In honor of what would have been her 89th birthday today, May’s Playwright Profile is on Lorraine Hansberry, a prolific playwright and civil rights activist who died way too soon.
Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19, 1930. She was the youngest of four children. Her father, Carl Augustus Hansberry, ran a successful real estate business and founded Lake Street Bank, one of the first banks in Chicago for black people (“Lorraine”).
Lorraine came from a middle-class background, and when she was eight years old, her family attempted to move into a restricted neighborhood. At the time, white property owners were not selling to black people, instead creating an area known as the “Black Belt” on Chicago’s South Side. Carl, Harry H. Pace, and some white realtors, secretly bought property in the restricted area. Lorraine’s family moved into this house, where they were threatened by a white mob and had a brick thrown through the window (“Lorraine”). The Hansberrys were then sued by James Lee, a fellow homeowner, who said they needed to leave because of the restrictive covenant on the land that said only white people could live there (Poortvliet). (Lorraine would later chronicle her experiences in her first play, A Raisin in the Sun).
The case was brought to the Supreme Court of Illinois, where Carl argued that the restrictive covenants were unconstitutionally discriminatory (Poortvliet). Unfortunately and sadly not surprisingly, the Supreme Court of Illinois “upheld the legality of the restrictive covenant and forced the family to leave the house” (“Lorraine”). However, Carl did not give up and appealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed the decision made by Illinois’ Supreme Court because of a “legal technicality.” Due to this reversal, 30 blocks of land were opened on the South Side of Chicago to black people (“Lorraine”). Hansberry’s father therefore made a deep impact on American history. He sadly died of a cerebral hemorrhage when Lorraine was fourteen years old (Fonseca).
Lorraine attended the University of Wisconsin but left before completing her degree (“Lorraine”). She attended the New School for Social Research, as well as taught at Frederick Douglass School (McDonald). She wrote for Paul Robeson’s Freedom, a progressive publication (“Lorraine”), in which she later became associate editor of (McDonald).
At a protest against racial discrimination, Hansberry met Robert Nemiroff, a white, Jewish writer. The two married in 1953 at Lorraine’s home in Chicago (“Lorraine”). At this point in history, interracial marriage was still illegal in many states. Hansberry also faced backlash for her marriage to a white man, with Malcolm X publicly shaming her for her marriage. However, Hansberry was a very strong woman and she “clapped back” at Malcolm X, who later apologized for his words (Bates).
Despite the marriage, it was no secret that Lorraine was a lesbian; however, at the time, homosexuality was illegal in New York (Bates). Hansberry and Nemiroff eventually divorced, but they still remained best friends. They supposedly talked every day and saw each other often, which confused Lorraine’s lesbian friends. Lorraine even chose him to “safeguard the integrity of her literary work,” a duty which he upheld until his death and that was then passed on to his heirs (Bates).
In 1959, Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, directed by Lloyd Richards, opened on Broadway (The Editors). It was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as feature a predominantly black cast (“Lorraine”). It was also the first Broadway play since 1907 to be directed by a black person (The Editors). The play opened to rave reviews and catapulted Hansberry’s career. At 29 years old, she became the youngest American playwright and first black playwright (Hutcherson) to win the prestigious New York Drama Critics’ Circle award (Bates). She beat out Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill for this award (Bates). Let’s take a minute to recognize how amazing and empowering that is. She beat out two of the most famous playwrights in history, two white men, to win this award. That is incredible and extremely significant.
Her second play, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, also premiered on Broadway and ran for 101 performances (“Lorraine”). The play dealt with racism, marriage, political action, prostitution, and homosexuality (McDonald).The play received mixed reviews but Hansberry’s friends came together to keep the play running. The play closed in 1965, the day Hansberry died (“Lorraine”).
As demonstrated by her interaction with Malcolm X, Hansberry was not afraid to speak her mind. In 1963, when she and other black activists and celebrities were invited by Robert F. Kennedy, who basically wanted them to “pat him on the back for the work the Kennedy administration had done in civil rights,” Hansberry told him “to get the lead out and do more” (Bates).
Sadly, Hansberry was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and she died on January 12, 1965. Her funeral was attended by approximately 700 people and greatly impacted the arts community (Bates).
After her death, Nemiroff put together a book of her work called, To Be Young, Gifted and Black. The title comes from a speech Hansberry gave in 1964 to winners of a United Negro Fund writing competition: “…though it be a thrilling and marvelous thing to be merely young and gifted in such times, it is doubly so, doubly dynamic, to be young, gifted and black!” (“Lorraine”).
Hansberry accomplished so much in a short amount of time, and her plays have made a huge impact on society and the arts community. If you have not already read it, A Raisin in the Sun is a must-read. Lorraine Hansberry was truly a remarkable and gifted person.
May 19, 2019
Works Cited
Bates, Karen Grigsby. “Lorraine Hansberry: Radiant, Radical - And More Than 'Raisin'.” NPR, NPR, 22 Sept. 2018, www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/09/22/649373933/lorraine-hansberry-radiant-radical-and-more-than-raisin.
Fonseca, Sarah. “The Double Life of Lorraine Hansberry (Out Magazine, September 1999).” Medium, Medium, 26 Sept. 2018, medium.com/@girlsinmitsouko/the-double-life-of-lorraine-hansberry-out-magazine-september-1999-a60c1d471d49.
Hutcherson, Lori Lakin. GOOD BLACK NEWS, goodblacknews.org/tag/new-york-drama-critics-circle-award/.
“Lorraine Hansberry Biography.” Chicago Public Library, www.chipublib.org/lorraine-hansberry-biography/.
“Lorraine Hansberry Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lorraine_hansberry_885164.
McDonald, Dionn. “Lorraine Hansberry · Big Lives: Profiles of LGBT African Americans · OutHistory.org: It's About Time.” Outhistory.org, outhistory.org/exhibits/show/aa-history-month-bios/lorraine-hansberry.
Poortvliet, Kenneth. Study.com, Study.com, study.com/academy/lesson/hansberry-v-lee-summary-history-facts.html.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia The Editors. “Lorraine Hansberry.” Encyclopædia The Editors, Encyclopædia The Editors, Inc., 5 Apr. 2019, www.The Editors.com/biography/Lorraine-Hansberry.
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