Abram Hill
Abram Hill, also known as Ab Hill, (January 20, 1910 โ October 13, 1986) was an American playwright, author of On Strivers Row, Walk Hard, Talk Loud and several other plays; and a principal figure in the development of black theatre from
Although best known for his literary work On Strivers Row, Hill's most fundamental accomplishment was his part in founding
Biography
Early years and education
Abram Hill was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 20, 1910, and spent half of his childhood there. At the age of seven he appeared in a
Hill returned to New York a year later and joined the
American Negro Theater
In 1939 the Federal Theater Project was shut down, and Hill then teamed up with Frederick O'Neal and a group of other drama artists to form
Interviewed shortly before his death, Hill recalled how he brought Harlem residents into the theater. "We sent a wagon up and down the streets of Harlem with somebody beating a drum.... We passed out handbills on the street corners. And we had a family night. We let in five members of the family for a dollar."
After leaving ANT in 1948, he continued working both as a director, with the Lincoln University Players in the early 1950s,[4] and as a teacher of English in New York schools. Abram Hill died in Harlem at the age of 76 in 1986.[3]
Legacy
An exhibition entitled The 75th Anniversary of the American Negro Theatre was opened at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in 2015.[5]
References
- ^ "Abram Hill". Doollee.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0-684-82307-1.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ a b Fraser, C. Gerald (11 October 1986). "ABRAM HILL, 76, THE FOUNDER OF A BLACK THEATER IN HARLEM". New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
- ^ "Lincoln University Player", Lincolnian, June 10, 1954. Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections.
- ^ Frederick, Candice, "Honoring the Legacy of Abram Hill, Co-Founder of the American Negro Theatre", New York Public Library, November 12, 2015.