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Field
Trips > SW Region >
Dunbar House
To schedule your class visit please call 937-373-2010. Tours are offered Monday through Friday.
Paul Laurence Dunbar rose from a childhood of poverty in Dayton to international acclaim as an African-American writer and poet. Born in 1872, Dunbar dies at the age of 34 of tuberculosis. In his short lifetime, he published 21 books. At the age of fourteen, Dunbar's poems had been published in the Dayton Herald. After graduation from high school, Dunbar took a job as an elevator operator, but continued to work on his writing. He could not have published his first few books without financial and moral support from area residents who believed in his ability, including Dayton natives Wilbur and Orville Wright. In 1893, Dunbar's collection of poetry, Oak and Ivy, was published. To help pay the publishing costs, he sold the book for one dollar to people riding in his elevator.
His own experiences and those of his parents, who both were former slaves, inspired Dunbar's writing and poetry. His writing expresses the problems African-Americans faced as a race. Dunbar was a champion of African-American dignity. The dialectic and standard English- styled works he created during the turn-of-the-century inspired writers, such as Langston Hughes and W.E. B. DuBois, who were great influences during the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 1920s and 30s.
In 1936, Dunbar's boyhood home became the first state memorial for an African-American.
Paul Laurence Dunbar House is one of more than sixty sites operated by the Ohio Historical Society. The Ohio Historical Society is a private, nonprofit organization that serves as the state's partner in preserving and interpreting Ohio's history, archaeology, and natural history.
Facilities Information
Chaperones: one teacher and/or one parent per small group in mansion.
The Museum and Visitor Center are handicap accessible.
Because the Dunbar home is a historic home, access is limited to abilities.
There are no lunch facilities at the site.
Hours of Operation
9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday
12:00 - 5:00 p.m., Sunday
Admission
Students $3.00; Chaperones $5.00; Teachers one Free per class; Bus Drivers Free.
Location
Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial is located in Dayton (Montgomery County), at 219 Paul
Laurence Dunbar Street. The state memorial is on the left (West) side of street, near the
intersection of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Edison Streets. It is two blocks north of 3rd Street and
four blocks north of U.S. Route 35.
Bus Driver's Instructions
Bus parking on street.
All tours begin at Dunbar Visitor Center (Edison Street entrance).
If you will be delayed in arriving at your appointed time, call 937/224-7061 or 800/860-0148.
From I-75, exit Third Street and go west on Third approximately three blocks; turn left (North) on
Paul Laurence Dunbar Street.
From US 35, take the James H. McGhee Blvd. exit and go north to Third Street. Turn right (East) on
Third St. and go to Paul Laurence Dunbar Street. Turn Left (North) on Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Bus drivers admitted free into Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial.
FIELD TRIPS > SOUTHWEST REGION SITES:
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