Paul Laurence Dunbar House — Attraction in Dayton

Visited the Paul L Dunbar house unknowingly on his birthday of 6/27. It was a GREAT visit and tour of the house. A gentleman had also come in for Paul's birthday and did a poetry recitation and had a discussion about Paul's life and work and genius.

I loved learning that Paul bought this house specifically due to wanting his mother to have a place to live after he passed away. He died of TB, which was a huge epidemic in the early 20th century and he know he was dying so set his mother up to have a home. He was her only living child at the time and he also sadly passed away.

As an African American who has a deep interest in family history and African American history I felt that this is a sacred sort of place. I especially loved knowing that Paul's mother planted the grape vines outside and seeing all their living places well preserved was wonderful.

Other's mentioned in comments/reviews things about the neighborhood, which was/is weird to me as the neighborhood wasn't "scary" to me. I think people often are too wary/anxiety prone today. I could see the "history" even in the neighborhood and know that it likely was a segregated neighborhood where only Black people could live and due to that it would not have received the care in the other places in Dayton that people may not be as wary.

Overall loved the visit. I wish they had more programming at the site. We were lucky the man I mentioned who did recitations of Paul's work, he just so happened to come and visit due to Paul's birthday - it was not planned. I'd think they would plan an event for Paul's...

The entrance to the home is on the side of the main house. Here you can get your passport stamps and purchase some souvenirs. The first level has a short show to watch and some information about the Dunbar’s. Don’t forget (like I did) to go up to the second floor for more cool stuff. There is a tour guided by one of the Pahrk Rangers. Maria gave the tour of the house as it is only available with a park ranger. She was very informative on Paul’s life in and outside the home. Paul was a school mate and friends with the Wright Brothers.

The tour begins in the back where you will see a grape vine that was here when they were. The garage was there as well but it was used for just storage. It had a loft that Paul would go to when he didn’t want to be disturbed. When you enter the home, you are shown the parlor which was used for everything from parties to funerals. There is no real internal lighting as there is still gas being used in the home but they have hand lanterns if you need one. This was a bit of a modern home for its time as it had hot water. You will have some other early modern appliances throughout the home. You will see the rooms where Paul and his Mother slept. Take a look around as some of the items are also authentic for Paul or his Mother.

If walls could talk, they would sing poetry and tell stories throughout. I could help the walls with stories but you will learn all that with...

A nice visitor center attached to this home is a great place to kill some time before the next home tour, showing some of the books, clothing, and other memorabilia owned by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The home tour itself is quite memorable in that it is different than a lot of the typical home tours within the National Park Service as well as state-level historical societies. Most are for presidents, where one can tell that more often than not the homes were built to above-average means and standard of living.

Here, there is some evidence that Dunbar's rise to national acclaim helped furnish more for the den and some living areas, but the home retains its humble roots. It is very interesting and different as a home tour in that regard. It is incredible to think how this man managed to produce such a large volume of writing and get a good chunk of it critically acclaimed across the nation, all before the civil rights movement. It is an upbeat feeling to consider that a truly soulful expression can touch people in a way that helps people look past the author's skin color. Well done, National Park Service and Ohio History Connection.

Oh, a tip, there is a public parking lot with plenty of space just to the east, but there should be enough street parking just in front of the home at...