Joel Chandler Harris – 1848-1908

Harris earned national fame as a humorist, beginning with his 1879 story, “Tar Baby,” told in African-American dialect by a slave named Uncle Remus and introducing the characters of B’rer Fox and B’rer Rabbit. This was the first of many stories Harris later published in a long series of “Uncle Remus” books, beginning with the 1880 Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings. Not only did these stories become popular American classics, Harris developed a passionate interest in African-American folklore, which he did much to collect, preserve, and present to both black and white America.