2019 Reprint of 1901 Edition. The Marrow of Tradition (1901) is a historical novel 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 Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. It is also passionate portrait of the betrayal of black culture in America. The novel was written in direct refutation of many of sensationalized accounts of the "race riot" in Wilmington. These accounts included inaccurate news reports and a series of white supremacist novels. These accounts were the only ones available to readers in the North, whose knowledge was limited to what was readily available in print. William Dean Howell described the work as one of great power and it has become a classic in the history of American race relations.