Charles W. Chesnutt to Archibald C. Poole, 1 June 1932
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June 1, 1932
The Warren Book Company,
Attention Archibald O. Pool, Prop.,
222 West 135th Street,
New York, N. Y.
Dear Sir:
On May 15th I forwarded to you a check for $1.50 to cover an accompanying order for one copy of "Veiled Aristocrats," published by your company.1 The check was endorsed by you and cleared through the Manufacturers Trust Company on May 21st. I have not received the book.
Please look into the matter, and send me the book at once.
Very truly yours, CWC:MK2Correspondent: The Warren Book Company, a bookstore dedicated to Black authors, was initially located in Staten Island and later in New York City, a block from the New York Public Library's Harlem Branch. It was owned and run by Archibald O. Poole (1885—1963), a Black printer, publisher, and photographer. In the 1920s and 1930s, he sent advertising circulars to individuals and organizations; his personal responses to Chesnutt were written on two of those circulars. Poole lived on Staten Island and along with his wife Drusilla (1888—1972) was active in many local civil rights organizations.
1. The 1923 novel Veiled Aristocrats by the White American journalist and fiction writer Gertrude Sanborn (1881–1928) dealt with "passing" and interracial romance. It was published by Associated Publishers, the publishing company founded by Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950) in 1921, and advertised in his Journal of Negro History, to which Chesnutt subscribed. Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951) used the book's title and theme for his remake of The House Behind the Cedars, but adhered to Chesnutt's character names, setting, and plot (albeit loosley). [back]
2. Margaret Kormos Shuri (1910–1979), the daughter of Czech immigrants, was a bookkeeper who worked for Chesnutt & Moore from 1930 to 1932; she married in 1937. [back]
