Rehabilitating Uncle Remus (and His House in Atlanta)
ATLANTA — The Wren’s Nest, the ocher-colored home of Joel Chandler Harris and his famous storyteller, Uncle Remus, has long been shunned by the black neighborhood that surrounds it.
Harris’s characters, including Br’er Rabbit and the Tar-Baby, may have been based on African folktales, but their antiquated and affectionate portrait of life in the old South is not welcome by detractors, and many neighbors have not forgotten the Wren’s Nest’s history of keeping black people out of the house that Uncle Remus built.
Now, however, the Queen Anne-style house — on a busy street in the West End neighborhood — is undergoing an overhaul by its board of directors and Lain Shakespeare, the executive director and a 24-year-old descendant of Harris. They say their goal is to overcome the antipathy many people feel toward Harris.
“We’re going to put our story out into the community,” said Marshall Thomas, chairman of the Joel Chandler Harris Association. “It’s what is called an underappreciated asset.” Harris defenders like Mr. Thomas note that in many literary circles Harris’s writing is admired for its dialogue and as a contribution to American folklore.
Read entire article at NYT
Harris’s characters, including Br’er Rabbit and the Tar-Baby, may have been based on African folktales, but their antiquated and affectionate portrait of life in the old South is not welcome by detractors, and many neighbors have not forgotten the Wren’s Nest’s history of keeping black people out of the house that Uncle Remus built.
Now, however, the Queen Anne-style house — on a busy street in the West End neighborhood — is undergoing an overhaul by its board of directors and Lain Shakespeare, the executive director and a 24-year-old descendant of Harris. They say their goal is to overcome the antipathy many people feel toward Harris.
“We’re going to put our story out into the community,” said Marshall Thomas, chairman of the Joel Chandler Harris Association. “It’s what is called an underappreciated asset.” Harris defenders like Mr. Thomas note that in many literary circles Harris’s writing is admired for its dialogue and as a contribution to American folklore.