W. E. B. Du Bois to Charles W. Chesnutt, 15 April 1926
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EDITORIAL ROOMS OF
THE CRISIS1
69 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
W.E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS
April 15, 1926.
Mr. Charles W. Chestnut,
1646 Union Trust Bdg.,
Cleveland, Ohio.
My dear Mr. Chestnut:
The enclosed questionnaire speaks for itself.2 The problem as to what is acceptable material in the portrayal of the Negro is creating a pretty sharp dilemma for those of us who are either actually creating or who are interested in the development of forms of Negro Art.
The editors of the CRISIS are keenly interested in obtaining your reaction to the queries here propounded. We think that coming from a writer your opinion would be bound to be stimulating and informative.
Will you favor us then with answers to these questions and will you, if possible, have them reach us no later than May 15th? That will be doing us a real service. If, however, it is impossible for you to reply to us before that date, answer just the same, at your earliest convenience. For we really desire the expression of your opinion.
With all good wishes, believe me,
Sincerely yours, W. E. B. Du Bois WEBD/W
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 University, 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 Black people. In 1910, the organization adopted its current name and in 1912 began publication of a monthly journal, The Crisis, which was edited by W. E. B. Du Bois from 1912 to 1944. Chesnutt's involvement with the NAACP extended over many years, and included serving on its General Committee, attending conferences, presiding at NAACP events in Cleveland, publishing four stories and two essays in The Crisis (1912, 1915, 1924, 1926, 1930, and 1931), and being awarded in 1928 the organization's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal. [back]
2. In the spring of 1926, W. E. B. Du Bois, as the editor of The Crisis, sent out a questionnaire asking a number of writers and publishers how Black people should be represented in art. Select answers were printed the following seven months as a series under the general title "The Negro in Art" (for the first installment and the questions, see The Crisis 31, no. 6 [April 1926]: 278–280). Chesnutt's answers appeared as a short essay. See "The Negro in Art," The Crisis 33, no. 1 (November 1926): 490–493. [back]
3. The enclosure was a page from The Crisis 31, no. 6 (April 1926): 278. [back]
