James Baldwin
James Baldwin is the author and the narrator of the essays in the collection Notes of a Native Son. Baldwin was born in the 1920s in New York City, in the predominantly black neighborhood of Harlem. Baldwin wrote from his own experience as a black person living in America. In the period during which he wrote the essays in this book, Baldwin also traveled to Paris and to Switzerland and thus was able to reflect on life back home through geographical distance.
Baldwin's father
Baldwin mentions his father in his essays and the relationship the two had. Baldwin’s father, David Baldwin Sr., was a preacher who hoped that his son would one day become a preacher as well. David was in the first generation of free African Americans after slavery. He grew up in New Orleans and then migrated north. While Baldwin was a teenager, his father was admitted to a mental hospital for paranoid schizophrenia. His death from complications related to tuberculosis forms one of the central topics of the essay "Notes of a Native Son."
Baldwin's brother
James Baldwin mentions David, one of his nine brothers, in the essay "Journey to Atlanta." David is invited to Atlanta to sing in a quartet but sent instead to gather votes for a political party. David records his humorous and tragic experiences in the South in a diary, which Baldwin uses as the basis for the chapter.
Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Dandridge was an actress in the movie Carmen Jones which Baldwin reviews in the essay by the same name. Dandridge was the female lead whose performance Baldwin criticizes.
Baldwin’s mother
Baldwin’s mother remains unnamed in the essays. Baldwin mentions her because she was among the few who encouraged Baldwin to continue his passion for writing and believed that her son will have a chance of succeeding in life.
Richard Wright
Richard Wright is another African-American novelist mentioned by Baldwin in his essays. Wright was the author of the novel Native Son, a novel praised by many for its shocking portrayal of American racism and the conditions in Chicago's ghettos.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Stowe was the author of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel Baldwin criticizes in several of the essays in the collection.
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte played the male lead in the movie Carmen Jones and Baldwin notes how Harry and his performance were desexualized. He notes that this is the result of the fear American society has of black sexuality.
Tourist from New York
The American tourist appears in the essay "Equal in Paris." While in Paris, Baldwin meets an acquaintance from New York who complains about the horrible conditions at the hotel where he was staying. Baldwin agrees to help the American tourist switch to his hotel. Before leaving, however, the American tourist steals a sheet from the hotel, and both the American tourist and Baldwin are arrested for the crime.
Mr. Clarence Warde
Mr. Warde is a man from Harlem who arranges for Baldwin’s brother and the rest of the quartet to go and perform in Atlanta for the Progressive Party. According to Baldwin’s description, he is incompetent and gets Baldwin's brother and bandmates into a difficult situation.
Mrs. Price
Mrs. Price is the woman who convinces Baldwin’s brother and his bandmates to go and gather votes instead of performing as they were promised. A wealthy white Southern woman, she gets angry with the band for not doing everything she asks.
