Black Activists Write Wheatley and Washington: Terrell, Du Bois, and the Drama of the 1932 Bicentennial (1) (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)

Synopsis

This book examines how early twentieth-century Black theatre artists depicted national mythologies of the United States.White-authored pageants and plays written for the 1932 Bicentennial celebration of George Washington’s birthday relegated Black Americans to the periphery through racist stereotyping. Black activists Mary Church Terrell and W. E. B. Du Bois seized the opportunity to place Black people at center stage and to revise contemporary views of Washington and of Black achievement. Terrell’s Historical Pageant-Play Based on the Life of Phyllis Wheatley and Du Bois’s George Washington and Black Folk dramatize how the achievements of Black men and women fit into the US origin story. Terrell’s script is a biography of the life of the enslaved African poet Phillis Wheatley; Du Bois’s pageant is a transgressive revision of the Washington myth.The book’s chapters contextualize these plays within the larger Bicentennial event. O’Malley also includes her edited version of Terrell’s script, published here for the first time.This interdisciplinary book will be a valuable resource for college and university courses in American theatre and performance studies, Black Studies, and Women’s Studies.

Copyright:

2026

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

282 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781040389515

Related ISBNs:

9781003334897, 9781040389454, 9781032360935

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis

Date of Addition:

07/11/25

Copyrighted By:

Lurana Donnels O'Malley

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Entertainment, Nonfiction, Art and Architecture, Literature and Fiction, Social Studies, Drama, Plays and Theater, Language Arts

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.