Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African-American poet, was born on June 27, 1872. By the age of fourteen, Dunbar had poems published in the Dayton Herald. While in high school he edited his high school newspaper. Despite being a fine student, Dunbar was financially unable to attend college and took a job as an elevator operator. In 1893, Dunbar published his first book, Oak and Ivy, at his own expense. In 1895, he published the second book, Majors and Minors, which brought him national and international recognition. The poems written in standard English were called “majors,” and those in dialect were termed “minors.” Although the “major” poems in standard English outnumber those written in dialect, it was the dialect poems that brought Dunbar the most attention.