Paul Laurence Dunbar House

"I know why the caged birds sings, ah me,

When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,-

When he beats his bars and he would be free;

- Paul Laurence Dunbar (Sympathy)

 Tom and I recently visited the Paul Laurence Dunbar house in Dayton. Being an English major, I can't imagine never having been there before, especially since I live a mere 13 miles away. I am always interested in writers; Tom, it turns out, is deeply interested in old houses.

Paul Laurence Dunbar house

219 N Paul Laurence Dunbar Street

Dayton OH 45402 

 The Dunbar house is an Ohio Historic Site

A rear view of the house shows two small "attic" windows

The Living Room 

A Sitting Room (I believe) 

The Dining Room 

The house has gas lighting (see above left).

The Kitchen 

Water pipes are affixed to the interior of the walls. I suppose the house was fitted for public water after it had been built.

Another view of the kitchen 

A water tank stored hot water.

The enclosed back porch area (facing house wall) 

Another view of the enclosed back porch; "outside" wall 

The Dunbar's second floor bathroom 

The wall paper is a reproduction of the original wallpaper, still visible in one of the cabinets.

PLD's actual toothbrush 

Dunbar's mother's bedroom 

PLD bought this house for his mother, Matilda. She continued to live in the house for 28 years after his death. His father, Joshua, died in 1885.

Another view of Dunbar's mother's bedroom 

A third view of Dunbar's mother's bedroom 

Paul Laurence Dunbar's bedroom 

Dunbar's bedroom is on the second floor, near the southeast corner. Dunbar lived here from 1904 until his death two years later.

Actual typewriter used by PLD 

PLD's chamber pot sits beside his bed 

Just outside PDL's bedroom are the steps between floors 

A small room at the front of the house (second floor) 

Memorial of Paul Laurence Dunbar's death on February 9, 1906

References (click):
Aviation Heritage
Dayton History
Ohio History
Wikipedia

On the Aviation Trail

 To live as close as we do to various Wright Brother's historic sites, it's a wonder I haven't visited them all sometime in the past 67 years. Tom and I visited the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park on West Third Street last weekend and added several more.

It's all part of Aviation Trail, Inc.

 We visited three of the sixteen sites: the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and Aviation Trail Visitor Center (Site 3, pictured above) and the Wright Cycle Company (Site 3 next door on Williams Street). The self-guided tour began in 1981. There are park personnel at both sites ready to provide information and brief talks. They also offer videos depicting the life of the Wright Brothers and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
 Site 2 is the Aviation Trail Parachute Center and is inside Site 1.

 In the past I've visited the Carillon Historic Park (Site  5), the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport (Site 6), the National Museum of the United States Air Force (Site 8), Wright State University (Site 10) and the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta (Site 14). For a list of all sixteen sites, click here.

 I'll make brief comments about a few of the photos ...

 A nice three-dimensional mural made with bricks on the outside of the Interpretive Center.

 Once the site of a west Dayton grocery store, it's been recreated here. It's actually very close to the old photos which are posted there.

 Looking out onto West Third from the recreated grocery.

 The grocery displays an old National Cash Register. My uncle (Charles Boyer) and my maternal grandfather (John Paulsen) worked for them for many years.

 My grandmother (Kate Paulsen) worked at a Wright Brothers airplane manufacturing site in Moraine. I have a sample of the wing fabric.

 From the Interpretive Center, the Wright's Bike Shop is visible on Williams Street.

Tom admires one of the displays 

 The Wright's printed material for Paul Laurence Dunbar.

 Now, to the bike shop ...

 Here's the work area where the Wright's constructed bicycles.

 And a close-up of some of their tools.

 This park ranger gave a talk on how the bike shop operated and how the idea for a flying machine materialized on this spot.

 Looking through a bike shop window along Williams Street to West Third Street.

 Exterior view of the The Wright Cycle Shop.

43ES

 The numbers and letters won't mean much to anyone not in our family. And yet they have a long connection with us. Nearly 80 years, in fact.

 They're the license plates my grandfather first ordered in the mid-to-late 1930's. And they're still in use today.

 Here's the earliest picture I find with the plates on my grandfather's car ...

 And then, perhaps a year or so later, the plates are on this vehicle.

 I remember the story that grandpa told many times, that a family friend, Ernie Smith, had similar plates, only backwards. I found a slide taken in Bear Lake, Michigan, with Ernie standing beside his car. Yep, the plate says ES49.

 I thought he had ES43 but I was mistaken.

 So, what's the significance of 43ES? When my grandfather first ordered reserved plates (later called "vanity plates") he wanted his initials and the two digit year. I understand that he ordered 3-something followed by his initials: ES.

 They weren't available, In fact the first year available was "43" so he went ahead and ordered that.

 In 1970, with his death, I had the plates transferred to my car. This will be the 47th year I've had the plates. I'm wondering if that's some sort of record? Has anyone in Ohio had the same reserved plates for nearly eight decades?

 It used to be that the plates changed every year ... new color, new designs. In recent years we've been allowed to keep the same plates for some time (even though the designs have continued to change). When new plates are required I order new ones. Otherwise I leave the same plates on the car. My current plates are dated 2003.

Whenever I remove a plate, I hang it in the rafters of the garage. I have 1964-1969 which my grandfather had saved.

 It's sort of a collection as metal memories. And, oh!, if these plates could talk.