The documentary PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR: BEYOND THE MASK explores the life and legacy of the first African American to achieve national fame as a writer. Born to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) is best remembered for his poem "We Wear the Mask" and for lines from "Sympathy," which inspired the title of Maya Angelou's famous autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. " Dunbar's story mirrors the African American experience around the turn of the century. Referred to by abolitionist Frederick Douglass as "The most promising young colored man in America," Dunbar also wrote short stories, novels, and widely published essays critical of Jim Crow laws, lynching, and what was commonly called "The Negro Problem." Drawing richly on archival photographs, letters and newspaper articles, PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR: BEYOND THE MASK chronicles the short but remarkable life and career of the influential poet and writer.