Lorraine hansberry

Lorraine hansberry-an annotated bibliography Essay Lorraine Hansberry: An Annotated Bibliography Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was born May 19, 1930 in Chicago and raised in a middle-class family. When Hansberry was only eight years old she had her first experience with civil rights. Her father fought a lengthy legal battle in the late 1930s against harsh covenants which kept Chicagos blacks in the ghettos. To make a statement the family moved into an all white neighborhood which was against the law at that time. The house was often vandalized and the children were faced with hostility as they walked to and from school. Hansberrys father fought the citys Jim Crow laws all the way to the Supreme Court and won. This whole experience would later serve as an inspiration for Lorraine Hansberrys play A raisin in the Sun. Hansberry attended the University of Wisconsin for two years and then studied painting in Chicago and Mexico, before she realized she had no talent for it. Moving to New York in 1950, she held many jobs, while perfecting her skill as a writer. Hansberry said, A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so much the risk of loneliness as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men- and people in general. She became involved in the civil rights movement and married a white jewish man; their marriage would only last a few years before Hansberry began exploring her feelings for women. She joined the Daughter of Blitis, a pioneering lesbian organization and had two letters published in their journal, The Ladder. However, it was for her play A Raisin in the Sun, that she received her praise. Hansberry was the first black to direct a play on Broadway since 1907. A Raisin in the Sun won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. Hansberry was also named the most promising playwright of the season by Varietys poll of New York Drama Critics. She wrote other stories about gays, but these did not do so well. Just as Hansberry was profiting from her hard work she was struck with cancer. The playwright, activist and feminist died at the age of 34. Her dedication to her writing has not been forgotten since her death, due to her ex-husbands hard work in keeping her memory alive. .