On April 20, 1895, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Ruth Moore were mentioned together in a newspaper. When the article appeared, Paul lived in Dayton and Alice was in New Orleans. Though they had yet to meet, they would eventually get married.
The growth of the Negro press is wonderful. Today there are more than two hundred newspapers, magazines and other publications issued by Negroes and some of them are good ones. The race is also rich in the number of good writers it possesses and many of them are regular contributors to the best white journals and magazines. The Future State published at Kansas City, Mo., while not so well known in the East, is a strapping youngster. The March-April number is particularly good. Miss Alice Ruth Moore, the sweet singer of the Crescent City, Paul Dunbar, the Buckeye poet and many others are seen to advantage.
"Race Literature." The Parsons Weekly Blade (Parsons, Kansas). April 20, 1895. Page 2.
As their literary careers developed, Paul and Alice were mentioned alongside some of the leading Black authors of the time.
The following Afro-Americans have recently strayed from the paths of prose and published books in measured feet: H. Cordelia Ray, Paul Laurence Dunbar, the Rev. A. A. Whitman, the Rev. Mr. Rowe, Mrs. Josie D. Heard, Joseph S. Cotter, D. Webster Davis, Eloise Bibbs, and Alice Ruth Moore. Dunbar has the strongest, and Miss Moore the sweetest, most musical voice.
"Afro-American Notes." The Sun (New York, New York). August 4, 1895. Page 3.
Since they both worked in the literary field, Paul and Alice often had their poetry published in the same journals. In the A.M.E. Church Review of October 1896, Alice's poem "Midnight" ends on page 227 and Paul's poem "Just Whistle a Bit" is on page 228. Both poems are accompanied by a small picture of the author.
The A. M. E. Review for October is now on the tables of many of the more cultured men and women of the race. Professor Kealing has brought out such an issue as many of us have long wished to see. His contributors are Bishop B. T. Tanner, Rev. R. C. Ransom, D. Augustus Straker, Rev. T. S. Stewart, Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, Miss Alice Ruth Moore, and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
"Noted and Gifted Writers for the A. M. E. Review in the October Number." The Freeman (Indianapolis, Indiana). November 21, 1896. Page 1.
The A.M.E. Church Review for October contains more than its usual quota of articles on live and pertinent questions. Mrs. Mary Church Terrell writes on "A Few Possibilities of the National Association of Colored Women." The verse is well sustained by two widely known lyricists of the race: Miss Alice Ruth Moore and Paul Laurence Dunbar. A pleasing feature is the insertion of the vignettes of the writers at the head of each article.
"Straws That Tell." The Enterprise (Omaha, Nebraska). November 28, 1896. Page 2.
Paul wrote to Alice for the first time after reading some of her work (and seeing her picture) in a journal. In her reply, Alice said she had also seen Paul's name mentioned in literary publications.
You will pardon my boldness in addressing you, I hope, and let my interest in your work be my excuse. I am drawn to write you because we are both working along the same lines and a sketch of yours in the Monthly Review so interested me that I was anxious to know more of you and your work.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Ruth Moore, April 17, 1895. Alice Dunbar-Nelson papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library (Newark, Delaware). MSS 0113, Box 1, F1.
Your name is quite familiar to me from seeing your poems in different papers. I always enjoyed them very much.
Alice Ruth Moore to Paul Laurence Dunbar, May 7, 1895. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 1).
After four years of marriage, the Dunbars separated permanently in January 1902. Though they were apart, their work still appeared together.
The Christmas poems of the December Lippincott's Magazine breathe of the birth of Christ in touching stanzas. The titles, "The Flock in the Meadow," by Mildred McNeal, and "New-Born Babe in the Royal Palace," by Susie M. Best, tell their own story. Other short poems besides Paul Laurence Dunbar's sweet "Lyrics of Love and Sorrow" are "Summit and Vale," by Alice Moore Dunbar; "Fidelity," by Edward Wilbur Mason; "In November," by Ingram Crockett; "Leaves," by Agnes Lee, and "Thanksgiving," by J. Hammond Brown.
"December Magazines." The Reading Daily Times and Dispatch (Reading, Pennsylvania). November 26, 1902. Page 6.