The Marrow of Tradition
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The Marrow of Tradition is a novel by the African-American author Charles W. Chesnutt, portraying a fictional account of the Wilmington massacre of 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina.
First edition cover, 1901
First edition title page, 1901
Robert Charles riots
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The Robert Charles riots of July 24–27, 1900, in New Orleans, Louisiana, were sparked after African-American laborer Robert Charles fatally shot a white police officer during an altercation and escape
The Marrow of Tradition
…the Wilmington massacre of 1898. Gordon Fraser has suggested that elements of the novel, particularly scenes of black resistance, are modeled on the Robert Charles riots in New Orleans in 1900. The Marrow of Tradition comments indirectly on contemporary texts like Frances Harper's novel Iola Leroy and Booker T. Washington's…
Sketch of the scene at Robert Charles' residence on the 2000 block of Fourth Street. Body in the middle is Patrolman Lamb; the body in the left background is that of Captain Day
Front page of the New Orleans Daily Picayune, July 28, 1900, after Charles was killed; picture of Noiret in center; picture at upper right is Sgt Porteus
Le Petit Journal 7 Oct 1906