'Race Women' and the American Theatre

FAIN: FT-51562-03

Cheryl Black
Mizzou (Columbia, MO 65211-3020)

The goal of this project is to complete a book-length study examining the experiences and achievements of African-American women artists/activists who played crucial roles in the development of the "Negro Little Theatre Movement" as well as in challenging racial segregation and discrimination within the mainstream theatre during that era (c. 1915-39). Examining the careers of these women not only illuminates one of the most important eras in U.S. theatre history but also leads inevitably to an investigation of race and gender ideology in American culture. This study will contribute to our understanding of American social history as well as theatre history, at the same time reinforcing the important connection between the two.