into the troupe known as the Negro Experimental
Theatre. It attracted the attention of other influ-
ential figures such as W. E. B. DUBOIS,JESSIE
FAUSET, and THEOPHILUSLEWIS, all of whom ac-
tively supported the efforts of the troupe that was
committed to developing African-American the-
ater for and about African Americans.
The company put on a celebrated production of
PLUMES,a play by GEORGIADOUGLASJOHNSON,
under the direction of HAROLDJACKMAN. By 1931
the group had moved from the library to quarters at
the SAINT PHILIP’S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL
CHURCH. There, it continued to produce acclaimed
dramas including works by and about African Amer-
icans such as THERIDER OFDREAMS(1917) by
RIDGELYTORRENCEand “CLIMBINGJACOB’SLAD-
DER” (1931) and Underground (1932) by REGINA
ANDREWS.
The troupe is credited with inspiring myriad
theater troupes and with helping to develop the
little-theater movement advocated by DuBois and
others.
Bibliography
Krasner, David. A Beautiful Pageant: African American
Theatre, Drama, and Performance in the Harlem Re-
naissance, 1910–1927.New York: Palgrave Macmil-
lan, 2002.
Negro History in Thirteen PlaysMay Miller
and Willis Richardson(1935)
An important drama anthology compiled by MAY
MILLERSULLIVANand WILLISRICHARDSON. The
volume showcased the works of five playwrights:
Miller, Richardson, GEORGIADOUGLASJOHNSON,
RANDOLPHEDMONDS, and Helen Webb Harris.
The works showcased historical, literary, and
biblical figures whose lives and accomplishments
made significant contributions to the history of
America and to the world. Works included Ameri-
can history plays on Crispus Attucks, Frederick
Douglass, William and Ellen Craft, Nat Turner, So-
journer Truth, and Harriet Tubman. Additional
works profiled Alexandre Dumas, the Elder, Anto-
nio Maceo, and King Menelek.
Bibliography
Gray, Christine Rauchfuss. Willis Richardson, Forgotten Pi-
oneer of African-American Drama.Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood Press, 1999.
Richardson, Willis, and May Miller. Negro History in
Thirteen Plays.New York: Associated Publishers,
1935.Negro in American Fiction, TheSterling
Brown (1937)
Published by STERLING BROWN,a PHI BETA
KAPPA graduate of Williams College, poet, and
HOWARDUNIVERSITYprofessor of English. The
volume appeared in the same year that Brown was
awarded a GUGGENHEIMFELLOWSHIP. It was the
sixth monograph in the Bronze Booklet series
edited by ALAIN LOCKEand produced by the
WASHINGTON, D.C.–based group Associates in
Negro Folk Education.
The volume comprises 12 chapters that cover
diverse literary topics. Chapters range from “The
Plantation Tradition: Pro-Slavery Fiction,” “Anti-
slavery Fiction,” “Counter-Propaganda—Begin-
ning Realism,” “The Urban Scene,” and
“Historical Fiction.” Each chapter concludes with
a set of probing discussion questions.
Brown did not mince words in his forthright in-
troduction. The volume begins with his assertion
that “[t]he treatment of the Negro in American fic-
tion, since it parallels his treatment in American life,
has naturally been noted for injustice. Like other op-
pressed and exploited minorities, the Negro has been
interpreted in a way to justify his exploiters.” Brown
recognized writers such as Herman Melville and
George Washington Cable for their sympathetic
treatments of African Americans but concluded with
an insistent call for African-American writing that
echoed the sentiments of early 20th century writers
such as Pauline Hopkins. According to Brown, since
“[m]any authors who are not hostile to the Negro
and some who profess friendship still stress a ‘pecu-
liar endowment’ at the expense of the Negro’s basic
humanity,” it was vital that writers of color develop
their own substantial literary tradition. “Negro nov-
elists,” he declared, “must accept the responsibility of
being the ultimate portrayers of their own.”
The book offers a rich overview of American
canonical literature and women’s writing. It includes
brief plot summaries, close readings, and literary cri-
tiques. These lively discussions underscore Brown’s
larger argument about the ways in which racial
stereotypes, national mythologies, and cultural ideals
both shape and are advanced by literature.374 Negro History in Thirteen Plays