Lorraine Hansberry: An Annotated Bibliography Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was born May 19, 1930 in Chicago and raised in a middle-class family. When Hansberry was only eight years old she had her first experience with civil rights. Her father fought a lengthy legal battle in the late 1930’s against harsh covenants which kept Chicago’s blacks in the ghettos. To make a statement the family moved into an all white neighborhood which was against the law at that time.
The house was often vandalized and the children were faced with hostility as they walked to and from school. Hansberry’s father fought the city’s Jim Crow laws all the way to the Supreme Court and won. This whole experience would later serve as an inspiration for Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A raisin in the Sun.” Hansberry attended the University of Wisconsin for two years and then studied painting in Chicago and Mexico, before she realized she had no talent for it. Moving to New York in 1950, she held many jobs, while perfecting her skill as a writer. Hansberry said, “A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so much the risk of loneliness as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men- and people in general.” She became involved in the civil rights movement and married a white jewish man; their marriage would only last a few years before Hansberry began exploring her feelings for women.
She joined the Daughter of Blinis, a pioneering lesbian organization and had two letters published in their journal, “The Ladder.” However, it was for her play “A Raisin in the Sun”, that she received her praise. Hansberry was the first black to direct a play on Broadway since 1907. “A Raisin in the Sun” won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. Hansberry was also named the most promising playwright of the season by Variety’s poll of New York Drama Critics. She wrote other stories about gay’s, but these did not do so well. Just as Hansberry was profiting from her hard work she was struck with cancer.
The Essay on Jazz in New York and Chicago During the 1920s
New York and Chicago During the 1920's The 1920's was a huge decade for the phenomena known as "Jazz". Due to the closing of the seaport in New Orleans, musicians were forced to travel up the Mississippi to find work. Two of the cities most affected by this move were Chicago and New York. Chicago was home primarily for New Orleans traditional music during the 1920's. From this New Orleans style ...
The playwright, activist and feminist died at the age of 34. Her dedication to her writing has not been forgotten since her death, due to her ex-husband’s hard work in keeping her memory alive.
