Dandridge becomes a house painter and decorator
Poet involved
What happened
After finishing high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dandridge worked as a house painter and decorator. Contemporary accounts describe him as physically active and skilled with his hands before illness confined him. The trade placed him among the practical working people who later populated his imaginative world.
Literary impact
His manual work gave him a close knowledge of craft, colour, homes, and neighbourhood life. That background sharpened the realism of his poetry and made his later achievement from a sickbed feel all the more striking.
Source: Encyclopedia.com
