Charles Chesnutt (1858-1932) was born free to parents of mixed heritage. “Free” indicates a Black American who was never enslaved, as opposed to a “freed” Black American, which indicates a person whose enslavement was ended by manumission or emancipation. Chesnutt’s skin was light enough to allow him to “pass” as white, but he chose not to do so.

Chesnutt lived through the Civil War (1860-1865), Reconstruction (1865-1877), and much of the Jim Crow era (1877-1950). He experienced the challenges faced by Black Americans at the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Chesnutt was a member of the Ohio Bar, and he established a successful court reporting firm.

Chesnutt was one of the first free Black American authors to gain approval from white publishers and literary critics. He published 65 stories, 28 essays, numerous reviews and poems, and three novels: The House Behind the Cedars (1900), The Marrow of Tradition (1901), and The Colonel’s Dream (1905). All his works deal with the oppression of Black Americans that followed emancipation.

In 1917, Chesnutt participated in a protest over the showing of the Hollywood movie The Birth of a Nation in any theater in Ohio. The movie depicts the Ku Klux Klan in a positive way, and the dialogue reflects the racism of the characters.