the family tradition of academic and professional
excellence. Daughter Yvonne became a published
writer and poet whose works appeared in notable
anthologies such as ARNABONTEMPS’s The Negro
Poet.Sons Eugene and Thomas Montgomery, Jr.
followed the example of their father and grandfa-
ther and graduated from Harvard in 1897 and
1944, respectively. Their son Hugh was a member
of the accomplished Tuskegee Airmen, and his
daughter Yvonne is a published writer and poet
whose works appeared in notable anthologies such
as Arna Bontemps’s The Negro Poet.The Gregory
family also included daughters Mignon and Sheila.
The family history of achievement continues today.
Nephew Frederick Gregory, a Vietnam veteran, be-
came the first African-American commander of a
space shuttle flight when he led a 1989 mission
aboard the shuttle Discovery.In 2002, he became
the chief operating officer at NASA. A grandson of
T. Montgomery and Hugh Ella Gregory, Ernest Wil-
son III, followed the family tradition of attending
Harvard. He graduated in 1970 and most recently
was a member of the National Security Council
during the Clinton administration and his sister
Wendy is a USAID representative in Senegal.
During his tenure at Howard, Gregory’s pro-
fessional life in Washington, D.C., took on increas-
ingly public dimensions as he developed new
theater opportunities at and beyond the school. In
1919, the year in which he was appointed head of
the English department, he founded the HOWARD
UNIVERSITYPLAYERS. During the next few years,
he made important inroads in American theater
and developed major possibilities for African-
American actors and dramatists. He promoted
work by Howard University students and adminis-
trators. In 1920 May Miller, a Howard student and
daughter of Kelly Miller, the university’s dean, saw
her play Within the Shadow produced by the
Howard University Players. Student OTTIEGRA-
HAMcompleted The King’s Carpentersand Holiday,
published in THESTYLUSand in THECRISIS,re-
spectively. In 1921, when he became the first chair
of the Dramatic Art and Public Speaking division
at the university, Gregory oversaw a symbolic,
though not well-attended, production of THEEM-
PERORJONES.The show featured Charles Gilpin,
the actor who had garnered much praise for his
performances in the New York shows produced by
the play’s creator, Eugene O’Neill. Gilpin appeared
in the powerful title role, and members of the
Howard University Players were cast in supporting
roles. The event showcased Gregory’s ambitious
plans to develop a National Negro Theatre. Such
an organization would not only foster new talent
but also would provide vital support for produc-
tions by and about African Americans. These same
ambitions fueled Gregory’s involvement with the
Drama Committee of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The committee staged Rachel(1916), the lynching
drama by Angelina Weld Grimké, at the Myrtilla
Miner Normal School in Washington, D.C., on
March 3 and 4, 1916. It was the first nonmusical
play since the Drama of King Shotaway(1823) to
be written and performed by African Americans.
In 1924, Gregory was the director of the Dra-
matics Department at Howard University, his alma
mater. He incorporated popular Harlem Renais-
sance–era dramas into the performance schedule
of the Howard University Players. He did not hesi-
tate to feature good works by white playwrights. In
addition to staging The Emperor Jones,he and the
Howard University Players produced RIDGELY
TORRENCE’s SIMON,THECYRENIANfor attendees
at the World Disarmament Conference.
In addition to directing theater productions
and teaching drama, Gregory wrote abou plays and
literature throughout the Harlem Renaissance. He
coedited PLAYS OF NEGRO LIFE with ALAIN
LOCKE, a fellow Harvard University graduate and
English department faculty member at Howard. He
had partnered with Locke before, when the two
founded the Stylusliterary club at Howard. Plays of
Negro Life included illustrations and decorations by
AARONDOUGLASand scripts relating to African-
American life written by established and emerging
playwrights. The volume featured works by four
women and 10 men, including GEORGIADOU-
GLASJOHNSON’SPLUMES,EUGENEO’NEILL’s The
Emperor Jones and The Dreamy Kid, JEAN
TOOMER’s BALO, Ridgely Torrence’s GRANNY
MAUMEE,and EULALIESPENCE’s THESTARTER.
Locke and Gregory used the volume to call atten-
tion to the innovative ways in which African-
American actors, playwrights, and subjects were a
vital part of what they called “native American
drama.” Both editors stressed the importance of202 Gregory, Thomas Montgomery