THEA 12000: Theatrical Design

A revealing portrait of one of the most gifted and charismatic, yet least understood, Black artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century. Lorraine Hansberry, who died at thirty-four, was by all accounts a force of nature. Although best-known for her work A Raisin in the Sun, her short life was full of extraordinary experiences and achievements, and she had an unflinching commitment to social justice, which brought her under FBI surveillance when she was barely in her twenties. While her close friends and contemporaries, like James Baldwin and Nina Simone, have been rightly celebrated, her story has been diminished and relegated to one work--until now. In 2018, Hansberry will get the recognition she deserves with the PBS American Masters documentary "Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart" and Imani Perry's multi-dimensional, illuminating biography, Looking for Lorraine. After the success of A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry used her prominence in myriad ways: challenging President Kennedy and his brother to take bolder stances on Civil Rights, supporting African anti-colonial leaders, and confronting the romantic racism of the Beat poets and Village hipsters. Though she married a man, she identified as lesbian and, risking censure and the prospect of being outed, joined one of the nation's first lesbian organizations. Hansberry associated with many activists, writers, and musicians, including Malcolm X, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois, among others. Looking for Lorraine is a powerful insight into Hansberry's extraordinary life--a life that was tragically cut far too short.

As McCarthyism swept across the United States and capitalism was king, white America enjoyed a feeling of pride and security that was reflected in advertising.

This reference documents and analyzes periods of contemporary American social history. There are 10 volumes altogether and each includes: a chronology of the decade; subject chapters with background essays; subject-specific chronologies and alphabetically arranged items depicting the people, ideas, and facts important during that period.

The Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History - an authoritative, five volume work dealing with all aspects of the African-American experience from 1619 to the present day. With over 2,300 entries, 2,500 pages, and more than 1,000 photographs, maps, and charts, the Encyclopedia encompasses a broad range of topics in an effort to fully define in one source both the cultural roots and the current condition of the African-American community.

A reference resource covering United States popular culture of the 1950s. Includes: Advertising, Architecture, Design, Fashion, Food and Drink, Leisure Activities, Music, Performing Arts, Travel and Recreation, and the Visual Arts.

"The first-ever feature documentary about Lorraine Hansberry, the visionary playwright who authored the groundbreaking A Raisin in the Sun. An overnight sensation, the play transformed the American theater and has long been considered a classic, yet the remarkable story of the playwright faded from view. With this documentary, filmmaker Tracy Heather Strain resurrects the Lorraine Hansberry we have forgotten--a passionate artist, committed activist and sought-after public intellectual who waged an outspoken and defiant battle against injustice in 20th-century America. The film reveals Hansberry's prescient works tackling race, human rights, women's equality and sexuality that anticipated social and political movements on the horizon"