Although Joel Chandler Harris collected materials for his famous series of books featuring the character Br'er Rabbit in the 1870s, the Br'er Rabbit cycle had been recorded earlier among the Cherokees: The " tar baby" story was printed in an 1845 edition of the Cherokee Advocate, the same year Joel Chandler Harris was born. [16]

Becattini, Alberto (2016). Disney Comics: The Whole Story. Theme Park Press. p.24. ISBN 978-1683900177. Mr. Benjamin Ram & His Wonderful Fiddle/ Brother Rabbit & His Famous Foot/ Brother Rabbit & the Mosquitoes Harris did not intend to continue the Remus character. But when Small left the paper again, Harris reprised Remus. He realized the literary value of the stories he had heard from the slaves of Turnwold Plantation. Harris set out to record the stories and insisted that they be verified by two independent sources before he would publish them. He found the research more difficult given his professional duties, urban location, race and, eventually, fame. [14]

IX. MISS COW FALLS A VICTIM TO MR. RABBIT

When Brer Rabbit wasn't getting in and out of trouble, he was courting. Miz Meadows had a sister, Miz Motts, and she moved down from Philly-Me-York. Brer Rabbit decided to court both of them. Now don't come asking me about Brer Rabbit's family arrangements. How folks arranges their families is their business. Ain't yours and it definitely ain't mine.

Several United States politicians—including presidential party nominees John Kerry, John McCain, Mitt Romney [27]—have been criticized by civil rights leaders, the media, and fellow politicians for using the "tar baby" metaphor. [25] [28] An Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit newspaper strip ran from October 14, 1946 through December 31, 1972. [23] This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Warner, Charles Dudley, ed. (1902). "Pilpay: Prince Five-Weapons". A Library of the World's Best Literature, Vol.XX. New York: J. A. Hill. pp.11460–11463. OCLC 3648354– via Google Books. It seems that the only references Potter herself made to her stories being drawn from Harris’s Brer Rabbit tales were in that single journal entry and letter. In his lecture to the Beatrix Potter Society, Hollindale commented on the oddity of this omission:

VII. MR. FOX IS AGAIN VICTIMIZED

Taylor, Archer (1944). "The Tarbaby Once More". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 64 (1): 4–7. doi: 10.2307/594049. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 594049. Smith, Steven E., Catherine A. Hastedt, and Donald H. Dyal, eds., Dictionary of Literary Biography: American Book and Magazine Illustrators to 1920, volume 188, Detroit: Gale Research, 1998; Trachtenberg, Stanley, ed., Dictionary of Literary Biography: American Humorists, 1800-1950, volume 11, Detroit: Gale Research, 1982. Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848– July 3, 1908) was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his teenage years, Harris spent most of his adult life in Atlanta working as an associate editor at The Atlanta Constitution.