In this talk, Tess Chakkalakal offers a fresh look at the life and work of Charles Waddell Chesnutt, the first professional Black American writer. His first novel was adapted for the screen by Oscar Micheaux. His stories of post-Civil War America are as relevant today as when they first appeared in the 1880s. Uncovering new sources, Chakkalakal evokes Chesnutt’s rise as a schoolteacher in the segregated South to joining the ranks of American realist authors. Working as a shorthand reporter, lawyer, and author, Chesnutt published six [...]