On June 27, 1872, the first internationally acclaimed African-American poet and writer, Paul Laurence Dunbar, was born in Dayton.

His father escaped slavery in Kentucky, then joined the Union Army during the Civil War. His mother was fleeing on the Underground Railroad when emancipation was declared in 1863. The two met in Dayton after the war. Dunbar's interpretations of their experiences, using African-American dialect, were powerful.

He was the only black student at Dayton's Central High School, serving as editor of the paper and president of the literary club. After graduation, he took a job as an elevator operator at a Dayton hotel. He sold his first book of poems - Oak and Ivy - to his passengers.

By the turn of the century, Dunbar was the most celebrated black writer in America, popular with both black and white readers. By the time he died of tuberculosis in 1906, age 33, he had written 22 books.

Rebecca Goodman

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com or call (513) 768-8361