Lorainne Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun English 11

The Great Migration The Great Migration is a term used to describe the mass migration of African Americans from the southern United States to the industrial centers of the Northeast and Midwest between the 1910s and 1960s. Up South: African American Migration to Chicago

5                                                                                                                                         The First Wave of the Great Migration (1916-1919) - part I "The factory owners had to find new workers to replace those who were marching off to war." Jacob Lawrence Migration      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 close

5      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15                                                                                            "Although they were promised better housing in the North, some families were forced to live in overcrowded and unhealthy quarters." Jacob Lawrence

A Raisin in the Sun was written in the 1950’S A Raisin in the Sun was written in the 1950’S. What do you know about the 1950’S? 1950's Video

Lorraine Hansberry May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965 African American playwright Also an author of political speeches, letters, and essays

Early Life Youngest of four children of Carl Augustus Hansberry (a wealthy, real estate broker in segregated Chicago) and Nannie Louise Perry She grew up on the south side of Chicago in the Woodlawn neighborhood.

Controversial Move In 1937, her father purchased a home in the Washington Park Subdivision an all-white neighborhood, where they faced racial discrimination Washington Park had a restrictive covenant that said no black person could live in or own a home in the subdivision Washington Park fought Hansberry and they went to court in 1937

Supreme Court case of Hansberry versus Lee Hansberry's father engaged in a legal battle against a racially restrictive covenant that attempted to prohibit African-American families from buying homes in the area. Though victors in the Supreme Court, Hansberry's family was subjected to what Hansberry would later describe as a "hellishly hostile white neighborhood." This experience later inspired her to write her most famous work, A Raisin in the Sun.

“Hansberry Decision Opens 500 New Homes to Race” The Chicago Defender Saturday, November 16, 1940

Later Hansberry Finding college to be uninspiring, Hansberry left in 1950 to pursue her career as a writer in New York City. She worked on the staff of a Black newspaper called Freedom. It was at this time she wrote A Raisin in the Sun.

The Play Opened on Broadway on March 11, 1959 Cast includes Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, and Ruby Dee The New York Drama Critics name it the Best American Play of 1959 Ran for nearly 2 years on Broadway Made into a film starring most of the Broadway cast in 1961

Basics of the Play The story is based upon her family's own experiences growing up in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with a black director (Lloyd Richards) on Broadway

Importance of the Play A Raisin in the Sun can be considered a turning point in American art and drama because it addresses so many issues important during the 1950s in the United States Hansberry creates in the Younger family one of the first honest depictions of a black family on an American stage

…Importance of Play Broaches important issues and conflicts, such as poverty, discrimination, and the construction of African-American racial identity

Themes to Look For Dreams Money Family Women’s Rights Racial Tensions and Discrimination Assimilation Cultural Heritage Self-Identity and Self-Expression

Symbols Definition: Some reoccurring image that stands for an idea beyond itself Be out on the lookout for symbols throughout the play!

Big Questions To what extent do our dreams define who were are? When is it OK or right to “defer” our dreams? How and where did racism occur after slavery and segregation? Where does it exist today? What about sexism? What does one need in order to find self-identity? To “know thyself?”