Violets and Other Tales

by Alice Dunbar-Nelson

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

Genres: Poetry, Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, African American Literature

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1895

About the author

Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar Nelson (July 19, 1875 – September 18, 1935) was an American poet, journalist and political activist. Among the first generation born free in the South after the Civil War, she was one of the prominent African Americans involved in the artistic flourishing of the Harlem Renaissance. Her first husband was the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar; she then married physician Henry A. Callis; and last married Robert J. Nelson, a poet and civil rights activist.

Alice Ruth Moore was born in New Orleans to middle-class parents Patricia Wright, a seamstress and former slave, and Joseph Moore, a merchant marine, who were people of color and part of the traditional multiracial Creole community of the city. At a time when fewer than 1% of Americans went to college, Moore graduated from Straight University (later merged into Dillard University) in 1892 and started work as a teacher in the public school system of New Orleans.
In 1895, her first collection of short stories and poems, Violets and Other Tales, was published by The Monthly Review. About that time, Moore moved to Boston and then New York. She co-founded and taught at the White Rose Mission (White Rose Home for Girls) in Brooklyn. Beginning a correspondence with the poet and journalist Paul Laurence Dunbar, she ended up moving to Washington, DC to join him when they married in 1898.

From 1913 to 1914, Dunbar was coeditor and writer for the A.M.E. Review, an influential church publication produced by the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church). In 1916 she married the poet and civil rights activist Robert J. Nelson. She joined him in becoming active in politics in Wilmington and the region. They stayed together for the rest of their lives. From 1920, she coedited the Wilmington Advocate, a progressive black newspaper. She also published The Dunbar Speaker and Entertainer, a literary anthology for a black audience.

Alice Dunbar Nelson was an activist for African Americans' and women's rights, especially during the 1920s and 1930s. While she continued to write stories and poetry, she became more politically active in Wilmington, and put more effort into numerous articles and journalism on leading topics. In 1915, she was field organizer for the Middle Atlantic states for the woman's suffrage movement. In 1918, she was field representative for the Woman's Committee of the Council of Defense. In 1924, Dunbar-Nelson campaigned for the passage of the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, but the Southern Democratic block in Congress defeated it.

From about 1920 on, she made a commitment to journalism and was a highly successful columnist, with articles, essays and reviews appearing as well in newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. She was a popular speaker and had an active schedule of lectures through these years. Her journalism career originally began with a rocky start. During the late 19th century, it was still unusual for women to work outside of the home, let alone an African-American woman, and the journalism business was a hostile, male-dominated field. In her diary, she spoke about the tribulations associated with the profession of journalism – "Damn bad luck I have with my pen. Some fate has decreed I shall never make money by it" (Diary 366). She discusses being denied pay for her articles and issues she had with receiving proper recognition for her work.

She moved from Delaware to Philadelphia in 1932, when her husband joined the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission. During this time, her health was in decline and she died from a heart ailment on September 18, 1935, at the age of sixty. She is interred at the Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery in Wilmington, Delaware.

She was made an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Her papers were collected by the University of Delaware.

Her diary was published in 1984 and detailed her life during the years 1921 and 1926 to 1931 (“Alice Dunbar-Nelson”). As one of only two journals of 19th-ce

Reviews

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book of poetry and short stories. It is not a hundred pages long. I liked the poetry better than the stories which carried a tragical, Victorian-esque style.


What I did like was the vivid descriptions of New Orleans. It gives the reader a rich taste of the Creole and Anglo-French culture.

What I especially appreciate that this book is not self-consciously ethnic or gender specific. I did not know the writer was black when I read these stories. I did not even know it was a woman who wrote them.

All I knew was that a brilliant writer wrote them.


Here is the poem of the title:


I had not thought of violets late,

The wild, shy kind that spring beneath your feet

In wistful April days, when lovers mate

And wander through the fields in raptures sweet.

The thought of violets meant florists' shops,

And bows and pins, and perfumed papers fine;

And garish lights, and mincing little fops

And cabarets and soaps, and deadening wines.

So far from sweet real things my thoughts had strayed,

I had forgot wide fields; and clear brown streams;

The perfect loveliness that God has made,—

Wild violets shy and Heaven-mounting dreams.

And now—unwittingly, you've made me dream

Of violets, and my soul's forgotten gleam.

Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar Nelson (July 19, 1875 - September 18, 1935) was an American poet, journalist and political activist. Among the first generation born free in the South after the Civil War, she was one of the prominent African Americans involved in the artistic flourishing of the Harlem Renaissance. Her first husband was the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar; she then married physician Henry A. Callis; and last married Robert J. Nelson, a poet and civil rights activist. From Poem Hunter.

[Dídac Gil Rams · Rating 4 out of 5]

La sorpresa creix seguint llegint a aquesta autora que amb els seus relats, molt curts i condensats amb un contingut humà fora del comú, em fa gaudir d'una època i lloc desconeguts plens d'històries familiars.

[Sarah Fonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short essays, poems, and stories -- often contradictory in moral -- penned by the Black lesbian writer Alice Dunbar-Nelson before she was aged twenty. The Gutenberg edition of this text includes an introduction by the Black suffragette Sylvanie Williams, who Dunbar-Nelson presumably encountered during her time in turn-of-the-century New Orleans before moving to Harlem, New York.

[Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, and enjoyable. The way she wrote about love had me tearing up at times, but I'm sappy. I'm glad to have taken the time to read this.

From "The woman" -- I loved the last paragraph, that last sentence: "It comes natural, you see." no matter what a woman's been through, or how hard she works, to seek from and give to her partner love and tenderness. That was very cute and touching.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Updating this after my book club.

WOWOW the author had an INCREDIBLY interesting life. This was her first published work, which was released when she was 19????? I didn’t notice this when I was initially reading, but I love that she makes her metaphors very obvious. She often has a sentence or paragraph at the end of her stories where she very bluntly explains what she means. All of these stories are contemplative and cover some deep topics like death, love, or morality. This was definitely not my favorite book ever, but I’m super glad that I read it.

OG review: I struggle to read books that are more classically written (not sure if I'm describing that well), so I could barely process this book. But, there were three of the stories that I deeply connect with, even though this was written in the 19th century. I even caught myself saying, "Wow that happened even back then?" to some of the relationship stuff that the author talks about. It was a quick read, but definitely very interesting.

[soluslibri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story triggers a different emotion. I like the last one best as it was funny and thoughtful. Language is the main pros I think (double points for rhymes, hah).