African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Animal Fables From the Dark Continent

After all the great scholarship from last week, I wanted to get back to stories this week, starting with a really fascinating old book: Animal Fables From the Dark Continent by Alphonso Orenzo Stafford.

What makes this book fascinating is that it is all about the African heritage of African American stories, bringing together 20 stories from Africa with 14 stories that are from African American storytellers. Here is a list of the titles: The Happy Age in the Animal World ~ The Squirrel and the Kingship ~ The Dog and the Kingship ~ The Dog and the Clever Rabbit ~ The Dog and the Leopard ~ The Cat and the Hen ~ The Cat, the Rat, and the Fox ~ Why the Cat Came to Man's House ~ The Rabbit and the Other Animals ~ The Rabbit and the Animal Wizard ~ The Rabbit and the Elephant ~ The Rabbit and the Alligator ~ The Wolf's Butter ~ The Rabbit Escapes the Wolf's Anger ~ The Rabbit and His Ears ~ The Rabbit and the Moon ~ Why the Goat Left the Jungle ~ The Frog and the Elephant ~ The Frog and the Leopard ~ The Jackal and the Leopard ~ The Jackal and the Heron ~ The Jackal and the Hyena ~ The Hyena's Spots ~ The Hyena's Punishment ~ The Wolf and His Two Dinners ~ The Sense of the Weasel ~ The Turtle, the Wolf, and the Hyena ~ The Home of the Rat ~ The Alligator and the Moor Hen ~ The Hawk and the Rooster ~ The Owl and His Friends ~ The Rival Roosters ~ The Monkey Finds Worry ~ Jan the Animal Judge.

The book has illustrations by Sarah Noble Ives; you can read more about her life and career at Wikipedia. Here is her illustration for the dog who wanted to be king:

And here you can see the fox, the cat, and the rat:

As the author describes it, the book is a testimony to "the folklore of the Negro race," both in Africa and in the Americas. 

I haven't been able to find out much about the author, but he was clearly committed to this integrated study of African and African American culture. For example, in 1916 (ten years after the publication of this book) Stafford published an article about proverbs that reflects his interest in African cultures: "The Mind of the African Negro as Reflected in his Proverbs;" it appeared in The Journal of Negro History, which is also available at the Archive. Also of interest: in 1915 he published "Folk Literature of the Negro" in W.E.B. DuBois's The Crisis, also at the Archive.

In addition, you can find more work by Stafford in W.E.B. DuBois's children's literary magazine, The Brownies' Book: in April 1920 Stafford published "The Twin Heroes: An African Myth," and in May 1920 "Some African Riddles." I'll take that as a reason to come back tomorrow with more about the remarkable Brownies' Book. 

Meanwhile, Stafford's book awaits you at the Internet Archive!

Animal Fables From the Dark Continent

by Alphonso Orenzo Stafford