On October 14, 1898, Paul Laurence Dunbar was scheduled to give a reading for blind visitors at the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C.
The daily readings for the blind at the Library of Congress have been resumed for the season. The following is a list of readers for the remainder of the present month . . .
October 14 - Mr. Paul Laurence Dunbar
"Schedule of Entertainments at the Library of Congress." The Evening Times (Washington, D. C.). October 10, 1898. Page 8.
The Library had a reading room for blind patrons that was filled with books in Braille. Six days a week, a presentation was given by an author, musician or lecturer. Paul was a regular participant in these sessions, both while he was an employee of the Library and after he resigned from his position.
Mr. Dunbar gives frequent readings in the room for the blind at the Library of Congress, and so popular have his afternoon recitals become that the blind are outnumbered by others who come to hear. Mr. Dunbar gave another reading last Thursday afternoon, and so potent was the magnet of his name that, despite the rain, visitors almost tested the capacity of the hall. They soon were completely within the influence of the poet's melodious voice, singing the songs of the South with such pure delight that his enthusiasm became contagious.
"Poetry of the Negro: Mr. Paul Laurence Dunbar's Reading for the Blind." The Washington Bee (Washington, D. C.). June 22, 1901. Page 1.
The magnificent pile of granite and marble on Capitol Hill at Washington known as the Congressional Library may have more important departments within its spacious walls than that which is known as the Pavilion of the Blind, but it certainly has none which yields so large a return of happiness and profit from its beneficiaries. Every afternoon (excepting Sundays), from October until June, readings, interspersed once a week with musicals, are given there. Many of the most distinguished people of the country who live in Washington or chance to be there have given a little of their time in this manner to brighten the lives of the sightless hearers. The popular novelist, Mr. Nelson Page, has read several times from his own stories, to the infinite delight of his hearers. F. Hopkinson Smith, Joaquin Miller, the artist E. C. Messer, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Elaine Goodale Eastman, Gonsalade Quesada of the Cuban Junta, Senator Mason, Mrs. Burrows, Mrs. John W. Foster and Miss Dolliver are among the many recorded readers.
"Uncle Sam's Reading-Room for the Blind," by Abby G. Baker. Woman's Home Companion (Springfield, Ohio). May 1900.
Paul Laurence Dunbar is making quite a furor in Washington. He gives afternoon readings of selections of his own works in the room for the blind at the Library of Congress. Mr. Dunbar is now an employee of the library, and his readings were originally designed for the purpose of amusing the blind people who are faithful attendants of the "blind room." The leisure class of Washington, always looking for some new amusement, discovered the Negro poet's readings, and now the blind people have to be in their room very early if they do not wish to find themselves crowded out by the wives, daughters, sons and relatives of prominent government officials and rich men whose families reside in Washington because of the social advantages the capital offers. So popular have the readings become with others than those for whom they were intended that a rule has been made reserving the front seats of the room for those who can hear, but not see, while the rear seats are given up to the fashionables.
"Washington Letter." The Spirit of the Times (Batavia, New York). July 10, 1901. Page 3.