Black History Month

The Wife of His Youth

Charles W. Chesnutt

Short stories, 1899

Charles W. Chesnutt's second collection of short stories, The Wife of His Youth, and Other Stories of the Color Line, looks at the issue of miscegenation in post-Civil War America. Many of the stories, including the title story and "A Matter of Principle," are set in the fictional town of Groveland, Ohio. Many of the characters of the collection are based on mixed-blood people Chesnutt knew in Cleveland. Some stories, including "The Wife of His Youth," depict prejudice within the African American community, while others portray problems faced by newly freed African Americans and people of mixed blood who are trying to find places for themselves in American society.