Dave, David Drake, was born a slave near Edgefield, South Carolina, c.1800. He died after 1870, having enjoyed only a few years of freedom. Somehow Dave learned to read and to write a beautiful script. At an early age he was sent to the pottery works near Edgefield, where he became a master potter. One of his splendid poem-jars recently sold for over$80,000. Dave "published" his first known poem in 1834 by inscribing the work in the yet soft clay of one of his storage jars. He continued to "publish" his poems in this unusual manner for a period of twenty-eight years. His last known poem is dated 3 May 1862. Dave's is a wonderful story of survival, especially the survival of the creative, human spirit while laboring under the worst form of tyranny. Dave's is a highly important, new, African-American voice; his works are documented in the following published works: "Crossroads of Clay," by C. W. Horne (1990); "Great and Noble Jar: Traditional Stoneware of South Carolina," by C. K. Baldwin (1993); "I made this jar...The Life and Works of the Enslaved African-American Potter, Dave," McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina, (1998); "Dave's Poems: The Poetry of Enslaved African-American Poet, David Drake," by S. J. Hardman (2001).