Born in Xenia, Ohio, he was the oldest child
of Findley David Torrence, a former Civil War offi-
cer and a lumber merchant, and his wife, Mary
Ridgeley, a descent of the fifth president of the
College of New Jersey, the school that later be-
came PRINCETONUNIVERSITY. Torrence entered
Miami College of Ohio in 1893. Two years later, he
enrolled at Princeton University but withdrew due
to medical issues. He relocated to NEWYORKCITY
and began his work in publishing. Torrence even-
tually returned to academia in his later years. He
became a visiting professor at Miami University in
1920 and again in 1942. In 1938 he joined the fac-
ulty at Antioch College as a visiting professor. In
1936 he was considered seriously for the high
honor of Ohio Poet Laureate but was not selected.
Torrence, suffering from lung cancer, passed away
on Christmas Day, 1950.
In the years before the Harlem Renaissance,
Torrence held editorial posts at such well-known
periodicals as The Critic, Cosmopolitan,and THE
NEWREPUBLIC,where he served as poetry editor
for more than a decade. His work appeared in re-
spected journals such as CENTURYMAGAZINEand
in THEATLANTICMONTHLY.In 1934 he became a
cofounder of the Academy of American Poets, the
organization of which he became chairman in
1937.
On April 5, 1917, Torrence gained critical at-
tention as a playwright when Plays for a Negro The-
atre,a collection of three works, THERIDER OF
DREAMS,GRANNY MAUMEE, and SIMON THE
CYRENIAN, opened at the Garden Theatre. The
plays then moved to the Garrick Theatre for an
additional week of performances. Torrence’s pro-
ducer was Mrs. EMILIE BIGELOW HAPGOOD,a
wealthy philanthropist, dedicated theater patron,
and respected stage designer. Hapgood’s financial
and intellectual support of the Torrence plays ulti-
mately transformed the casts of the plays into the
EMILIEHAPGOODPLAYERS.
Torrence maintained his interest in African-
American theater and subjects following his docu-
mented success with the Negro plays. Biographer
John Clum notes the ways in which Torrence’s in-
terest in African-American material was influ-
enced by his limited childhood interactions with
African Americans in Xenia, Ohio, and by his later
interests in Irish history and literature. In a 1917
CRISISarticle entitled “The New Negro Theatre,”
Torrence asserted plainly that he had “sometimes
imagined that the Negro, all other things being
equal, might produce the greatest, most direct, the
most powerful drama in the world.” In 1939 he
used a Rockefeller Foundation grant to generate a
study of African-American theater. Torrence af-
filiated himself with a major Ohio and African-
American dramatic center, the Karamu Theatre
in Cleveland, which was established by ROWENA
JELLIFFE and her husband, RUSSELL JELLIFFE,
during his fellowship period. He produced an in-
valuable bibliography of plays written by African-
American playwrights and explored the kinds of
initiatives that dramatists and companies might
consider employing to increase their audiences
and to generate additional attention to their dra-
matic ventures.Bibliography
“The New Negro Theatre,” Crisis(June 1917).
Clum, John. Ridgeley Torrence.New York: Twayne Pub-
lishers, 1972.
Torrence, Ridgeley. Granny Maumee, The Rider of
Dreams, Simon the Cyrenian: Plays for a Negro The-
ater.New York: The Macmillan Company, 1917.Toussaint L’OuvertureLeslie Pinckney Hill
(1928)
A play by playwright and poet LESLIEPINCKNEY
HILLthat was included in the 1928 collection enti-
tled Toussaint L’Ouverture: A Dramatic History.In
his prefatory remarks, Hill noted that his study of
Toussaint Louverture was reflected in his own ef-
forts to contribute to the necessary and growing
tradition of African-American perspectives on his-
tory. “The Negro youth of the world has been
taught that the black race has no great traditions,
no characters of World importance, no record of
substantial contributions to civilization,” asserted
Hill. His play was an intervention in the pernicious
miseducation of African-American children and of
Americans in general.
According to Edward Ako, Hill’s play reflects
a desire to adhere closely to the known historical
facts about Louverture, the enslaved man known
as the “Black Napoleon,” who led the successful
and bloody fight in HAITIfor the nation’s indepen-526 Toussaint L’Ouverture