Thursday, January 08, 2009

A Bit of Ohio History
That We Never Knew

'Best Reminder of the Power of Words: Ohio has birthed many great writers, but none holds the singular place in history claimed by Dayton native Paul Laurence Dunbar: He was the first African-American man of letters to make a living and achieve international fame for his writing. Poems, essays, novels and plays poured from his pen during his brief 33-year life. The red-brick house that sits on a street since renamed in his honor was his home from 1903 until his death in 1906, and is marvelously preserved to look almost exactly as he left it. 219 Paul Laurence Dunbar St., Dayton 45401, 937/224-7061.'
--from the Best of Ohio cover story in the current Ohio Magazine. It also names Cleveland's giant rubber stamp as the best piece of public art in the state.

3 Comments:

At 1:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the best piece of public art is the Cleveland Art Museum and attached property with sculpture, pond, and garden. Does that count as public art? The giant stamp still does not resonate as art to me, but it would look fine on a giant desk by a giant window overlooking a lovely garden-ha!

 
At 2:02 PM, Blogger TJ Sullivan said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 2:07 PM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

The area around the CMA is obviously pretty nice. We can thank the visionary Jeptha Wade for much of that. Good point, TJ. Before I read this, that name, Dunbar, was recognizable to me only because of the high school named for him, Dayton Dunbar, which is a perennial sports power. I knew nothing about the man behind it. So hats off to Ohio Magazine for shining that spotlight. As for the Internet being around when we went to college, it sure would have been a different experience.

 

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