Autographed Playbill for A Raisin in the Sun: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An autographed playbill for Raisin in the Sun Vol.3, No. 38. Front cover, along the top, on the left is gray with black type that reads "Ethel/ Barrymore/ Theatre" and to the right, yellow with black type that reads “PLAYBILL / a weekly magazine for theatregoers." In the yellow field are handwritten signatures in blue ink by several of the actors: Louis Gossett (George Murchison), Lonne Elder III (Bobo), Diana Sands (Beneatha Younger), Douglas Turner (one of the Moving Men). Underneath, there is a black-and-white depiction of a man and a woman. The man is behind woman with his arms around her in a gray sweater and woman is looking out of the corner of her eyes at the man and is wearing a black top with white polka-dots around the collar seams. At the bottom left, in white type, are letters that read "RAISIN IN THE SUN." Interior pages, off-white with black type and black-and-white images, 32 pages total. On pg. 7, there are multiple signatures and notes in blue ink. Back cover is an ad for Chesterfield cigarettes, in color, with multiple color images, squares with rounded corners, of a man and woman at various New York landmarks.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1959
• Published by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Louis Gossett Jr., American, 1936 - 2024
• Subject of: Lonne Elder III, American, 1927 - 1996
• Subject of: Diana Sands, American, 1934 - 1973
• Subject of: Douglas Turner Ward, born 1930
• Subject of: Ossie Davis, American, 1917 - 2005
• Subject of: Ruby Dee, American, 1924 - 2014
• Type: magazines (periodicals)
• Type: playbills
• Medium: ink on paper with metal
• Dimensions: H x W: 8 15/16 × 6 9/16 in. (22.7 × 16.7 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Drama (Theatre)
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Race discrimination
• Object number: 2014.167.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gifted with pride from Ellen Brooks
• 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: Playbill used by permission. All rights reserved, Playbill Inc Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.