Charles Waddell Chesnutt

Firsthand experience provided material for this novel about the 1898 attempt to disfranchise the black residents of Wilmington, North Carolina.

The Marrow of Tradition

John Walden, a young black man, decides to pass for white in post-Civil War North Carolina in order to achieve the American dream.

The House Behind the Cedars

The stories in The Conjure Woman were Charles W. Chesnutt's first great literary success, and since their initial publication in 1899 they have come to be seen as some of the most remarkable works of African American literature from the Emancipation through the Harlem Renaissance. Lesser known, though, is that the The Conjure Woman, as first published by Houghton Mifflin, was not wholly Chesnutt's creation but a work shaped and selected by his editors. This edition reassembles for the first time all of Chesnutt's work in the conjure tale genre, the entire imaginative feat of which the published Conjure Woman forms a part. It allows the reader to see how the original volume was created, how an African American author negotiated with the tastes of the dominant literary culture of the late nineteenth century, and how that culture both promoted and delimited his work. In the tradition of Uncle Remus, the conjure tale listens in on a poor black southerner, speaking strong dialect, as he recounts a local incident to a transplanted northerner for the northerner's enlightenment and edification. But in Chesnutt's hands the tradition is transformed. No longer a reactionary flight of nostalgia for the antebellum South, the stories in this book celebrate and at the same time question the folk culture they so pungently portray, and ultimately convey the pleasures and anxieties of a world in transition. Written in the late nineteenth century, a time of enormous growth and change for a country only recently reunited in peace, these stories act as the uneasy meeting ground for the culture of northern capitalism, professionalism, and Christianity and the underdeveloped southern economy, a kind of colonial Third World whose power is manifest in life charms, magic spells, and ha'nts, all embodied by the ruling figure of the conjure woman. Humorous, heart-breaking, lyrical, and wise, these stories make clear why the fiction of Charles W. Chesnutt has continued to captivate audiences for a century.

The Conjure Woman, and Other Conjure Tales

Gathers stories that reflected changing racial attitudes in America, probed the psychological depths of southern blacks, and gave literary voice to the broad range of the African-American experience.

Conjure Tales and Stories of the Color Line

The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories

Selections by the noted black writer of the late nineteenth century reflect changing racial attitudes in America

The Wife of His Youth, and Other Stories of the Color Line

Frederick Douglass A Biography by Charles W. (Charles Waddell) Chesnutt If it be no small task for a man of the most favored antecedents and the most fortunate surroundings to rise above mediocrity in a great nation, it is surely a more remarkable achievement for a man of the very humblest origin possible to humanity in any country in any age of the world, in the face of obstacles seemingly insurmountable, to win high honors and rewards, to retain for more than a generation the respect of good men in many lands, and to be deemed worthy of enrolment among his country's great men. Such a man was Frederick Douglass, and the example of one who thus rose to eminence by sheer force of character and talents that neither slavery nor caste proscription could crush must ever remain as a shining illustration of the essential superiority of manhood to environment. Circumstances made Frederick Douglass a slave, but they could not prevent him from becoming a freeman and a leader among mankind. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

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Frederick Douglass a Biography

First published in 1899, these folk tales within a tale provide commentary on the social attitudes of the period

The Conjure Woman

W. E. B. Du Bois

Booker T. Washington

he necessity for the race's learning the difference between being worked and working. He would not confine the Negro to industrial life, but believes that the very best service which any one can render to what is called the "higher education" is to teach the present generation to work and save. This will create the wealth from which alone can come leisure and the opportunity for higher education.One of the most fundamental and far-reaching deeds that has been accomplished during the last quarter of a century has been that by which the Negro has been helped to find himself and to learn the secrets of civilization—to learn that there are a few simple, cardinal principles upon which a race must start its upward course, unless it would fail, and its last estate be worse than its first.

The Negro Problem

"The House Behind the Cedars" from Charles Waddell Chesnutt. Mixed race author, essayist, political activist and lawyer (1858-1932).

The Colonel's Dream (Volume 1 of 2 ) (EasyRead Super Large 24pt Edition)

Easyread Comfort Edition

The Colonel's Dream

This is a wonderful novel and considered one of the finest novels by Chestnutt. Every page of the story makes the reader curious about what would happen next. It is the story of mulatto siblings who voyaged between white and black worlds. The portrayal of picturesque scenic beauty of American life is mesmeric. Enthralling and thought-provoking!

House Behind the Cedars EasyRead Large E

A stirring tale of racial confrontation in a reconstructionist Southern town, first published in 1901

Charles Waddell Chesnutt best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War South. He became active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, writing articles supporting education as well as legal challenges to discriminatory laws. Following the Civil Rights Movement during the 20th century, interest in the works of Chesnutt was revived. In style and subject matter, the writings of Charles Chesnutt straddle the divide between the local color school of American writing and literary realism. While Julius's tales recall the Uncle Remus tales published by Joel Chandler Harris, they differ in that Uncle Julius' tales offer oblique or coded commentary on the psychological and social effects of slavery and racial inequality. While controversy exists over whether Chesnutt's Uncle Julius stories reaffirmed stereotypical views of African Americans, most critics contend that their allegorical critiques of racial injustice took them to a different level. THE NOVELS The House behind the Cedars The Marrow of Tradition The Colonel’s Dream THE SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS The Conjure Woman and Other Conjure Tales The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color-Line Uncollected Stories THE NON-FICTION Frederick Douglass The Disfranchisement of the Negro Uncollected Essays

The House behind the Cedars, The Marrow of Tradition, The Conjure Woman and Other Conjure Tales, The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color-Line and others

The Complete Works of Charles W. Chesnutt. Illustrated

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The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line and Selected Essays

The Wife of His Youth -- Her Virginia Mammy -- The Sheriff's Children -- A Matter of Principle -- Cicely's Dream -- The Passing of Grandison -- Uncle Wellington's Wives -- The Bouquet -- The Web of Circumstance Show Excerpt s be'n ter Noo Orleens, an' Atlanty, an' Charleston, an' Richmon'; an' w'en I 'd be'n all ober de Souf I come ter de Norf. Fer I knows I 'll fin' 'im some er dese days," she added softly, "er he 'll fin' me, an' den we 'll bofe be as happy in freedom as we wuz in de ole days befo' de wah." A smile stole over her withered countenance as she paused a moment, and her bright eyes softened into a far-away look. This was the substance of the old woman's story. She had wandered a little here and there. Mr. Ryder was looking at her curiously when she finished. "How have you lived all these years?" he asked. "Cookin', suh. I 's a good cook. Does you know anybody w'at needs a good cook, suh? I 's stoppin' wid a cullud fam'ly roun' de corner yonder 'tel I kin git a place." "Do you really expect to find your husband? He may be dead long ago." She shook her head emphatically. "Oh no, he ain' dead. De signs an' de tokens tells me. I dremp three nights runnin' on'y dis las' week dat I foun' him." "He may h

Charles Waddell Chesnutt

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