WORDS IN COLOR: HONORING BLACK LITERARY VOICES (PART 3) - Charles W. Chesnutt, " The Passing of Grandison" from The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories (1899)

Charles W. Chestnutt courtesy of the Public 
Domain

The Passing of Grandison is one of the best short stories I've read in the public domain in a while. African American writer Charles W. Chestnutt wrote this short tale in 1899 as part of his anthology, "The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories."

"The Passing of Grandison," set in Kentucky, follows slave owner Dick Owens, who, to impress his love interest, orchestrates the escape of Grandison, a seemingly loyal enslaved man. However, Grandison, completely devoted to Owens, resists every opportunity for freedom. From there, the story takes on an amazing twist, leading to a surprising ending fostered by Chestnutt's amazing use of literary irony and suspense, which, in my estimate, was quite genius.

Little-Known Facts About Charles W. Chesnutt

• Overlooked in His Time: Compared to his literary peers, Chesnutt received little mainstream recognition during his most active years (late 19th–early 20th century).
• He refused to "Pass": Born in Cleveland, Ohio (1858), to free mixed-race parents, he was light-skinned enough to pass as white but chose to embrace his Black identity and fight for racial justice.
• Self-Taught Scholar: By his early teens, he had mastered Latin and Greek and developed a passion for philosophy and literature.
• Subversive Storytelling: His writing used a double-layered narrative—appearing to conform to white expectations while subtly critiquing racism and power structures.
• A Pioneering Best-Seller: The Marrow of Tradition (1901) became one of the first commercially successful novels by an African American author, exposing the horrors of the Wilmington Massacre of 1898.
• Beyond Writing: Later in life, he shifted focus to civil rights activism, law, and business, leaving a lasting impact on both literature and social justice.

(Sources: Werner Sollors' Charles W. Chesnutt and the Fictions of Race, William L. Andrews' The Literary Career of Charles W. Chesnutt, Chesnutt’s personal writings.)