Theatre on BROADWAY, had a brief run of only
seven performances. It was directed by Margaret
Hewes, EMJOBASSHE, and Stanley Pratt. The cast
included Rose McClendon, Frank Wilson, a vet-
eran actor whose credits included appearances in
the original and revival shows of DUBOSE and
DOROTHYHEYWARD’s PORGY,and Lionel Mona-
gas, a member of the ETHIOPIANARTTHEATRE
troupe, who staged Oscar Wilde’s Salomein 1923
and would later star in RUDOLPHFISHER’s 1936
CONJURE-MANDIES.The play appeared in pub-
lished form in 1935 and included a comprehensive
list of the cast who appeared in the October 1934
debut.
Bibliography
Clark, Barrett. Paul Green. New York: Robert M.
McBride & Company, 1928.
Krasner, David. A Beautiful Pageant: African American
Theatre, Drama, and Performance in the Harlem Re-
naissance, 1910–1927.New York: Palgrave Macmil-
lan, 2002.
Roper, John. Paul Green, Playwright of the Real South.
Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2003.
Rope and Faggot: A Biography of Judge
Lynch Walter White(1929)
A documentary history of LYNCHINGby antilynch-
ing activist and investigator WALTERWHITE. The
title referred to the rope and firewood often used
by lynch mobs to murder their victims. White, who
published the book in 1929 with ALFRED A.
KNOPF, dedicated the work to JAMESWELDON
JOHNSON, his longtime colleague at the NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION FOR THEADVANCEMENT OFCOL-
OREDPEOPLE(NAACP).
White, who because of his light skin, blond
hair, and blue eyes was able to pass for white and
infiltrate mobs that targeted African Americans,
noted that he “tried to discuss the problem [of
lynching] in as temperate and unbiased a manner
as possible, but to write about lynching without dis-
cussing religion and sex among its causes is to leave
the root of the matter unexplained.” The book’s
nine chapters tackled such issues as “The Eco-
nomic Foundations of Lynch-Law,” “The Mind of
the Lyncher,” and “Sex and Lynching.” White also
included an appendix with statistics about the fre-
quency of lynchings nationwide, details about the
race of those lynched, and the ratio between for-
eign-born residents and lynchings in each state.
The book, which was White’s first work of
nonfiction, is powerful for its efforts to link ruthless
mob violence to racism, stereotypes, class condi-
tions, and religious ideologies.Bibliography
Janken, Kenneth Robert. White: The Biography of Walter
White, Mr. NAACP.New York: The New Press,
2003.
White, Walter. A Man Called White: The Autobiography
of Walter White.1948; reprint, Athens: University
of Georgia Press, 1995.
Wilson, Sondra, ed. In Search of Democracy: The
NAACP Writings of James Weldon Johnson, Walter
White, and Roy Wilkins (1920–1977).New York:
Oxford University Press, 1999.Rose, Ernestine(fl. 1920)
An intrepid librarian whose leadership at the 135th
Street branch (HARLEMBRANCH) of the NEWYORK
PUBLICLIBRARYhelped to make it a beacon in the
Harlem community and one of the most successful
branches in the city.
Rose, a white woman, joined the staff at the
135th Street Library in 1920 and stayed on for 22
years. She was determined to make the library acces-
sible to the community, to stock it with absorbing
materials that would appeal to the predominantly
African-American patrons, and to insist that events
were of a high caliber and always free of charge. Ac-
cording to scholar Nancy Tolson, Rose was selected
for the post because of her previous successes in or-
ganizing libraries for ethnic groups. Rose’s staff in-
cluded NELLALARSEN, Augusta Baker, and REGINA
ANDREWS, a resourceful librarian and talented play-
wright who was actively involved in the theater pro-
ductions and cultural events held at the library. With
her staff, Rose made the library available for lectures,
readings, book discussions, receptions, and plays.
As a member of the Citizen’s Committee,
Rose worked to establish an impressive and un-
precedented collection of African-American ma-
terials. The committee’s officers included HUBERT
HARRISON, JAMESWELDONJOHNSON, John Nail,
and ARTHURSCHOMBURG. During her tenure, theRose, Ernestine 459