Alice Dunbar Nelson, American poet and activist (died 1935)

Alice Dunbar Nelson was an American poet, journalist, and political activist. Among the first generation of African Americans born free in the Southern United States after the end of the American Civil War, she was one of the prominent African Americans involved in the artistic flourishing of the Harlem Renaissance. She gained recognition for her poetry, short stories, and essays that explored themes of race, gender, and respectability; for her journalism and newspaper columns advocating for Black women’s rights and anti-lynching legislation; and for her editorial work on two influential anthologies that highlighted African American literature.