tions, Kelly imagines himself as a “starter” but only
“one step better’n the man who runs the [eleva-
tor].” After he flirts with and harasses two women
who want to share his park bench, Kelly is joined
by his sweetheart, an earnest woman named Geor-
gia. The two embrace passionately, much to the
dismay of the irked women who have gone off in
search of somewhere else to sit. Kelly and Georgia
commiserate about their employment situations.
Georgia, who works as a seamstress in a factory,
notes wryly that they make quite a pair. Kelly is a
starter, and she is a finisher by trade, one who
makes the final adjustments to dresses. Eventually
the two begin a fretful conversation about mar-
riage. Despite Georgia’s pointed questions about
the state of Kelly’s limited savings, the two decide
to wed. The play closes as they marvel at the sight
of Harlem’s lights and the gorgeous moon above.
The Starterexplores African-American aspira-
tions and romance. Spence considers the realities
that conspire against African Americans. She also
develops a realistic and resilient couple, one whose
capacity for romance and for dreaming thrives de-
spite the difficulties that they face.
Spence saw two of her plays honored in the
1927 annual literary contest sponsored by OPPOR-
TUNITY. A panel of judges that included Paul
Green, Edith Isaacs, and PAULROBESONawarded
her play The Hunchsecond prize behind GEORGIA
DOUGLASJOHNSON’s moving play PLUMES.The
Startertied for third place with Four Eleven,a play
by William Jackson. In addition, ALAINLOCKEse-
lected The Starterfor inclusion in his 1927 anthol-
ogy entitled PLAYS OFNEGROLIFE.Spence was
one of only four women playwrights included in
the volume of plays by 18 contemporary African-
American and white dramatists.
Bibliography
Burton, Jennifer. Zora Neale Hurston, Eulalie Spence,
Marita Bonner, and Others: The Prize Plays and Other
One-Acts Published in Periodicals.New York: G. K.
Hall, 1996.
Stieglitz, Alfred (1864–1946)
A pioneering American photographer, writer, and
editor, Stieglitz was one of six children born to
Hedwig Werner Stieglitz and her husband Edward
Stieglitz, a German Jewish immigrant and mer-
chant. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, he grew up
in Manhattan where his love of art and photogra-
phy intensified. He studied at City College before
relocating to Germany with his family. There, he
continued his schooling, including a course in me-
chanical engineering at the University of Berlin.
Stieglitz, who had endured an unhappy mar-
riage, eventually divorced. In 1922 he married
GEORGIAO’KEEFFE, a talented painter who shared
his passion for art and innovation. Stieglitz’s con-
nection to the Harlem Renaissance came through
his wife’s contacts with JEANTOOMER. Toomer
visited the couple at their upstate New York home
in Lake George.
During the Harlem Renaissance period,
Stieglitz opened An American Place, a Manhattan
gallery that showcased works by American artists.
WALDO FRANK, a colleague and friend of
Toomer’s, was instrumental in publishing a volume
honoring Stieglitz’s work during the period. The
volume America and Alfred Stieglitz,which Frank
coedited with Lewis Mumford and Dorothy Nor-
man, was published in 1934.Bibliography
Eisler, Benita. O’Keeffe and Stieglitz: An American Ro-
mance.New York: Penguin Books, 1992.
Frank, Waldo, Lewis Mumford, and Dorothy Norman.
America and Alfred Stieglitz: A Collective Portrait.
New York: Literary Guild, 1934.
Kerman, Cynthia Earl, and Richard Eldridge. The Lives
of Jean Toomer: A Hunger for Wholeness.Baton
Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1987.
Richter, Peter-Cornell. Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred
Stieglitz.Munich: Prestel, 2001.
Whelan, Richard. Alfred Stieglitz: A Biography.Boston:
Little, Brown, 1995.Still, William Grant(1895–1978)
One of America’s most gifted and accomplished
musicians and composers, Still was the first
African-American composer to conduct a major
American orchestra, the first composer of color to
see his works performed by an American orchestra,
and the first African American whose opera was
performed by a major company. He compiled a di-
verse collection of works that ranged from choralStill, William Grant 497