Playbill for A Raisin in the Sun with insert essay ‘Sweet Lorraine': Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Playbill magazine (2015.64.14.1), April 2014, featuring the play, "A Raisin in the Sun" written by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Kenny Leon, starring Denzel Washington, LaTanya Richardson, and Sophie Okonedo, and performed at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, New York 2014. The top third of the cover is the masthead, a yellow rectangular field with black type with the magazine's title, [PLAYBILL ®] above the text [ETHEL BARRYMORE THEATER]. Below the masthead and outlined with a Kente cloth border, is a black-and-white image tinted blue of a young boy on a street. The boy walks past a row of receding buildings seen in the upper right quadrant to the upper left. The boy is pictured on the right side near the lower corner. He holds something to his mouth in his proper left hand and holds books under his proper right arm. Behind him, centered in the image, is a woman wearing a long coat, carrying an umbrella on her proper left arm. Overlaying the image is a narrow, a Kente cloth outline of a circle. In the lower third of the image, justified on the left side, is orange text with the title of the play, which is also the main coverline, [a RAISIN / in the SUN]. Below the image at the bottom is a small yellow rectangle with a website in black text. The back cover features an ad for Gucci cologne. The magazine has fifty-two (52) pages.

A tri-folded pamphlet of the essay "Sweet Lorraine" (2015.64.14.2) about Lorraine Hansberry, written by James Baldwin. Printed on semi-gloss paper, the pamphlet is navy blue with stylized, Kente cloth borders throughout. On the front in the upper right corner is a circular, black-and-white image of Lorraine Hansberry. Overlapping the image is white block text [SWEET / LORRAINE]. Below the title is the byline in orange text, [BY JAMES BALDWIN] followed by a line of white text that reads [THAT'S THEY WAY I ALWAYS FELT ABOUT YOU, AND SO / I WON'T APOLOGIZE FOR CALLING HER THAT NOW.]. Below the text and byline is the beginning of Baldwin's essay in white text. The inside of the pamphlet the essay continues and features four (4) circular black and white images of cityscapes. In the lower left corner of the back page is an additional black-and-white image of Hansberry. Above and around the image are the final paragraphs of the essay. [ROTATION]

A narrow cell phone reminder flyer (2015.64.14.3) with navy blue background with a narrow, stylized Kente cloth border, printed on glossy paper. Covering the whole of flyer is block text of varying sizes. The text is in orange and white, justified on the right side and reads [DEAR FRIENDS, / PLEASE / PROTECT YOUR / OWN GOOD TIME / AND THAT OF YOUR / NEIGHBOR BY / TURNING / OFF YOUR / CELL/ PHONE / NOW. / THANK YOU.]. The reverse is blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: April 2014
• Published by: Playbill, American, founded 1884
• Written by: James Baldwin, American, 1924 - 1987
• Printed by: Unidentified
• Edited by: Blake Ross
• Subject of: Lorraine Hansberry, American, 1930 - 1965
• Subject of: Kenny Leon, American, born 1956
• Subject of: Denzel Washington, American, born 1954
• Subject of: LaTanya Richardson Jackson, American, born 1949
• Type: theater programs
• Medium: ink on paper with metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2015.64.14.1 Closed): 8 9/16 × 5 3/8 × 3/16 in. (21.7 × 13.7 × 0.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2015.64.14.1 Open): 8 9/16 × 10 3/8 × 7/8 in. (21.7 × 26.3 × 2.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2015.64.14.2 Closed): 9 × 4 1/4 (22.8 × 10.8 × 0.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2015.64.14.2 Open): 9 × 12 5/8 × 1 in. (22.8 × 32 × 2.5 cm)
• Dimensions: L x W (2015.64.14.3): 9 1/16 × 4 1/16 in. (23 × 10.3 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Domestic life
• Topic: Drama (Theatre)
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Poverty
• Topic: Race discrimination
• Object number: 2015.64.14.1-.3
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Kathleen M. Kendrick
• 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.