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Based on a historically accurate account of the Wilmington, North Carolina, "race riot" of 1898, African-American author Charles W. Chesnutt's innovative novel is a passionate portrait of the betrayal of black culture in America.

Part of Belt's Revivals Series and an undisputed classic of African American literature. With a new introduction by Wiley Cash (When Ghosts Come Home).

On November 10, 1898, a mob of 400 people rampaged through the streets of Wilmington, North Carolina,... Read Full Overview

A 1901 novel about racial conflict in a Southern town, this edition of Marrow of Tradition explores caste, gender, and race after Reconstruction along with postbellum laws and lynching, and the 1898 Wilmington riot to highlight the culture of segregation experienced in this time... Read Full Overview

Charles W. Chesnutt was an author, essayist, and political activist whose works addressed the complex issues of racial and social identity at the turn of the century. Chesnutt's early works explored political issues somewhat indirectly, with the intention of changing the attitudes... Read Full Overview

Inspired by the 1898 Wilmington Riot and the eyewitness accounts of Charles W. Chesnutt's own family, Chesnutt's The Marrow of Tradition captures the astonishing moment in American history when a violent coup d'?tat resulted in the subversion of a free and democratic election.

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The night was hot and sultry. Though the windows of the chamber were wide open, and the muslin curtains looped back, not a breath of air was stirring. Only the shrill chirp of the cicada and the muffled croaking of the frogs in some distant marsh broke the night silence. The... Read Full Overview

The Marrow of Tradition (1901) is a historical novel by African American author, lawyer, and political activist Charles Chesnutt. Based on the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898-in which a group of white supremacists rioted and overthrew the elected government of Wilmington,... Read Full Overview

"The Marrow of Tradition" is a 1901 historical novel written by the African-American author Charles W. Chesnutt. Set in 1898, it presents a fictionalised version of events related to the Wilmington Insurrection in Wilmington, a riot enacted by white supremacists in North Carolina... Read Full Overview

In this landmark tale, one of the great American novelists exposed the harsh dimensions of Southern prejudice during post-Reconstruction era. Charles W. Chesnutt traces the intertwined lives of two prominent families: one headed by a newspaper editor and flagrant white supremacist;... Read Full Overview

Part of the Norton Library series The Norton Library edition of The Marrow of Tradition features the original 1901 text of the work. A sweeping introduction by Autumn Womack highlights the work's historical contexts, literary achievements, and groundbreaking critique of white... Read Full Overview

This fully annotated edition includes: Historical Context and Authorial Intent Literary comments and analyses Author Biography Unearthing America's Hidden Racial History: A Powerful Novel of Justice and Resilience Step into the turbulent world of post-Reconstruction America with... Read Full Overview

"Stay here beside her, major. I shall not he needed for an hour yet. Meanwhile I'll go downstairs and snatch a bit of sleep, or talk to old Jane." The night was hot and sultry. Though the windows of the chamber were wide open, and the muslin curtains looped back, not a breath... Read Full Overview

The latest work from the pen of Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt, "The Marrow of Tradition," is a notable production. Indeed, it is the strongest and most absorbing story of Southern life which has yet come from that sectional phase of American life. Cable, Page, Tourgee and Joel Chandler... Read Full Overview

A stirring tale of racial confrontation in a reconstructionist Southern town, first published in 1901

The Marrow of Tradition (1901) is a historical novel by the African American author Charles Chesnutt, set at the time and portraying a fictional account of the Wilmington Race Riot in North Carolina in 1898. Set in the fictional town of Wellington, The Marrow of Tradition features... Read Full Overview

The Marrow of Tradition (1901) is a historical novel by the African-American author Charles W. Chesnutt, set at the time and portraying a fictional account of the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina.Plot summary: Set in the fictional town of Wellington,... Read Full Overview

The Marrow of Tradition

by Charles W. Chestnutt

The Marrow of Tradition (1901) is a historical novel by the African-American author Charles W. Chesnutt, set at the time and portraying a fictional account of the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 in Wilmington,... Read Full Overview