The Plays of Georgia Douglas Johnson

From the New Negro Renaissance to the Civil Rights Movement

Georgia Douglas Johnson, Judith L. Stephens

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9780252073335, 9780252030925
• eBook ISBN: 9780252056338
• Topic: Literatur
• Subtopic: Amerikanische Dramaturgie

Recovering the stage work of one of America's finest black female writers

This volume collects twelve of Georgia Douglas Johnson's one-act plays, including two never-before-published scripts found in the Library of Congress.  As an integral part of Washington, D.C.'s, thriving turn-of-the-century literary scene, Johnson hosted regular meetings with Harlem Renaissance writers and other artists, including Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, May Miller, and Jean Toomer, and was herself considered among the finest writers of the time.  Johnson also worked for U.S. government agencies and actively supported women's and minorities' rights.

As a leading authority on Johnson, Judith L. Stephens provides a brief overview of Johnson's career and significance as a playwright; sections on the creative environment in which she worked; her S Street Salon; "The Saturday Nighters," and its significance to the New Negro Theatre; selected photographs; and a discussion of Johnson's genres, themes, and artistic techniques.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• A Note on Terminology
• Introduction
• Part I: Primitive Life Plays
• Part II: Historical Plays
• Part III: Plays and Stories of Average Negro Life
• Part IV: Lynching Plays
• Credits