Today's Black History Moment is about Paul Laurence Dunbar. Special thanks to student Trey Turner for this narration! Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872 to freed slaves from Kentucky. He would, later on, become one of the first influential Black poets in American literature. Dunbar is regarded as America’s first great Black poet, and in 1936 the state of Ohio purchased his home, making it the first state to dedicate a memorial to an African American. | Sinclair College