Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints
was founded. The collection received a major do-
nation of materials from bibliophile Arthur Schom-
burg that included more than 3,000 manuscripts,
5,000 works, 2,000 pieces of artwork, and thou-
sands of additional items. Rose predicted correctly
that the collection would be unmatched in scope
and value. The library was renamed in honor of
Arthur Schomburg following his death in 1938.
Ernestine Rose’s leadership, vision, and unwa-
vering commitment to the community and its chil-
dren made the 135th Street Branch an invaluable
asset to Harlem and to the greater New York City
community.
Bibliography
Tolson, Nancy. “Making Books Available: The Role of
Early Libraries, Librarians, and Booksellers in the
Promotion of African American Children’s Litera-
ture,” African American Review no. 32 (spring
1998): 9–16.
RoseanneNan Bagby Stephens(1923)
A play by Nan Bagby Stephens that failed when it
opened with a white cast on BROADWAYand re-
opened three months later when it starred the ac-
complished actors Rose McClendon and Charles
Gilpin. Stephens’s play, originally described as “a
play... dealing with negro life in Georgia,” was
performed first by a white cast. The revival of the
show featured an African-American cast and en-
abled its director and producer to transform the
work drastically by using completely different ac-
tors and contexts.
The play deals with seduction, moral judg-
ments, and LYNCHINGin a community whose min-
ister seduces one of its young women to whom he
is supposed to provide religious training. When the
unsavory actions of the Reverend Cicero Brown
are discovered, Roseanne, the young woman’s fos-
ter mother, addresses the church and calls for a
lynching. Ultimately, however, she realizes that
God can provide the best judgment, and she with-
draws her call for violence.
The play opened at the Greenwich Village
Theatre in late December, 1923. It was produced
by Mary Kirkpatrick. Early reports named Rachel
Crothers as director, but when it opened, the di-
rector was John Kirkpatrick. The first show ran
for 41 performances. The notion that it had “suf-
fered an untimely fate on the occasion of its re-
cent Broadway presentation” prompted the
directors to organize a revival of the work (NYT,
11 March 1924, 16). Stephens featured Negro
spirituals in the work and in a January 1924 arti-
cle for THENEWYORKTIMESdiscussed the value
of such material. She described the songs as
works “long hidden from any but the Southern
people, who, having always accepted them as part
of the very fibre of their existence, did not recog-
nize their full value.” Stephens suggested that
“the words of... spirituals seldom mean what the
music makes of them, but we accept them as fit-
ting without exactly knowing why. The songs
must not be analyzed if one would keep their
value.” Stephens’s own potential to appreciate
the complexity and richness of the songs may
have been limited even though she thoroughly
enjoyed concerts at FISK UNIVERSITY and ap-
plauded the TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE chorus that
traveled nationwide.
In March 1924 the show opened for a one-
week run at the Shubert-Riviera Theatre. Accord-
ing to The New York Times,audiences were most
interested in seeing Charles Gilpin and “what [he]
would do with the role of the rascally preacher.”
Reviewers were disappointed with Gilpin’s perfor-
mance, especially in light of his recent powerful
presentations in the title role of EUGENE
O’NEILL’s THEEMPERORJONES.While Gilpin, in
the role of Cicero Brown apparently was only able
to “str[ike] a genuine note for a few minutes,”
Rose McClendon provided a “frequently moving”
performance.Bibliography
“Negroes Play ‘Roseanne.” New York Times,11 March
1924, 16.
“Mary Kirkpatrick’s Plays.” New York Times,6 August
1923, 14.
Stephens, Nan Bagby. “Negro Spirituals.” New York
Times,27 January 1924, X4.Rowland, Ida(1904–unknown)
A published poet and teacher, and the first African
American from Oklahoma to earn a Ph.D., Ida460 Roseanne