Lorraine Hansberry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lorraine Hansberry
Hansberry in 1955
Born	Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (1930-05-19)May 19, 1930 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	January 12, 1965(1965-01-12) (aged 34) New York City, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	University of Wisconsin–Madison The New School
Occupation	Playwright, writer, stage director
Spouse(s)	Robert B. Nemiroff ​ ​ (m. 1953; div. 1962)​

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (born May 19, 1930 – died January 12, 1965) was an important American playwright and writer. She made history as the first African-American woman to have a play performed on Broadway. Her most famous work is the play A Raisin in the Sun. This play shows the challenges faced by black Americans living in Chicago during a time of racial segregation. The play's title comes from a poem by Langston Hughes, asking what happens when a dream is put off.

At just 29 years old, Hansberry won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for A Raisin in the Sun. This made her the first African-American playwright, the fifth woman, and the youngest person ever to win this award. Her family had also fought against unfair housing rules, even taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1940.

After moving to New York City, Hansberry worked for Freedom, a newspaper that supported African-American rights. There, she worked with other important thinkers like Paul Robeson and W. E. B. Du Bois. Much of her writing focused on the fight for freedom in Africa and its impact worldwide. Lorraine Hansberry passed away from pancreatic cancer when she was only 34. Her life and work inspired the famous Nina Simone song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black".

Early Life and Family History

Lorraine Hansberry was the youngest of four children. Her father, Carl Augustus Hansberry, was a successful real estate agent. Her mother, Nannie Louise (born Perry), taught driving and was active in local politics.

In 1938, her family bought a house in a mostly white neighborhood in Chicago. This made some of their white neighbors angry. They tried to force the Hansberry family to move out. This led to a famous court case, Hansberry v. Lee, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1940. The court ruled that the unfair housing rules, called "restrictive covenants," could be challenged. These rules were later made illegal.

Carl Hansberry was also a strong supporter of civil rights groups like the Urban League and the NAACP. Lorraine's father died in 1946 when she was 15. She later said that "American racism helped kill him."

Many important black leaders and artists visited the Hansberry home. These included professor W. E. B. Du Bois, poet Langston Hughes, singer Paul Robeson, musician Duke Ellington, and Olympic champion Jesse Owens. Lorraine was taught that two things were most important: her family and her race.

Lorraine Hansberry had many talented relatives. Her grandniece, Taye Hansberry, is an actress. She was also the godmother to Nina Simone's daughter, Lisa.

Education and Activism

Lorraine Hansberry finished elementary school in 1944 and high school in 1948. She then attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. There, she quickly became involved in political activities. She even helped to integrate a dormitory, meaning she helped make it open to students of all races. A classmate remembered her as someone who could quickly create a protest sign for any cause.

She worked on Henry A. Wallace's presidential campaign in 1948, even though her mother did not approve. In the summer of 1949, she traveled to Mexico to study painting.

Moving to New York City

In 1950, Hansberry decided to leave college and move to New York City to become a writer. She continued her studies at The New School. In 1951, she moved to Harlem and became involved in local protests, such as fighting against unfair evictions.

Working at Freedom Newspaper

In 1951, Hansberry joined the staff of Freedom, a newspaper focused on black issues. It was edited by Louis E. Burnham and published by Paul Robeson. At Freedom, she worked with other important Black leaders, including W. E. B. Du Bois. She did many jobs at the newspaper, like being a receptionist and typist, and also wrote news articles and opinion pieces.

Hansberry also wrote plays and scripts for the newspaper. For Freedom's first birthday, she wrote a play about the history of black newspapers in America. Famous performers like Paul Robeson took part in this event. The next year, she worked with playwright Alice Childress on another play for a Black History Festival. This early work showed her talent for theater.

Hansberry believed that the fight against racism in the U.S. was connected to the fight for freedom in other parts of the world. She wrote about the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, criticizing how the news often reported on it unfairly. She also highlighted the role of women in these global struggles for equality.

In 1952, Hansberry attended a peace conference in Uruguay. She went in place of Paul Robeson, who was not allowed to travel by the U.S. government.

Marriage and Personal Life

On June 20, 1953, Lorraine Hansberry married Robert B. Nemiroff, a publisher, songwriter, and activist. They moved to Greenwich Village, which later became the setting for her second Broadway play. The night before their wedding, Hansberry and Nemiroff protested against an execution in New York City.

Nemiroff's song "Cindy, Oh Cindy" became a hit, which allowed Hansberry to focus on writing full-time. Although they separated in 1957 and divorced in 1962, they continued to work together professionally until Hansberry's death.

Hansberry was a private person about some aspects of her life. She wrote in her personal notes about her attractions to women. She also corresponded with a lesbian rights organization, but there is no evidence she was directly involved in the early gay rights movement. She found a circle of friends who understood her and felt more comfortable being herself later in life.

In 1964, Hansberry and Nemiroff divorced but remained close. After her death, Robert Nemiroff gave all of Hansberry's writings and personal items to the New York Public Library. He kept some materials related to her private life from being seen by others for many years. In 2013, these materials were finally made available to scholars.

Success as a Playwright

A Raisin in the Sun was finished in 1957 and first opened on Broadway on March 11, 1959. It was the first play by an African-American woman to be shown on Broadway. At 29, Hansberry became the youngest American playwright and only the fifth woman to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. The play was also nominated for four Tony Awards in 1960. In just two years, Raisin was translated into 35 languages and performed all over the world.

In April 1959, a month after her play opened, photographer David Attie took many famous pictures of Hansberry for Vogue magazine. These photos were taken in the apartment where she wrote A Raisin in the Sun.

Hansberry wrote two movie scripts for Raisin, but both were turned down by Columbia Pictures because they were considered too controversial. In 1960, NBC asked her to create a TV show about slavery. She wrote a script called The Drinking Gourd, which was praised but also rejected.

In 1960, Hansberry was made an honorary member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

In 1963, Hansberry met with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy along with James Baldwin and other civil rights leaders. Also in 1963, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She had two operations, but they were not successful in removing the cancer.

On May 1, 1964, Hansberry gave a speech to young writers. She famously said: "Though it is 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."

Many of her other writings, like essays and articles, were published during her lifetime. However, the only other play produced while she was alive was The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. It ran for 101 performances on Broadway and closed on the day she died.

Her Beliefs

Lorraine Hansberry believed that gaining civil rights in the United States and achieving independence in African countries were connected. She saw them as two parts of the same struggle for freedom for black people everywhere. When Ghana gained independence, she wrote that its future promised freedom for all people of color around the world.

Hansberry believed that black people needed to use every possible way to fight for their rights. This included legal actions, protests, boycotts, and even defending themselves when attacked.

James Baldwin described Hansberry's meeting with Robert F. Kennedy in 1963. Hansberry asked Kennedy for a "moral commitment" to civil rights. She told him she was worried about the state of a society that allowed a white police officer to stand on a black woman's neck in Birmingham.

In a public debate in 1964, Hansberry criticized white liberals who couldn't accept civil disobedience. She said they needed to become "American radicals" instead. However, she also noted that some white people had died fighting for civil rights.

Hansberry was also a critic of existentialism, a philosophy she felt was too far removed from real-world problems. She admired Simone de Beauvoir's book The Second Sex, which discussed women's rights.

In 1959, Hansberry said that women who face "twice oppressed" might become "twice militant." She hoped that some men would also fight for women's freedom.

Hansberry was deeply disturbed by the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when she was in high school. She hoped for a future where there were no bombs, but she also believed people had the right to defend themselves against those who oppressed them.

The FBI started watching Hansberry when she planned to attend a peace conference. They looked into her background and later called her play A Raisin in the Sun "dangerous" because of its themes of black unity.

Death

Lorraine Hansberry died of pancreatic cancer on January 12, 1965, when she was 34 years old. James Baldwin believed that the stress of what she saw and fought against might have contributed to her early death.

Hansberry's funeral was held in Harlem on January 15, 1965. Paul Robeson and civil rights leader James Forman spoke at the service. The minister read messages from James Baldwin and Martin Luther King Jr.. Dr. King wrote that Hansberry's talent and understanding of social issues would inspire future generations. January 15 was also Dr. King's birthday. She is buried in Asbury United Methodist Church Cemetery in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.

Works Published After Her Death

Lorraine Hansberry's ex-husband, Robert Nemiroff, became responsible for her unfinished writings. He made small changes to complete her play Les Blancs. He also put together many of her writings into a play called To Be Young, Gifted and Black. This play was very popular and later became a book. She also left behind an unfinished novel and other plays, including The Drinking Gourd (about slavery) and What Use Are Flowers? (about a future after a disaster).

When Nemiroff gave Hansberry's belongings to the New York Public Library, he kept some private materials from being seen by researchers for over 50 years. In 2013, these materials were finally released to a scholar.

Legacy and Influence

In 1973, a musical based on A Raisin in the Sun, called Raisin, opened on Broadway. It ran for over two years and won two Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

A Raisin in the Sun has been brought back to Broadway several times. In 2004, a production starring Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad won Tony Awards. In 2008, this production was made into a TV movie. In 2014, another Broadway revival starring Denzel Washington also won three Tony Awards.

In 1969, Nina Simone released her famous song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black". The song's title came from Hansberry's own words. Simone wrote the song to make "black children all over the world feel good about themselves forever."

Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack wrote a children's biography about Hansberry called Young, Black, and Determined in 1998.

Many places and organizations are named in her honor. These include The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in San Francisco, a dormitory at Lincoln University, and elementary schools in the Bronx and St. Albans, Queens.

In 2006, The Hansberry Project was started in Seattle, Washington. It is a theater lab led by African-American artists. Its goal is to create a space where the community can experience excellent art from black artists.

In 2010, Hansberry was added to the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. In 2013, she was honored on the Legacy Walk in Chicago, which celebrates LGBT history. Also in 2013, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

In 2017, Hansberry was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. In 2018, a documentary about her life, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, was released. A new biography, Looking for Lorraine, was also published that year.

On June 9, 2022, a statue of Hansberry was unveiled in Times Square. It will travel to other major U.S. cities.

Works

• A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
• A Raisin in the Sun, screenplay (1961)
• "On Summer" (essay) (1960)
• The Drinking Gourd (1960)
• What Use Are Flowers? (written around 1962)
• The Arrival of Mr. Todog – a funny play that makes fun of Waiting for Godot
• The Movement: Documentary of a Struggle for Equality (1964)
• The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (1965)
• To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words (1969)
• Les Blancs: The Collected Last Plays / by Lorraine Hansberry. Edited by Robert Nemiroff (1994)
• Toussaint. This unfinished play is about a Haitian plantation owner and his wife whose lives are changed by the revolution led by Toussaint Louverture.

See also

• African American literature
• Clybourne Park
• Existentialist feminism