music in Boston and in Rome. The gifted physician
and writer RUDOLPH FISHER attended Howard
University Medical School and graduated in 1924
with highest honors.
Howard University faculty made significant
contributions to the Harlem Renaissance through
their scholarship and pioneering efforts in educa-
tion. Educator and drama scholar THOMASMONT-
GOMERYGREGORYhad deep ties to the school. His
father, James Monroe Gregory, was one of the
three men who made up the first graduating class
at Howard. Upon his graduation, James Gregory
joined the faculty and lived on campus with his
family. T. Montgomery Gregory, a HARVARDUNI-
VERSITYgraduate, joined the faculty in 1910. He
became the first chair of the Drama Department
when it was established in 1921, and he estab-
lished the Howard University Players, which be-
came one of the nation’s leading college theater
troupes. Their productions of works by Howard
University students and alumni and of accom-
plished professional playwrights signaled a vibrant
new chapter in American theater history. Like
Gregory, writer and folklore expert STERLING
BROWNhad strong ties to the school. Brown was
born on the Howard University campus in 1901.
His father, Sterling Nelson Brown, a minister, was a
professor of religion there. In 1929 he returned to
the school and began a 40-year career there as a
professor of English. ALAINLOCKEjoined the fac-
ulty at Howard University in 1912. After leaving
to complete doctoral work in philosophy at Har-
vard, he returned to Howard in 1918 and taught
until his retirement in 1952. James Porter, an ac-
claimed art professor and scholar regarded as the
father of African-American art history, was a
Howard University student and faculty member.
He began his studies in 1923 and was appointed
lecturer in art immediately after his graduation.
His teaching career spanned more than 40 years.
The Howard art faculty included GWENDOLYN
BENNETT, who taught in the mid-1920s, and James
Lesesne Wells, who began teaching in 1929.
KELLY MILLER, sociologist, was dean of the
school and the father of MAYMILLERSULLIVAN,a
talented drama student at Howard. Edward Christo-
pher Williams, a son-in-law of writer CHARLES
CHESNUTT, was head librarian and Professor of Ger-
man and Romance Languages at Howard.
Bibliography
Dyson, Walter. The Founding of Howard University.
Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1921.
Logan, Rayford Whittingham. Howard University: The
First Hundred Years, 1867–1967.New York: New
York University Press, 1969.Howard University Players(Howard Players)
The dramatic troupe that THOMASMONTGOMERY
GREGORY founded at HOWARD UNIVERSITY in- Gregory, who became the first director of
Howard’s drama department when it was estab-
lished in 1921, saw the opportunity to advance
African-American drama at and beyond Howard.
The troupe was part of a larger successful cam-
paign to develop a national African-American dra-
matic tradition. This troupe, which preceded other
influential groups such as the KRIGWAPLAYERS
and the HARLEMSUITCASETHEATRE, established
important precedents in American theater. The
Howard University Players were a pioneering force
in African-American and American drama.
The troupe was an invaluable resource for
playwrights who were committed to developing se-
rious works about African Americans. It is impor-
tant to note, however, that the actors frequently
demonstrated their professional range by perform-
ing theater staples and a variety of well-known
dramatic works. These included William Shake-
speare’s Hamlet,Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House,and
Anton Chekhov’s The Proposal.
Like the Krigwa Players, established in 1924 by
REGINAANDREWSand W. E. B. DUBOIS, and the
Harlem Suitcase Theatre, founded by LANGSTON
HUGHESin 1937, the Howard University Players
focused primarily on works by and about African
Americans. Their status as a college organization
also meant that they had a special responsibility to
perform student work. The troupe produced a
number of plays written by Howard University
women students and alumna. These included De
Reath Irene Byrd Beausey, THELMAMYRTLEDUN-
CAN, OTTIE BEATRICE GRAHAM,MAY MILLER
SULLIVAN, and Helen Webb. In 1920 the group
produced Miller’s Within the Shadow.Two years
later in 1922, they staged Genefrede,a play about
the tragic death of Toussaint Louverture’s fiancée,
written while Webb was a student of Gregory’s at
Howard University Players 251