Joel Chandler Harris & the Wren’s Nest

A look at the author of the Uncle Remus tales from his living room.

By John Lemley

Atlanta, Ga – On this date in 1879, writer and journalist Joel Chandler Harris published a story called “The Story of Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Fox as Told by Uncle Remus” in the Atlanta Constitution. It was the first of 34 such stories which would later be compiled into Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings just a year later and which would launch the modest Harris into international acclaim.

WABE's John Lemley previously paid a visit to Harris' West End Atlanta home, the Wren's Nest, to talk to his great-great-great grandson and Executive Director of the house museum, Lain Shakespeare. He was greeted by docent Jeri McWilliams, who showed us in and talked about Harris?pre-Uncle Remus.