Lake View East in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Lorraine Hansberry

The Legacy Walk

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021

1. Lorraine Hansberry Marker

Inscription.
Lorraine Hansberry
Lesbian U.S. Feminist, Activist and Author
(1930 - 1965)

Born the daughter of a middle class Chicago businessman, Lorraine Hansberry’s life in many ways mirrored her art and dedication to social justice. After moving into an all-white Chicago suburb in 1937, the family was met with physical violence. Rather than give into the hostility they sued and, in 1940, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled they had a right to remain in their home. In 1950 Hansberry moved to New York City, where she eventually married Jewish songwriter Robert Nemiroff, whom she quietly divorced in 1964. Her play ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ (1959) was the first play written by an African American to be produced on Broadway. It would go on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award – an honor which Hansberry was both the first African American – and the youngest person – to receive. The play, which dealt in human terms with the serious and comic problems of a black family in modern America, was a major stimulus to the 1960s African-American Theater movement. A civil rights activist her entire life, Hansberry began identifying herself as a feminist and lesbian in the 1950s. She applauded the growing West Coast homophile movement and was one of the first members of the New York chapter of the groundbreaking lesbian organization, the Daughters of Bilitis. She wrote several essays for its newsletter The Ladder under the pen-name “L.H.N.” proffering that “…homosexual persecution and condemnation has at its roots not only social ignorance, but a philosophically active anti-feminist dogma.” Hansberry linked the struggle for gay rights, rights for people of color, and rights for women long before such terms as ‘homophobia’ and ‘feminism’ had come into the vernacular. She died from cancer in 1965 at the age of 34. Her ex-husband

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assembled posthumous collections of her unfinished works, letters, and diary entries – most notably To Be Young Gifted and Black (1969), whose title was drawn from the last speech Hansberry made to young winners of a United Negro College Fund writing contest.

Erected 2013 by The Legacy Project.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Civil Rights • Women. In addition, it is included in the The Legacy Walk series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1937.

Location. 41° 56.875′ N, 87° 38.966′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in Lake View East. It is on North Halsted Street north of West Addison Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3607 North Halsted Street, Chicago IL 60613, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American Midwest.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in

Lorraine Hansberry Marker - wide view, looking north on North Halsted Street image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021

2. Lorraine Hansberry Marker - wide view, looking north on North Halsted Street

The Hansberry marker shares a rainbow pylon with the marker for Two Spirit indigenous peoples, which is actually the marker visible here - the Hansberry marker is on the other side of this pylon.

what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Two Spirit (here, next to this marker); David Kato Kisule (a few steps from this marker); Jane Addams (a few steps from this marker); American Veterans for Equal Rights Military Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); 42nd Precinct/Town Hall Police Station (within shouting distance of this marker); Dra. Antonia Pantoja (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Sylvia Rivera (about 300 feet away); Marsha P. Johnson (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.

Also see . . .
1. Lorraine Hansberry. Wikipedia entry (Submitted on January 6, 2024, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

2. Lorraine Hansberry Biography. Chicago Public Library website entry (Submitted on September 14, 2021.)

3. In Her Own Words. Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust website entry:
A selection of the author's quotes, selected by her literary trust.

Excerpt from a letter

3. Marker inset: Lorraine Hansberry
to The Ladder (Vol. 1 No. 8; May, 1957): As one raised in a subculture experience (I am a Negro) where those within were and are forever lecturing to their fellows about how to appear acceptable to the dominant social groups, I know something about the shallowness of such a view in and of itself…what ought to be clear is that one is oppressed or discriminated against because one is ‘different’, not ‘wrong’ or ‘bad.’ This is perhaps the bitterest of the entire pill.

(Submitted on September 14, 2021.)

4. Lorraine Hansberry speaks out with "sighted eyes and feeling heart" against injustice. YouTube video (2m 3s):
Short clip from PBS American Masterx series on Hansberry's advocacy. (Submitted on September 14, 2021.)

Additional keywords. lgbt lgbtq

<i>Publicity portrait of playwright Lorraine Hansberry</i> image. Click for full size.

Friedman-Abeles Studio (courtesy of the New York Public Library), 1955

4. Publicity portrait of playwright Lorraine Hansberry

This is almost certainly the source image for the marker inset photo - compare with Photo No. 3.

<i>To be young, gifted, and black : Lorraine Hansberry in her own words</i> dust jacket image. Click for full size.

Prentice-Hall Publishing Co. (courtesy of the University of Minnesota Libraries), 1969

5. To be young, gifted, and black : Lorraine Hansberry in her own words dust jacket

Credits. This page was last revised on January 6, 2024. It was originally submitted on September 14, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 593 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 14, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.