Joel Chandler Harris Biography

Joel Chandler Harris was an American journalist whose distinctive voice brought the African-American oral storytelling tradition to a wide audience. His revolutionary use of dialect and his memorable trickster hero, Br'er Rabbit, who uses his wit against adversity, captivated readers. These tales, originating in newspapers, offered an idealized, albeit popular, vision of race relations in the post-Civil War era. Harris's work celebrated the ingenuity of folklore and its enduring appeal across diverse communities.