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Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry lived from May 19, 1930-January 12,1965. Her family grew up in Chicago, where she stayed until college. Lorraine Hansberry wrote playwrights and received awards throughout her career.
Lorraine Hansberry lived with her family until college. Her father was Carl A. Hansberry, and her mother was Nanny Perry Hansberry. She had three siblings and was the youngest sibling. Her family lived in Chicago and moved around every once in awhile.

Lorraine moved away from her family for College. She went to the University of Wisconsin from 1948 to 1950. Once she graduated from the University of Wisconsin she worked for a newspaper called "Freedom". She then went on to Roosevelt college and from there went to the School of Art Institute. The last school she went to was New School for Social Research.
In 1953 Lorraine married Robert Nemiroff. She met Robert on a picket line. Lorraine and Robert had no children together. They divorced in March 1964, the same year they found out Lorraine had cancer. Robert worked with Lorraine on her writing and continued working with her after they divorced.
Lorraine's earliest play is A Raisin in the Sun. This piece was started 1957 and published 1959. There was a screen play for it in 1960. In 1974 A Raisin in the Sun was adapted as a musical. Another play she wrote was The Sign in Sidney Brustein's

Window. This play was published in 1964. She also wrote Les Blancs which was published in 1970, five years after her death. The Drinking Gourd was a television drama on slavery. This drama didn't go on air while she was alive because some people thought that a black woman shouldn't be able to about slavery. This drama was published in 1972. What use are Flowers was published the same year as The Drinking Gourd, in 1972. The last of Lorraine Hansberry plays that were published is Les Blancs: The collected Last Plays of Lorraine Hansberry. This play was also published in 1972, seven years after her death.
Lorraine Hansberry got two awards for her writings. The first one she received was New York Drama Critics Circle Award. She received this award in 1959 for A Raisin in the Sun. The second award she got was Cannes Film Festival in 1961. She received this award for A Raisin in the Sun as well.
Lorraine Hansberry only lived 35 years. She died of cancer on January 12, 1965. During her life she achieved much. As a black woman in 1950 she was discriminated against, but she still was able to write several plays.
Lorraine Hansberry was very often involved in politics. She wanted social rights. Lorraine Hansberry believed that her duty as an author was to address all issues of mankind. In her books Lorraine Hansberry showed her audience how African American's struggled. In A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine showed her audience a black family whose dreams of a better life were thwarted. The Drinking Gourd was a television drama meant to allow the audience to see the truth on slavery. Most of her writing was all about the issues in her

lifetime. It showed the viewers the truth. Many people read her plays because of the truth in it's pages.

Citations

Lewis, J. J. Lorraine Hansberry. Retrieved September 15, 2007, from About.com:Women's History Web site: http://womenshistory.about.com /od/aframerwriters/p/hansberry .htm

Gao, Maria Lorraine Hansberry: A writer in the sun. Retrieved September 15, 2007, Web site: http://www.state.il.us/hpa/Ill inois%20History/Gao206.pdf

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