regularly, to share their work, and to participate in
forums that sustained their creativity.
Bibliography
Jubilee, Vincent. Philadelphia’s Afro-American Literary
Circle and the Harlem Renaissance. Ann Arbor,
Mich.: University Microfilms, 1980.
Pittsburgh Courier
The most widely read African-American newspa-
per of the Harlem Renaissance era. Established in
1910, the newspaper achieved an impressive read-
ership of some 250,000 during the 1920s. The
press generated some 14 editions of the newspaper
for circulation in Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Courier flourished under the
leadership of Robert L. Vann, an attorney who
served first as legal counsel for the newspaper be-
fore becoming its editor and publisher. It reflected
Vann’s political commitment to African-American
uplift and advancement. When Vann, disillusioned
with the Republican Party, became a Democrat in
the early 1930s, he prompted many Courierreaders
to reevaluate their own political affiliations. Schol-
ars note the paper’s unwavering support of A.
Philip Randolph and his labor reform efforts, par-
ticularly in his work to establish the Brotherhood
of Sleeping Car Porters.
The newspaper attracted well-known and out-
spoken writers. Its reporters included GEORGE
SCHUYLERand JOELA. ROGERS. Vann enjoyed a
lengthy career as editor and publisher, serving until
he died in October 1940.
Bibliography
Buni, Andrew. Robert L. Vann of the Pittsburgh Courier:
Politics and Black Journalism.Pittsburgh: University
of Pittsburgh Press, 1974.
Simmons, Charles. The African American Press: A History
of News Coverage During National Crises, with Spe-
cial Reference to Four Black Newspapers, 1827–1965.
Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1998.
Plays and Pageants from the Life of
the Negro Willis Richardson, ed.(1930)
A collection of plays edited and collected by
WILLISRICHARDSON, one of the leading figures in
American drama during the Harlem Renaissance
era. As editor, Richardson was asked to select plays
that adhered to a specific set of criteria: “plays
must be written by Negro authors, must be for the
most part not in dialect, and must have subject
matter suitable for young people of school age.”
Historian CARTERG. WOODSONassisted Richard-
son in the process and “made all the corrections as
to names, dates, and historical inaccuracies.” As
Richardson notes in his introduction, however,
Woodson “was too modest to allow his name to be
printed along with the author on the title page of
the book.”
Published by the Associated Publishers, the
WASHINGTON, D.C., press with which ALAIN
LOCKEwas affiliated, the volume included eight
plays and four pageants. The works were deemed
suitable for “every reasonable need of School,
Church, or Little Theatre group.” In addition, the
pageant selections also contained material that
could involve children as young as two years of age.
Nine writers were featured in the volume. The
six women were THELMADUNCAN,MAUDCUNEY
HARE,MAY MILLER SULLIVAN, Inez Burke,
Dorothy Guinn, and Frances Gunner. The three
men featured were JOHN MATHEUS,WILLIS
RICHARDSON, and EDWARD MCCOO. Gregory’s
brief biographical remarks about the writers under-
scored their potential, called attention to their pre-
vious literary accomplishments, and insisted on the
relevance of the works to contemporary African-
American communities.
The scripts ranged from materials prepared in
HOWARD UNIVERSITYdrama workshops to plays
developed for church groups. Included in the list of
eight plays, three of which were by Richardson and
two by Miller, were Cuney Hare’s ANTAR OF
ARABY,Miller’s RIDING THEGOATand GRAVEN
IMAGES,Matheus’s TIYETTE,and Duncan’s SACRI-
FICE.The four pageants included Burke’s Two Races
and McCoo’s Ethiopia at the Bar of Justice,a popular
work that had been “used extensively in connec-
tion with Negro History Week” following its debut
at an African Methodist Episcopal Convention.
Plays and Pageantswas an important collection
designed to provide African Americans with so-
phisticated scripts and to confirm the breadth of
talent and subject matter produced by American
writers of color.422 Pittsburgh Courier