Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow: The Tragic Courtship and Marriage of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Ruth Moore

255 Pages·2002·0.6 MB·English

by  Eleanor Alexander

Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow

L Y R I C S
of
S U N S H I N E
and
S H A D O W
THE TRAGIC COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
OF PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR AND
ALICE RUTH MOORE
A History of Love and Violence among the
African American Elite
Eleanor Alexander
a
New York University Press
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
Copyright © 2001 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alexander, Eleanor (Eleanor C.)
Lyrics of sunshine and shadow :the tragic courtship and marriage of
Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Ruth Moore : a history of love and
violence among the African American elite / Eleanor Alexander.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8147-0696-7 (acid-free paper)
1. Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 1872–1906—Marriage. 2. Dunbar-Nelson,
Alice Moore, 1875–1935—Marriage. 3. Authors’ spouses—United
States—Biography. 4. Authors, American—20th century—Biography.
5. Poets, American—19th century—Biography. 6. Married people—
United States—Biography. 7. African American women authors—
Biography. 8. African American authors—Biography. 9. African
Americans—Biography. I. Title.
PS1557 .A76 2001
811'.4—dc21 2001002493
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For the family

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
ONE
The Child Is Father of the Man 13
TWO
To Escape the Reproach of Her Birth and Blood 44
THREE
The Wooing 74
FOUR
One Damned Night of Folly 112
FIVE
Parted 146
Conclusion 176
Notes 181
Bibliography 225
Index 239
About the Author 243
All illustrations appear as a group following page 86.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I did not write this book alone. Colleagues, librarians, archivists, friends,
and family all aided in crafting this dialogue. Not one of them, however,
is responsible for any errors this volume may contain, or for its short-
comings. Those I crafted all by myself.
My thanks to all who brought this project to fruition. I am espe-
cially grateful to the endless support and encouragement of Professors
Thadious M. Davis and Nell Irvin Painter. I thank them, too, for their
generous gifts of time, knowledge, and expert advice. Sincere thanks
as well to Professor Mary Jo Buhle for her enthusiastic advocacy of
this project and her close and critical reading of the drafts. To Profes-
sors Dorothy Denniston, Anani Dzidzienyo, Michael S. Harper, Rhett
Jones, Aishah Rahman, and other members of the Brown University
community who gave aid when it was most needed, I say many thanks
to you. And I will not forget the support and encouragement of my
colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology. For their detailed
critique of the manuscript, I thank Professors Georgia Persons and
Don Flamming. It took time, energy, and thoughtfulness to do what
they did, and I am ever mindful of that.
I wish also to acknowledge the role of some very generous col-
leagues—Professors Catherine Clinton, Sybil Kein, Wilson J. Moses,
and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. For providing knowledge on nineteenth-
century health care, I thank these medical doctors: Stephen DeZio,
Alicia Monroe, and James R. Ralph. And since research is impossible
without the aid of librarians and library staff members, I thank those
at the John D. Rockefeller and John Hay Libraries at Brown Univer-
sity, and the amiable employees at the Providence, Rhode Island, Pub-
lic Library, the Rochambeau Branch. This means you: Anne Louise
Attar, Jacqueline Cooper, Bonnie Lilienthal, Timothy J. McGinn,
Adam Misturado, Donna Snead, Dhana Whiteing, and Michael Val-
lone. Thanks also to Marva Best of the Moorland Spingarn Research
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