Research Guides: Lorraine Hansberry: Biography

Lorraine Hansberry (May 19, 1930 - January 12, 1965)

Lorraine Hansberry’s career was very brief, only two of her plays being produced in her lifetime, yet she recorded some very impressive theatrical achievements. She was only twenty-nine when A Raisin in the Sun appeared on Broadway, and its great success earned for her recognition that continues to this day. When A Raisin in the Sun was voted best play of the year by the New York Drama Critics Circle, she became the first black person as well as the youngest person to win the award. In 1973, a musical adapted from A Raisin in the Sun, entitled Raisin (with libretto by Nemiroff), won a Tony Award as best musical of the year (1974). Continue . . .

Source: Short, Hugh, and Katherine Lederer. “Lorraine Hansberry.” Critical Survey of Drama, Second Revised Edition, Apr. 2003, pp. 1–8. From Literary Reference Center Plus database.

eBook Collection

Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry

Les Blancs: The Collected Last Plays : The Drinking Gourd/What Use Are Flowers?

Resources

To Be(come) Young, Gay, and Black: Lorraine Hansberry's Existentialist Routes to Anticolonialism Article from Cheryl Higashida.
The Roof of a Southern Home: A Reimagined and Usable South in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun The article discusses the depiction of the American southern states in the play "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. Topics discussed include much of African American literature depicting the south as a source of trepidation and terror while Hansberry's play depicts a positive regional perspective.
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart PBS biography.
Lorraine Hansberry's Freedom Family The article presents a profile and examination into the life and active involvement of Lorraine Hansberry with the African American journal "Freedom" and her political activism. It discusses the early career of Hansberry in the publication, highlighting its role in her personal transition from a political activist to an artist, and her shift from communist advocacy to the international human rights movement. Further attention is given to the contributions of Hansberry in the field of advocacy journalism in the mid 20th-century.

From Films On Demand database:

Creating an American Classic: Lorraine Hansberry The play "A Raisin in the Sun" was the first realistic portrayal of a black American family during the civil rights era. Professor Lynn Domina and others profile writer Lorraine Hansberry and assess the significance of the play.
A Raisin in the Sun: Character Studies Conversations Hosted by Eric Stoltz, this program dissects Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun through the sharp insights of Joe Morton (Walter Lee Younger); Kim Yancey (Beneatha Younger); Phylicia Rashad (Lena Younger); Ruby Dee, Audra McDonald, Starletta DuPois, and Ernestine Jackson (Ruth Younger); Ralph Carter (Travis Younger); John Fiedler (Carl Lindner); directors Lloyd Richards and Jack Hofsiss; Broadway producer Philip Rose; and Hansberry expert Lynn Domina, author of Understanding A Raisin in the Sun: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. The first play to realistically portray the daily lives of a contemporary African-American family, Raisin—a revolutionary work about race written during the civil rights era—makes the universal statement that dreams of a better future are important to everyone. A viewable/printable instructor’s guide is available online. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. (51 minutes)
To Be Young, Gifted, and Black This program features excerpts from the 1969 off-Broadway production at the Cherry Lane Theater of To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: The World of Lorraine Hansberry adapted by Robert Nemiroff (Hansberry's widower) and directed by Gene Frankel.
Pioneers Before World War II, there were black community theaters, but main stage theaters did not feature content for black audiences. Society saw black theater as a form of protest during the 1950s, until "A Raisin in the Sun" premiered on Broadway. Throughout the 1960s, black theater reflected revolutionary moments of the time.