Charles W. Chesnutt

The Marrow of Tradition Charles W. Chesnutt

Charles Chestnutt was an African American writer who wrote The Marrow of Tradition. This work of historical fiction sometimes classified as a melodrama. The plot tells the story of the formation of the white supremacist movement that preceded the race riots in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. Two sisters in a small town are the central characters. One sister is about to have a child. The other sister is a half sister with a slave as her mother. Several other subplots intermingle. Black/white relationships heat up and the local government to threatened to be taken over by force.