Gertrude P. McBrown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gertrude Parthenia McBrown
|
|
|---|---|
McBrown in 1922
|
|
| Born | 1898 Charleston, South Carolina |
| Died | 1989 |
| Occupation |
|
| Alma mater | Curry School of Expression Emerson College Boston University |
Gertrude P. McBrown (1898-1989) was an amazing American woman. She was a poet, a playwright (someone who writes plays), a teacher, an actress, and a director for stage shows. Even though she worked for many years after the 1930s, some people connect her with the Harlem Renaissance. This was a time when African American art and culture really grew in the 1920s and 1930s.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Gertrude McBrown was born in 1898 in Charleston, South Carolina. Her father was a minister. When she was a child, she saw an actor named Richard Berry Harrison perform. This show made her very interested in acting and speaking in public.
She went to the Curry School of Expression in Boston. Then, in 1918, she joined the Emerson College of Oratory. At Emerson, she was part of the debating team and the Children's Theatre. Here, she learned a lot about acting and directing plays. She finished college in 1922 with a special degree in literary interpretation.
After college, she taught English and drama for one year at Virginia State College. She then went back to Boston to study more at Boston University. In 1926, she earned a Master of Education degree. While studying, she helped coach the drama club and taught in Boston's public schools. Around this time, she started writing poetry for children. Her poems were printed in magazines like Saturday Evening Quill and Crisis. She also led a singing group and directed plays for a church in Boston.
A Career in Arts and Education
After getting her master's degree, McBrown moved to North Carolina. There, she led the drama department at Palmer Memorial Institute. Her play Experience even got a great review in Crisis magazine in 1929. Later, she taught drama at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. She took over from Richard B. Harrison, the actor who had inspired her as a child.
In the 1930s, she moved to Washington, D.C.. Here, she became well-known in writing and theater groups. She directed several children's theater groups. She also taught speech at the Washington Conservatory of Music. She taught English at Frelinghuysen University, where Anna J. Cooper was president. McBrown also opened her own teaching studio.
Writing for Children
While in Washington, she became more and more interested in poetry and theater for children. In 1935, she published her first book of poems, The Picture-Poetry Book. An artist named Lois Mailou Jones drew the pictures for it. McBrown's poems, both for kids and adults, appeared in many magazines. She also became an editor for Parent-Teacher Magazine. She wrote special stories for the Associated Negro Press.
McBrown was on the board of the Negro History Bulletin for many years. This magazine was edited by Carter G. Woodson. The Bulletin published her first two plays, which were about history. Bought With Cookies (1949) told the story of a young Frederick Douglass. The Birthday Surprise (1953) was about the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Storytelling and Travel
Gertrude McBrown became famous for her one-woman shows. In these shows, she often pretended to be important African American women from history. She was also a wonderful storyteller. She often wore beautiful African clothes to tell African tales to children. In the 1950s, McBrown moved to New York City. There, she directed drama groups and taught speech at the Carnegie Hall Studio. She also helped start a special collection of books and research about African American history at the Queens Public Library in Jamaica, Queens. She wrote a newspaper column called "Proud Heritage."
She traveled all over the world, always learning new things and sharing her knowledge. She studied drama and literature in Paris. In London, she researched African stories and culture. When she traveled in Africa, she performed her stories for audiences. In her later years, a health problem called severe arthritis made it hard for her to move around, so she slowed down her work.
In 1970, she received an award from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Gertrude McBrown passed away in 1989.
Selected Works
- Bought With Cookies, 1949
- The Birthday Surprise, 1953
