On September 27, 1900, a Kansas City, Missouri, newspaper published Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem in honor of Robert Gould Shaw, a white Civil War officer who commanded a regiment of Black soldiers. The 1989 film Glory was based on Shaw and his men.
Why was it that the thunder voice of Fate
Should call thee, studious, from the classic groves,
Where calm-eyed Pallas with still footstep roves,
And charge thee seek the turmoil of the state?
What bade thee hear the voice and rise elate,
Leave home and kindred and thy spicy loaves,
To lead th' unlettered and despised droves
To manhood's home and thunder at the gate?
Excerpt from "Robert Gould Shaw," by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri). September 27, 1900.
Paul's ode to Shaw appeared in other periodicals during the same period. When a British newspaper published the poem, it praised both the officer and the poet.
On Boston Common, opposite the State House of Massachusetts, stands a monument to perpetuate the memory of Robert Gould Shaw and those who died with him at the heroic attack on Fort Wagner in the War of the Secession. Mr. Shaw was a young New Englander of the best type, highly cultivated, full of generous enthusiasm and lofty public spirit. When the slaveholders' war broke out he joined the Federal army, and later was offered and accepted the command of the first Negro regiment that took part in the struggle. The colored soldiers fought with desperate valor, and nearly one-half of the regiment was killed by the galling fire from Fort Wagner. Shaw fell, sword in hand, a white man dying for the freedom of his black brethren. Nearly forty years have passed away, and now Mr. Paul Laurence Dunbar, the Negro poet, saddened by the political disenfranchisement, the horrible lynchings, and the social injustice to which his race is subjected, under a Constitution which declares that all men are free and equal, thus apostrophises the shade of Robert Gould Shaw.
The Manchester Guardian (Manchester, England). October 13, 1900.
A monument to Shaw's memory was constructed in his hometown of Boston and dedicated on May 31, 1897.
The last honors which a grateful people can pay its heroes were paid Col. Robert Gould Shaw and his dusky braves by the citizens of Boston yesterday. It must have aroused great feelings in the hearts of the colored veterans and their white officers as they paraded through the streets and saw the crowds and flags and bunting and listened to the cheers and applause in honor of their own bravery and the bravery of their dead comrades and their white chief. The day will remain sacred for all time to the colored race as a day of vindication -- a vindication of the sentiment which has always been regarded as the cornerstone of American liberty, "That all men are created equal."
"Heroes from Chattels." The Boston Daily Globe (Boston, Massachusetts). June 1, 1897. Page 4.
Paul was in England at the time, but his fiancée Alice Ruth Moore attended the dedication, thanks to her friend Booker T. Washington. On the back of a printed ticket of admission, Washington wrote Alice's name, along with the name of her brother-in-law James Young. Alice mentioned the dedication ceremony in a letter to Paul.
Admit Bearer to State House Grounds on Monday May 31, 1897.
Admit Miss Moore and Mr. James R. Young.
Booker T. Washington.
Scrapbook No. 1, Pages 175 - 176. Alice Dunbar-Nelson papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library (Newark, Delaware). MSS 0113, Box 12, F230 - F232.
I went to Boston for five days and had a glorious time and really hated to come away. I wish you could have been with me last Monday at the dedication of the Robert Gould Shaw monument. It was thrilling.
Alice Ruth Moore to Paul Laurence Dunbar, June 8, 1897. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 8).