Players in 1923 in honor of the actor Charles
Gilpin. Gilpin, whose visit to the troupe prompted
the name change, received critical acclaim for his
lead performance in the first production of EUGENE
O’NEILL’s THEEMPERORJONESat the Province-
town Playhouse in New York City. In 1940, after
the Neighborhood Association organization was re-
named, the troupe changed its name also.
The troupe became one of the most visible
American theater organizations during the Harlem
Renaissance. Since its inception, the troupe has
performed works by the Harlem Renaissance liter-
ary giants LANGSTONHUGHESand ZORANEALE
HURSTONand, in later years, the acclaimed Lor-
raine Hansberry.
The Karamu Players are still in existence
today and continue to advance the legacy of the
organization’s founders and earliest participants.
Bibliography
Berry, Faith, ed. Langston Hughes: Before and Beyond
Harlem.Westport, Conn.: Lawrence Hill & Com-
pany, 1983.
Karamu House Web site. Available online. URL: http://
http://www.karamu.com.
Krasner, David. A Beautiful Pageant: African American
Theatre, Drama, and Performance in the Harlem Re-
naissance, 1910–1927.New York: Palgrave Macmil-
lan, 2002.
Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes: I, Too,
Sing America.Vol. 1: 1902–1941.New York: Oxford
University Press, 1986.
———. The Life of Langston Hughes: I Dream a World.
Vol. 2: 1941–1967.New York: Oxford University
Press, 1988.
Kelley, William Melvin, Sr.(1894–unknown)
A NATIONALURBANLEAGUEofficer in CHICAGO,
Illinois, who became an accomplished journalist
and editor, Kelley was born in Chattanooga, Ten-
nessee, in 1894 to Thomas and Sina Starks Kelley.
In 1912 he completed high school at the Austin
High School in Knoxville. He went on to WILBER-
FORCEUNIVERSITYbut left after two semesters.
In 1913, the same year in which he left col-
lege, Kelley began his career in journalism and his
longtime residency in NEWYORKCITY. In 1913 he
began a two-year stint as circulation manager for
the New York News.In 1915 he began working for
the AMSTERDAMNEWSand married Gladys Cau-
tion. In 1916 the couple, who later divorced, had
one child, a daughter named Sina Estelle. Kelley
remarried in 1932; his wife was Narcissa Garcia.
After relocating to Chicago in 1917 Kelley
worked as a member of the administrative staff of
Pearson’s Magazine and worked as the business
manager for Champion Magazine.It was during this
time that he was elected industrial secretary for
the Chicago branch of the Urban League. In 1922
Kelley became editor of the New York–based Am-
sterdam Newsand held the post for many years.Kellogg, Paul Underwood(1879–1958)
The longtime editor of SURVEYGRAPHIC,an im-
portant journal that was founded in 1923 and that
focused on progressive politics, social work, and
reform. Kellogg’s major contribution to the
Harlem Renaissance occurred when he published
a special issue devoted to African-American mat-
ters. The “Harlem” issue showcased the innova-
tive and scholarly work by and about African
Americans.
Kellogg was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to
Frank and Mary Foster Underwood Kellogg. He
and his brother Arthur were raised primarily by
their mother, Mary. Their father left the family
when the family’s lumber business failed. After
working as a reporter and editor for the Kalama-
zoo Daily Telegraph,Kellogg moved to NEWYORK
CITYin 1901. There he enrolled at COLUMBIA
UNIVERSITY, where he would take classes for sev-
eral years. He began working closely with the
New York Charity Organization Society. In 1907
he was the leading researcher on the first compre-
hensive study of an urban community. His find-
ings on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, secured his
reputation as a rigorous sociological and cultural
analyst.
Kellogg and his wife, Marion Pearce Sher-
wood, married in 1909. Before their divorce in
1934, they had two children. He married Helen
Hall in 1935. When he died in 1958, Kellogg was
living in New York City at the Henry Street Settle-
ment, where his second wife served as director.
In 1909 Kellogg became editor of Survey
Magazine,the journal produced by the New YorkKellogg, Paul Underwood 297