The Marrow of Tradition by Charles W. Chestnutt The Marrow of Tradition (1901) is a historical novel by the African-American author Charles W. Chesnutt, set at the time and portraying a fictional account of the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina. This story is a fictional account of the rise of the white supremacist movement, specifically as it contributed to the "race riots" that took place in...