Sacrifice Thelma Myrtle Duncan(1930)
An earnest play about sacrifices and honor by
THELMADUNCANthat was included in PLAYS AND
PAGEANTSFROM THELIFE OF THENEGRO(1930),
the selective anthology edited by WILLIS
RICHARDSON.
Set in a “large eastern city,” the play features
the Payton family of three and Roy, a friend. Mrs.
Payton, a widowed laundress, is suffering from the
hard labor that she routinely does to support her-
self and two children. Her daughter Ina, a light-
hearted and caring woman, has an office job that
represents a significant advance in the family’s
prospects. Ina’s younger brother Billy, however, is
the one on whom Mrs. Payton has pinned all of
her hopes. She longs for his graduation from high
school and looks forward to seeing him succeed.
The crisis in the play revolves around Billy’s
faulty decision to steal the notes for an upcoming
chemistry exam. Faced with the prospect of expul-
sion, he is unable to return the notes or to confess
his deed to his teacher. His friend Roy, who hopes
to win the heart of Ina Payton, ultimately comes to
his aid. Roy’s efforts, which may jeopardize his own
law school studies, not only protect his friend but
give him an opportunity to prove himself to Ina.
Duncan modified the play when it was se-
lected for inclusion in Plays and Pageants.Her edi-
torial note indicates that the one-act drama was
“[a]dapted to the capacity of children of the eighth
grade.” The work is an important contribution to
the African-American theater tradition that
evolved substantially during the Harlem Renais-
sance period. The value of Duncan’s work lies in
its steady examination of moral values, ambition,
domestic life, and heroism within the African-
American community.Sad-Faced Boy Arna Bontemps(1937)
A novel for children by ARNABONTEMPSthat ex-
plores the allure of HARLEM. Republished in 1937
by Houghton Mifflin, the story focuses on an en-
terprising young boy named J. P. Morgan. Much
like his entrepreneurial, self-confident namesake,
Bontemps’s protagonist has the opportunity to
make a name for himself in the world beyond his
rural Alabama home. He sets off for Harlem with
his friends named Slumber, Rags, and Willie. Un-
fortunately, gangsters beset the hopeful adventur-
ers. They lose their shoes and, with their battered
pride, are forced to make their way home again.
The group’s misfortune, however, allows them to
value their home anew and to cherish their con-
nections there.
Sad-Faced Boywas read aloud on national radio
in 1940, some three years after its publication. The
publicity prompted Bontemps to note in a letter to
longtime friend and correspondent LANGSTON
HUGHESthat the airing was reviving interest in the
book “from the trade angle” and that the show
might be of use to librarians and teachers who
wanted to promote children’s literature.Bibliography
Jones, Kirkland C. Renaissance Man from Louisiana: A Bi-
ography of Arna Wendell Bontemps.Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood Press, 1992.462