the only novel by Chesnutt to be serialized, once in 1900-1901 in the monthly Self Culture and again in 1921-1922 in the Black weekly Chicago Defender. House was also his only novel to be adapted to film (1924 and 1932). [back]
2. Chesnutt's novel The House Behind the Cedars was serialized in the Chicago Defender between October 29, 1921, and March 4, 1922, and Chesnutt kept close track of the paper's promotion efforts. The unidentified press clippings and photographs Chesnutt sent were not used in the advertisements or in the serial installments themselves. [back]
