I wouldn’t have known much about the stories in the bible without Dave’s ability to read.  With a sliver of literacy, he taught us what it meant to be good Christians.  As I’m sitting here, sipping on this dry wine, I’m taken back to the moment that John placed the bottle in my hand.  His… View More

I wouldn’t have known much about the stories in the bible without Dave’s ability to read.  With a sliver of literacy, he taught us what it meant to be good Christians.  As I’m sitting here, sipping on this dry wine, I’m taken back to the moment that John placed the bottle in my hand.  His… View More

I am receiving so many letters these days! And from negroes, too. The south truly is a peculiar place. And what times we are living in, my father said that when he was a boy, negroes did not even know how to write, much less use the postal service. Waters brings up a good point… View More

Dear Mr. John I can attest to the content of Mr. Du Bois’ character. He is one of the few sharp minds I have encountered, and his eloquence is a product of his intellect. I am a northerner like yourself, however I am a Negro, and I should have you know that a negro man… View More

My coachman brought me a letter from a man named Du Bois. I have never met this man, and it was hard for me to determine his character until he identified himself as a colored man in his last line. This I suppose explains his sympathy for my colored employees, and yet he was so… View More

Dear Mr. Du Bois, I am a large supporter of your work, and I recognize the efforts you make daily for your work. I cannot help but agree with the sentiment you raised in questioning Chesnutt’s motivations in labeling his work as fictitious. The pain felt by those suffering under the oppression of slavery was… View More

John’s been more receptive lately.  He’s been awfully personable these days.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the letter I delivered to him from that Dubois fellow.  Anyway, I’m just happy that he’s beginning to open his heart.  At first, I attested him ignorant of all matters aside from profit; but after… View More

Mr. Chestnutt, sir, as a northerner like yourself (from Yiddish-accented English-speaking New York City) who several decades ago relocated to North Carolina, like the characters John and Annie in your recent book THE CONJURE WOMAN, and as a professor, currently, of philology at the University of North Carolina in danger of perishing because he has… View More

The thing here in the south is that people are simple. No one is trying to put on any performances of  class or lineage like in the north – you can know a person’s character by the words he speaks. Take Uncle Julius – he is happy being our coachman and telling us his tales…. View More

Dear John, I know we haven’t met, but I admire your drive to attain profits. You say your wife does not know much about the subject of capital, but I’m afraid you don’t know much as well. You quickly recognized the fact that the plantation had once been owned by a rich man: “It was… View More