This conference will present a collection of presentations and materials by specialists and scholars in the lifetime and works of Charles W. Chesnutt. The list of well known and published scholars will include:
Stephanie Browner, PhD: The New School
Tess Chakkalakal, PhD: Bowdoin College
Charles Duncan, PhD: William Peace University
William Hardwig, PhD: University of Tennessee Knoxville
Kenneth M. Price, PhD: University of Nebraska Lincoln
Regennia Williams, PhD: Western Reserve Historical Society Cleveland
There will also be opportunities for a visit to the Rowfant Club of Cleveland, a white gloves tour of the Chesnutt archives, and interaction with the Cleveland community. Continental breakfast and a full buffet luncheon will be served, and local accommodation will be available near the Case Western University campus.
Cosponsors: The Western Reserve Historical Society, The Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society, Charles W. Chesnutt Digital Archives, The Cuyahoga County Public Library, and the Cleveland Public Library.
Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) was arguably the most important African American author (fiction, essays and advocacy) to ply his trade in America between Reconstruction and the Harlem Renaissance; he was certainly the most important author to come from Ohio during this period, and his influence was clearly national. It is also important to note that several of his novels were not published until 50 years after his death, largely because they were considered too provocative for their time.
