Edmonds, Sheppard Randolph(1900–1983)
Born in Lawrenceville, Virginia, this college profes-
sor and playwright graduated from Oberlin College
and earned a master’s degree from COLUMBIAUNI-
VERSITY. He pursued additional studies at YALE
UNIVERSITYand used a JULIUSROSENWALDFEL-
LOWSHIPto fund his studies abroad in 1938 at the
University of Dublin and at the London School of
Speech and Drama.
A prolific playwright and essayist, Edmonds
published plays, articles, reviews, and literary criti-
cism during his tenure as a professor of drama at
historically black schools in the South: Dillard
University, Florida A & M University, ATLANTA
UNIVERSITY, and Hampton Institute. In 1930 he
published SHADES ANDSHADOWS;four years later,
SIXPLAYS FOR THENEGROTHEATRE;and in 1942
The Land of Cotton and Other Plays, his third
drama collection.
In 1948 the NATIONALURBANLEAGUErec-
ognized Edmonds, a member of the League, the
NAACP, and the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, for his
art.
Bibliography
Fleming, G. James, and Christian E. Burckel. Who’s Who
in Colored America: An Illustrated Biographical Direc-
tory of Notable Living Persons of African Descent in
the United States.Yonkers-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Chris-
tian E. Burckel & Associates, 1950.
Edward, H. F. V. (1898–1973)
Little biographical information is known about
H. F. V. Edward. Details about his life emerge
through his connections with The Crisis,the jour-
nal of the NATIONALASSOCIATION FOR THEAD-
VANCEMENT OFCOLOREDPEOPLE. Edward joined
the staff of The Crisisas bookkeeper and manager
of advertising following a depressing stint in the
New York State Employment Service during the
Depression. His job, which placed him in the
HARLEMbranch office, was to find job vacancies.
Inspired by W. E. B. DUBOISand the writers who
had connections with The CRISIS,Edward decided
to pursue a writing career himself and “give vent
to my experience in the seeming hopelessness of
the Hoover era.”
Job Hunters,a dire one-act that was his only
published play, appeared in the December 1931
issue of The Crisis.The cast included unnamed
characters who represented the faceless unem-
ployed of the era and the activists who worked on
their behalf. The play recalled Edward’s own de-
pressing interactions with unemployed men and
women during the Depression.
Set in a Harlem public employment office,
the play begins with a nameless “Official” prepar-
ing for a day with job seekers. The man is jaded,
not at all ready to endure one more day of “peo-
ple’s troubles and moanings.” His attitude under-
scores the evils and the seemingly predictable
inhumanity of bureaucracy. While he refuses to
open the office a few minutes before its official
opening time of eight o’clock, the man muses that
his office “is where men sit and hear each other
groan.” Edward relocates the hopelessness of the
job seekers to the employment officers themselves
as he introduces an earnest sociology student.
Warren Thomas announces himself as an Ivy
League sociology student with socialist beliefs. “I
believe public employment offices are essential,”
he declares before the Official directs him to a
chair from which he might watch the day’s pro-
ceedings. Thomas appears to believe more in the
idea of the system than in the actual practice of
helping others to find work.
Over the course of the play, the Official inter-
views a host of jobless men. Unfortunately, the en-
counters tend to undermine the men’s ability to get
jobs. One of the men, Clarence White, is a high
school graduate who makes the mistake of confiding
in the Official. When asked why he lost a former
position that he had held for three years, White re-
veals that his boss was demanding overtime hours
but failing to pay him. To compensate himself,
White “took it out in goods” and had to leave when
he was caught “stealing.” Rather than recognize
White’s disadvantaged position as an overtaxed
worker, the Official prepares to use the information
against his client. “Now when I am asked about ref-
erences I shall be informed about the situation,” he
responds blandly but menacingly before dismissing
Mr. White.
The play provides additional examples of bu-
reaucratic insensitivity and disregard. Edward fo-
cuses entirely on men who are mistreated and136 Edmonds, Sheppard Randolph