Chesnutt, Charles W.

Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932), an American writer, was considered the first African-American novelist. Noted for his subtle treatment of racial themes, he was awarded the Spingarn Gold Medal in 1928 for his pioneering work as a literary artist in depicting black Americans. Chesnutt is best known for The Conjure Woman (1898), a collection of dialect stories about slave life.