and the deaths of two infants. Despite her hus-
band’s toil and Malinda’s tireless efforts to take in
laundry, the couple are unable to gain any finan-
cial stability. The most recent pregnancy that
Lindy, as Malinda is called, has endured has jeop-
ardized her weak heart. The visiting nurse, a Mas-
sachusetts woman named Elizabeth Shaw, insists
that Lindy rest in order to protect her health. Un-
fortunately, the advice is difficult to take, given
the need to feed the six children at home. The
nurse encourages Lindy to take control of her re-
productive life, but restrictive state laws prevent
her from elaborating on the birth control methods
that would be effective. Nurse Shaw is able only
to recommend that Lindy “be careful”; the be-
sieged 38-year-old mother notes emphatically that
“Dat’s all you nu’ses say!” and challenges the
health care provider when she insists that she
“got’a be tellin’ me sumpin’ better’n dat, Mis’ Liz’-
beth!” Despite the desperate need for information,
the nurse honors the nurse’s oath and “the law
[that] forbids [her] telling... what you have a
right to know!” The play ends tragically as Ma-
linda, exhausted by a rigorous day of laundry and
incessant child care, dies.
Burrill’s play appeared in Birth Control Review,
the periodical that the intrepid birth control advo-
cate Margaret Sanger established in 1917. They
That Sit in Darknesswas one of several works by
African-American writers that appeared in the
September 1919 issue, devoted to the works of
African-American writers and a discussion of is-
sues related to people of color. The play appeared
alongside writings by ANGELINAWELDGRIMKÉ,
GERTRUDEMCDOUGALD,AUGUSTUSGRANVILLE
DILL,W. E. B. DUBOIS, and CHANDLEROWEN.
The play is notable for its stark realism and its
forthright critique of oppressive legal statutes that
perpetuate poverty and domestic instability.
Bibliography
Perkins, Kathy A. Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology
of Plays before 1950.Bloomington: Indiana Univer-
sity Press, 1989.
Thompson, Clara Ann(1869–1949)
An Ohio poet who fashioned a career for herself as
a writer for the people in her communities. Born in
Rossmoyne, Ohio, she was the daughter of John
Henry and Carla Jane Gray Thompson. Her par-
ents, both of whom were formerly enslaved Virgini-
ans, had five children, three of whom pursued their
love of poetry and became writers. Her sister
Priscilla lovingly dedicated Gleanings of Quiet
Hours,a collection of poems “mostly of which are
closely associated with a proscribed race” to “my
sister and brothers.” Clara Thompson, who never
married, became a teacher in Ohio public schools.
Thompson published Songs by the Wayside,the
first of four collections, in 1908. She dedicated the
volume to her brother and sister, Garland and
Priscilla. The Rossmoyne press of Aaron Thomp-
son, her brother, produced the book. His press also
supported the efforts of sibling Priscilla Jane
Thompson, who published Gleanings of Quiet Hours
in 1907, just one year before her sister Clara made
her literary debut. In 1921 she collaborated with
her brother’s press again and produced What
Means This Bleating of the Sheep.A second edition
of this work appeared just two years later in 1923.
That year, Thompson saw the publication of There
Came Wise Menby the BOSTON-based Christopher
Publishing House, the same press that had pub-
lished works by MERCEDES GILBERT. In 1926,
Thompson collaborated again with the Christo-
pher Publishing House to produce A GARLAND OF
POEMS,her most frequently cited collection. The
volume included poems about an impressive range
of topics. Thompson, who published frequently in
local newspapers, addressed subjects such as World
War I and the role of African-American soldiers,
religious themes and celebrations, and history.
That year, Thompson received special recognition
for her work when HALLIEQUINNBROWN, author
of HOMESPUNHEROINES(1926), included a mov-
ing excerpt from a Thompson poem in her dedica-
tion of the volume. Brown, who dedicated her
substantial women’s history to members of the
American and Canadian branches of the NA-
TIONALASSOCIATION OFCOLOREDWOMEN,in-
cluded the following lines by Thompson: “Through
all the blight of slavery / They kept their woman-
hood, / And now they march with heads erect, / To
fight for all things good, / Nor care for scorn nor
seek for praise, / Just so they please their God.”
Thompson lived for many years with her two
siblings, Priscilla, a poet, public reader, and elocu-514 Thompson, Clara Ann