Charles W. Chesnutt

Charles Waddell Chesnutt, 1858-1932 

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     Charles Chesnutt was an African American writer who lived in the time of the Reconstruction and wrote about controversial race-related issues (“Charles W. Chesnutt 1858-1932”). He was so light skinned that he could pass for white if he chose to, as he was seven-eighths white, but he self-identified as black (Railton). This is what set Charles apart and allowed him to be a bridge between white people and African Americans. He earned the respect of the white, mixed race, and African American population with his realist style of writing (“Chales W. Chesnutt (1858-1932)”.) 

​     Chesnutt was born in Cleveland Ohio on June 20, 1858. His father and mother were from North Carolina and had moved to Ohio during the Civil War (“Charles W. Chesnutt 1828-1932”). They were free born people of color and living in the south at that time was oppressive to colored people (Hyman). The family returned to their hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina to take care of Chesnutt’s grandfather after the war ended (Hyman). Charles was eight years old at that time and helped run the family grocery store (Andrews).  

​     In 1875, Charles Chesnutt had his first story published in a small African American ran newspaper (Hyman). Chesnutt began teaching as a teenager to help support his family and worked his way up to being the principal of Fayetteville State Normal School for Negroes (“Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932)”). He had a passion for learning and was a self-taught individual who, in his spare time, studied English Classics, foreign languages, music, and stenography (Andrews).       In 1878, Chesnutt married Susan Perry who was a fellow teacher from a prominent African American family (Hyman). He desired to raise his family in a place where they would not grow up experiencing racial prejudice (Hyman). He had a plan to move north and work in the field of stenography. His dream was to work for a good newspaper (Hyman). Charles Chesnutt moved his family to New York where he worked as a reporter for Dow Jones and Company, and he also wrote a daily gossip column of Wall Street gossip for the New York Mail and Express (Hyman). In 1883, he and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he passed the state bar exam and started his own court reporting business (Andrews).  

​     By 1887, Atlantic Monthly published his story called “The Goopered Grapevine” and this was a very important time in his writing career because of the paper's notoriety (“Charles W. Chesnutt”). This was the first time a short story by an African American had been published in the magazine (“Charles W. Chesnutt 1858-1932”). The Atlantic Monthly published six more of Chesnutt’s stories (Hyman). In 1899, he had a contract with Houghton Mifflin to publish his first book which was a collection of his short stories called, The Conjure Woman, a second book called, “The Wife of His Youth” and Other Stories of the Color Line was also published that same year (“Charles W. Chesnutt 1858-1932”).Chestnut wrote the first biography of Frederick Douglas and in 1900, his first full length novel, The House Behind the Cedars, was published (Hyman). Charles Chesnutt wrote other works in his lifetime. His last work was called, The Colonel’s Dream which was published in 1905 (Hyman). 

​     Chesnutt received a medal in 1928 from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People "for his pioneering literary work on behalf of the Afro-American struggle.", (Hyman). He died at the age of 74 on November 15, 1932 (Ziegler). Charles Chesnutt continues to be remembered for his achievements as an African American writer and in 2008 he was put on a United States Commemorative stamp (Ziegler).   

​     Mary Zeigler wrote an article called, “History and Background of the Charles Chesnutt Commemorative Stamp” and in it she sums up his literary achievements, “Chesnutt's literary legacy includes two collections of short stories, three novels, and the biography, Frederick Douglass (1902), all published during his lifetime, plus three recently edited and published novels: The Quarry (1997); Paul Marchand, F. M. C . (1999); and Mandy Oxendine (1999).”, (Ziegler). 

​     Charles Chesnutt was a pioneering African American writer who was able to capture the hearts of a diverse audience. Ben Railton in his article called “Why We Should All Read Charles Chesnutt” describes Chesnutt’s writing as “... stories that examine and complicate histories of race and identity, segregation and community in the period that historians have called the lowest point of post-Civil War African American life (Railton).” Chesnutt gave African Americans a voice in his stories, and he gave white Americans a true glimpse into the struggles and issues of people of African American descent.