Lorraine Hansberry: The Black Experience in the Creation of Drama: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A documentary film with the title Lorraine Hansberry: The Black Experience in the Creation of Drama. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm acetate film with optical sound.

Narrated by actress Claudia McNeil, the documentary examines the life and work of playwright Lorraine Hansberry. The film focuses on Hansberry's life and how it influenced her most famous work, "Raisin in the Sun." It also makes extensive use of clips from the 1961 film version of the play to showcase the ideas being presented.

The film begins with a television interview clip of Hansberry describing the role of the dramatist in depicting conflict. This is followed by a clip from the film version of "Raisin in the Sun" featuring Sidney Poitier. Next, the title cards appear over shots of people arriving for a performance of "Raisin in the Sun." Unidentified African drumming plays in the background. In another clip from the same television interview, Hansberry describes what attracted her to playwriting. Claudia McNeil's introductory narration begins over a freeze frame of Hansberry. Over shots of Chicago's South Side taken from the L and a moving car, McNeil details Hansberry's upbringing in the area. As further shots of the South Side are shown, Hansberry herself describes her upbringing and its influence on her work. The focus then turns to the Supreme Court case (Hansberry vs. Lee) won by her father to allow her family to live in a whites-only neighborhood. Shots of Hansberry's childhood apartment are shown as McNeil describes the terrible treatment the Hansberry's experienced in response to their efforts.

The subsequent sequence focuses on Hansberry's relationship with other children and her education. McNeil reads from Hansberry's writings on the subject as shots of children and her high school are shown. Next, McNeil, in Hansberry's words, recounts how she decided to become a playwright while attending the University of Wisconsin. A montage of shots depicting Christian symbols and violence in Northern Ireland are shown during the narration. McNeil's narration then moves on to explain how in 1950 Hansberry decided to leave university and move to New York City where she became a reporter for Paul Robeson's newspaper Freedom. Wide shots of Manhattan and historical photographs are shown. The section concludes with her marriage to Robert Nemiroff.

As contemporary shots of life in Harlem are shown, McNeil describes how New York City influenced Hansberry's ideas. The origin of the title "Raisin in the Sun" is then described and McNeil compares Hansberry's influence on theater to Langston Hughes' influence on poetry. An audio clip of Hansberry describing the importance of the very specific setting of the play on the South Side of Chicago plays over contemporary footage of the area and historical photographs of the play's staging. Hansberry then discusses her special connection to the character Beneatha Younger. This is followed by a scene from the film version prominently featuring Beneatha. Over images of historical photographs, Hansberry discusses her reaction to the play's success. In a clip from a television interview, she talks about her interest in dramatizing the lives of ordinary people. This is followed by another clip from the film version.

Hansberry then describes the message of the play: the importance of human dignity. Over a shot of a woman scrubbing the floor of a long hallway, Hansberry describes the significance of the mother in the play. In another clip from the television interview, Hansberry expounds on the difference between a naturalistic work and a realistic work, like her play. Shots of Hansberry's home movies from her home in Croton-on-Hudson are shown as McNeil describes her activities after the success of "Raisin in the Sun." Her role in the Civil Rights Movement is then discussed by McNeil and by Hansberry herself. As images of Hansberry's home office are shown, McNeil reads from Hansberry's journal as she describes progress on her various plays. Next, an audio recording captures Hansberry reciting the spiritual "Steal Away to Jesus." Shots from her home movies play during the recording. McNeil's narration then turns to Hansberry's next play, "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window" and the end of her life during its run on Broadway. Reflecting upon Hansberry's death, McNeil reads a poem Hansberry wrote about the black experience. A clip from filmed version of her play "Les Blancs" is shown. McNeil then describes Hansberry's posthumous success. Historical photographs and multilingual play bills are shown, as well as a filmed clip from the musical "Raisin." The film concludes with an audio clip of Hansberry discussing art and her role in it. The credits roll over a clip from "Raisin."sound.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1975
• Directed by: Ralph J. Tangney, American, 1923 - 2009
• Subject of: Lorraine Hansberry, American, 1930 - 1965
• Subject of: Sidney Poitier, Bahamian American, 1927 - 2022
• Subject of: Ruby Dee, American, 1924 - 2014
• Subject of: Claudia McNeil, American, 1917 - 1993
• Subject of: Diana Sands, American, 1934 - 1973
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration: 37 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 1300 Feet
• Place depicted: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Croton-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Literature
• Topic: Theatre
• Topic: Women
• Object number: 2017.55.64.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.