DunBar & Douglass
John McFall wrote “Many interesting people spent that winter and spring in Charleston [1902] and their presence added much to our cultural life. Paul Laurence Dunbar was one.” Dunbar, the most well-known African American poet at this time, met Frederick Douglass at the Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. From that meeting, Dunbar developed a close relationship with Douglass and upon his death, wrote in his poem, “Douglass:”
We weep for him, but we have touched his hand, And felt the magic of his presence nigh….
John wrote about hearing Douglass speak when he was a youth. He wrote in his manuscript, “I wonder how many of the present generation know how truly great is the life of Douglass….” In a letter dated 17 January 1902 Dunbar wrote to his wife, Alice, about [some ladies … “They stopped by the store of a friend of mine, Dr. McFall and told him their errand.”
Imagine the conversations John and Dunbar might have had about Douglass!