Lorraine Hansberry(1930 — 1965)
Lorraine Hansberry
États-Unis
9 min read
American playwright and activist (1930–1965), Lorraine Hansberry was the first Black woman to have a play produced on Broadway. Her work *A Raisin in the Sun* (1959) denounces racial segregation and was adapted for the screen.
Famous Quotes
« Do I remain a revolutionary? Intellectually — without a doubt. But am I prepared to give my body to the struggle? Great question. »
« Never be afraid to sit awhile and think. »
Key Facts
- 1930: born in Chicago into a politically engaged African-American family
- 1959: *A Raisin in the Sun* premieres on Broadway — the first play by a Black female playwright on that stage
- 1959: receives the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, the first Black woman to earn this distinction
- 1961: film adaptation of *A Raisin in the Sun* starring Sidney Poitier
- 1965: dies at 34 from pancreatic cancer, leaving behind an unfinished body of work
Works & Achievements
A three-act play depicting a Black Chicago family confronted with segregation and shattered dreams. The first play by a Black woman produced on Broadway, it was adapted into a film in 1961 starring Sidney Poitier.
Hansberry's second play, centered on a Jewish intellectual in Greenwich Village grappling with his political ideals. It closed on Broadway the very night of its author's death, January 12, 1965.
A text accompanying a photographic collection on the civil rights movement. Hansberry pairs striking images with political analysis to bear witness to the struggle for racial equality in the United States.
A fragmentary autobiography assembled by Robert Nemiroff from Hansberry's journals, letters, and unfinished works. Adapted for the stage, it became a foundational text of African American literature.
An unfinished play completed by Robert Nemiroff, exploring the tensions between European colonialism and African resistance. Considered one of her most politically ambitious works.
Anecdotes
When Lorraine was eight years old, her father Carl Hansberry bought a house in a white neighborhood of Chicago. The neighbors welcomed them with violence: a hostile mob smashed the windows of their home and the family was attacked. Rather than flee, her father took the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in 1940 that the family was not bound by the racial restrictive covenant imposed on them. This family resistance became the beating heart of *A Raisin in the Sun*.
On the opening night of *A Raisin in the Sun* on Broadway, March 11, 1959, Lorraine Hansberry was only 28 years old. The play received a standing ovation. A few weeks later, she became the youngest playwright and the first Black woman to win the Best Play award from the New York Drama Critics' Circle, surpassing figures such as Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill.
In May 1963, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy summoned Black intellectuals and artists to discuss civil rights. Lorraine Hansberry spoke with a directness that caught Kennedy off guard: she asked him whether federal officials would be willing to personally escort Black children to desegregated schools. The meeting ended in tension, without any concrete commitment — but it became an iconic moment of confrontation between the Black intelligentsia and the federal government.
The FBI had been monitoring Lorraine Hansberry since the early 1950s due to her activist work and her ties to Paul Robeson. Her file with the Bureau exceeded 500 pages. She was never intimidated by this: she continued to write and campaign until her death, refusing to sign loyalty oaths or denounce those close to her.
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at 33, Lorraine Hansberry continued writing from her hospital bed. She died on January 12, 1965, at only 34 years old, on the very evening her second play *The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window* closed on Broadway. Nina Simone paid tribute to her with the song *To Be Young, Gifted and Black*, inspired by a speech Hansberry had given the previous year to a group of young award recipients.
Primary Sources
"Mama : Son — how come you talk so much 'bout money? Walter : Because it is life, Mama!" La pièce met en scène une famille noire de Chicago attendant un chèque d'assurance-vie, chaque membre portant un rêve que la ségrégation étouffe. Le titre est emprunté au poème «Harlem» de Langston Hughes : «What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?»
"Young, gifted and black — that is what you are. And that is the substance of what I want to say. Do you know what it means to be young, gifted and black in America today?" Ce discours prononcé devant des lycéens lauréats devint un cri de ralliement pour toute une génération, et inspira la chanson éponyme de Nina Simone.
Hansberry y analysait l'oppression des femmes homosexuelles en parallèle avec celle des Noirs américains, affirmant que la lutte pour l'égalité devait être totale et inclusive. Ces lettres, publiées sous initiales, ne furent reconnues comme siennes qu'après sa mort.
"I was born on the South Side of Chicago. I was born black and a female. I was born in a depression after one world war, and came into my adolescence during another." Texte autobiographique assemblé par Robert Nemiroff à partir de ses journaux intimes, lettres et œuvres inachevées.
Key Places
Lorraine Hansberry was born and raised in this predominantly Black neighborhood, shaped by residential segregation. The episode of her family purchasing a home in a white neighborhood directly inspired *A Raisin in the Sun*.
Hansberry studied here starting in 1948. It was there that she discovered theater and awakened to political activism, particularly through debates on civil rights and freedom of expression.
Manhattan's bohemian neighborhood where Hansberry lived from the 1950s onward. This hub of artistic and intellectual exchange nourished her writing and her activist commitments; it was here that she wrote *A Raisin in the Sun*.
The Broadway theater where *A Raisin in the Sun* had its world premiere on March 11, 1959, running for a historic 530 performances. That opening night marked a turning point in the history of American theater and the civil rights movement.
Hansberry took part in political mobilizations in the nation's capital, most notably at the March on Washington in 1963 and during her memorable meeting with Robert F. Kennedy on the subject of desegregation.