cated” the white population about the problem of
race in America, it did contribute to the growth
and development of the African-American novel,
particularly in its ability to uncover the truth in
history’s darkest corners, presenting the hidden
or silenced African-American perspective, a func-
tion characteristic of all of Chesnutt’s work.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andrews, William. The Literary Career of Charles W.
Chesnutt. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University
Press, 1980.
Brodhead, Richard, ed. The Journals of Charles W.
Chesnutt. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press,
1993.
Duncan, Charles. The Narrative Craft of Charles Ches-
nutt. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1998.
Ellison, Curtis W., and E. F. Metcalf. Charles W. Ches-
nutt: A Reference Guide. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1977.
McElrath, Joseph, and Robert Leitz, III, ed. “ To B e
an Author”: Letters of Charles W. Chesnutt, 1899–
- Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
Pickens, Ernestine Williams. Charles W. Chesnutt and
the Progressive Movement. New York: Pace Univer-
sity Press, 1994.
Render, Sylvia Lyons. Charles W. Chesnutt. Boston:
Twayne, 1980.
Sundquist, Eric. To Wake the Nations: Race in the
Making of American Literature. Cambridge, Mass.:
Belknap Press, 1993.
Wideman, John Edgar. “Charles Chesnutt and the
WPA Narratives: The Oral and Literate Roots of
Afro-American Fiction.” In The Slave’s Narra-
tive, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Charles
Davis, 59–78. New York: Oxford University Press,
Wonham, Henry. Charles W. Chesnutt: A Study of the
Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1998.
Tracie Church Guzzio
Childress, Alice (1916–1994)
A pioneer in the theater, as well as an actress, direc-
tor, novelist, playwright, columnist, essayist, lec-
turer, and theater consultant, Alice Childress was
a versatile writer-playwright who boldly explored
controversial racial and socioeconomic issues that
portray the masses of poor or “ordinary” people
struggling to overcome insurmountable obstacles
in America. Through innovative characters and
themes, and by writing frankly and realistically,
she challenged her audiences and made lasting
impressions on them for more than four decades.
Additionally, she paved the way for such talented
black women playwrights as LORRAINE HANSBERRY,
SONIA SANCHEZ, ADRIENNE KENNEDY, NTOZAKE
SHANGE, and Elizabeth Brown-Guillory.
Childress was born on October 12, 1920, in
Charleston, South Carolina. She grew up in Harlem,
raised by her maternal grandmother, Eliza Camp-
bell White, who stimulated her interest in reading,
writing, and storytelling. Her grandmother also
took her often to Wednesday night testimonials
at the Salem Church of Harlem, where Childress
heard many accounts of the troubles of poor peo-
ple, mostly women, that would later become major
themes for her literary works, especially her plays.
Childress attended Public School 81, the Julia Ward
Howe Junior High School. Although she attended
Wadleigh High School, she only completed three
years because of the death of her grandmother and
mother. To continue her education, she frequented
the public library, often reading two books a day.
This allowed her to evaluate form carefully and to
develop her craft in the various mediums that she
would later explore.
In 1935, Childress gave birth to her only child,
Jean R. Childress, whose father was Childress’s
first husband, actor Alvin Childress. In the 1940s,
after the marriage dissolved, Childress held vari-
ous jobs, including those of insurance agent
and domestic worker, to support herself and her
daughter. Childress’s varied experiences provided
her with a reservoir of materials to draw upon as
she pursued a career in writing and acting. She ex-
plained, “My writing attempts to interpret the ‘or-
dinary’ because they are not ordinary. Each human
is uniquely different. Like snowflakes, the human
pattern is never cast twice. We are uncommonly
and marvelously intricate in thought and action,
our problems are most complex and, too often, si-
lently borne” (Childress 112).Childress, Alice 101