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Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 – November 15, 1932) was an author, essayist and political...

Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 – November 15, 1932) was an author, essayist and political activist, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity. Chesnutt was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Andrew Chesnutt and Ann Maria (Sampson) Chesnutt, both "free persons of color" from Fayetteville, North Carolina. His paternal grandfather was a white slaveholder and, based on his appearance, Chesnutt likely had other white ancestors. In fact, he himself claimed to be seven-eighths white, although he self-identified as African-American. As Chesnutt was of mixed race, he could pass with relative ease for a white man, although he never chose to do so. Under the one drop rule in most of the South, Chesnutt was considered "legally" black. After the Civil War, the family returned to Fayetteville when Charles was nine years old, where they ran a grocery store. It failed because of Andrew Chesnutt's poor business practices and the struggling economy of the South. By age 13 Charles was a pupil-teacher at the Howard School. Chesnutt continued to study and teach, eventually becoming assistant principal of the normal school in Fayetteville, now