| FT-53951-06 | Research Programs: Summer Stipends | Craig Prentiss | Challenging Divine Justice in African-American Anti-Lynching Plays, 1916-1945 | 6/1/2006 - 7/31/2006 | $5,000.00 | Craig | | Prentiss | | | | Rockhurst University | Kansas City | MO | 64110-2508 | USA | 2006 | Religion, General | Summer Stipends | Research Programs | 5000 | 0 | 5000 | 0 |
Of the 29 known anti-lynching plays written by African-Americans from 1916-1945, nearly half portrayed characters or situations that called the justice or existence of God into question. My article argues that these plays reflect significant theological debates among African-Americans engaged in contesting religion’s role in competing constructions of Black identity. The article will also be a chapter in a book on the larger topic of religion’s representation in plays written by African-Americans before 1945, and will be the first scholarly treatment of the topic. An NEH Summer Stipend will support two weeks of archival research and the completion of my article/chapter on anti-lynching plays. |