“DuBose Heyward: A Charleston Gentleman and the World of Porgy and Bess” examines the man behind his creations. This biography by James Hutchisson is published by University Press of Mississippi. A hardcover edition sells for $30 at www.upress.state.ms.us

“The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes” first published in 1939,  is about a brown, female country bunny who competes and wins against slicker-looking, mostly white, male bunnies for the coveted role of Easter Bunny. The story is delightful and surprising for two reasons:

1. the country bunny is an Afro-feminist heroine.
2. a white male southerner wrote the book in the late 1930s. 

Influences on the author

What influenced writer DuBose Heyward to create this story? One answer is that Heyward defined his literary career by creating black (and often female) characters with strength and integrity. He was from an aristocratic Charleston family and Gullah (learned from servants) may have been his first language.

He achieved fame from his novel “Porgy” (1925) and then again after his hugely successful Broadway musical, “Porgy and Bess.” In 1939, the Hendersonville resident published this sweet children’s story he had made up for his daughter. 

Also, developments in the 1930s may have encouraged southern writers to expose fissures in the culture of segregation. At any rate, Heyward was a sensitive man ahead of his time.

Source: collectionsconversations.wordpress.com