Gallery

Lorraine Hansberry—“A Young “Ida B.”—writing at her desk at Freedom magazine, 1952. Photographer unknown. From 1951–1953, Hansberry worked in Harlem at the balck magazine, Freedom, founded by Paul Robeson and Louis E. Burnham. Following in the footsteps of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, activist for women’s rights, and anti-lynching crusader, one of Hansberry’s first reports covered over 100 pro-Communist black women, “Sojourners for Truth and Justice,” who were convened in Washington, DC by Mary Church Terrell. Hansberry also covered the case of Willie McGee, a black man sentenced to death for raping a white woman in 1945 Mississippi; she was inspired to write the poem “Lynchsong” about his case.

Lorraine Hansberry during “impromptu song-session” at a SNCC fundraiser at the home of actor and activist Theodore Bikel. Holding hands and singing are (left to right) Avon M. Rollins, Lorraine Hansberry, Theo Bikel, Nina Simone, Marion Barry, Jr., John Lewis, unidentified man, unidentified woman, Ella Baker. July 6,1963. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating grew out of a student meeting organized by Ella Baker at Shaw University in 1960. SNCC played a major role in the sit-ins, freedom rides, voter registration, the 1963 March on Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. SNCC supporters in the North raised funds for weekly salaries of $10 for SNCC workers in the South. Photo originally published in the New York Amsterdam News. 

Robert Nemiroff and Lorraine Hansberry, on steps of building at Camp Unity, 1953 or 1954. Photographer unknown. Camp Unity was a left-wing interracial summer camp for adults in upstate Wingdale, New York. In 1954, Hansberry was the Lawn Program Director and invited speakers such as W.E.B. Du Bois and his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois to visit. Phil Rose, who would later produce A Raisin in the Sun, was also on staff there.

Lorraine Hansberry, “The Editor,” at her desk at Freedom magazine, 1952. Photographer unknown. From 1951–1953, Hansberry worked in Harlem at the weekly black newspaper, Freedom, founded by Paul Robeson and Louis E. Burnham. At the newspaper, Hansberry started as a “subscription clerk, receptionist, typist and editorial assistant” in addition to writing news articles and editorials. In December 1952, Hansberry was named associate editor, working closely with Burnham who became her mentor.

Lorraine Hansberry during “impromptu song-session” at a SNCC fundraiser at the home of actor and activist Theodore Bikel. Clapping hands and singing are (left to right) Ivanhoe Donaldson Chuck McDew, Lorraine Hansberry, Nina Simone, Theodore Bikel, and James Forman. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating grew out of a student meeting organized by Ella Baker at Shaw University in 1960. SNCC played a major role in the sit-ins, freedom rides, voter registration, the 1963 March on Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. SNCC supporters in the North raised funds for weekly salaries of $10 for SNCC workers in the South. Photo originally published in the New York Amsterdam News. 

The theatrical posters from A Raisin in the Sun at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, which opened on March 11, 1959. A Raisin in the Sun played at the Barrymore through October 17, 1959 and then moved to the Belasco Theater where it closed on June 25, 1960 after a total of 530 performances. Photo by Gin Briggs.

Memorial gravestone of Lorraine Hansberry who died on January 12, 1965 at the age of 34 from pancreatic cancer.  Hansberry is buried at the Bethel Cemetery in Croton-on-Hudson, Westchester County, NY. The text on her gravestone is from The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window:  “I care. I care about it all. It takes too much energy not to care. The why of why we are here is an intrigue for adolescents. The how is what must command the living which is why I have lately become an insurgent again.”