1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,600 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. We're doubling up today with two 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:08,720 Speaker 1: events in history on with the show. Hello, Hello, everyone, 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,239 Speaker 1: Welcome to this Day in History class, where we bring 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:22,759 Speaker 1: you a new tidbit from history every day. The day 5 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: was May nineteenth, nineteen thirty. Lorraine Vivian Handsbury was born 6 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: at Provident Hospital in Chicago to Nanny Perry Handsbury and 7 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: Carl Augustus Handsberry. Over the course of her life, Lorraine 8 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 1: would write several plays, participate in political protests, and become 9 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: the first black playwright and youngest American to win a 10 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: New York Drama Critics Circle Award. Lorraine was the youngest 11 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 1: of four children. Her mother was a teacher and ward 12 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: committee woman, and her father worked in real estate. Her uncle, 13 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: William Leo Handsbury, was a professor of our freaking history 14 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:05,839 Speaker 1: at Howard University. Lorraine went to kindergarten in Chicago's South Side, 15 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: where she said, quote, the kids beat me up, and 16 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: I think it was from that moment I became a rebel. 17 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: As a child, Lorraine was around artist and activists like 18 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: Paul Robeson, Walter White, Duke Ellington Langston Hughes, and W. E. B. 19 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: Du Bois, who visited her family in eight The family 20 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: bought a house on the South side of Chicago in 21 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: an all white neighborhood. The white residents there attempted to 22 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: impose a restrictive covenant that barred the hands Buries from 23 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,839 Speaker 1: living there, but her family challenged Chicago's discriminatory real estate 24 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: practices in a test case for integrated housing, and they 25 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: emerged victorious in the nineteen forty u. S. Supreme Court 26 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: decision and Handsbury versus Lee. Lorraine's father's activism and involvement 27 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: with the Inn Double a c P. Had a huge 28 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: impact on her activism, and her uncle's influence like helped 29 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: shape her views on the black liberation movement. She graduated 30 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: from Inglewood High School in Chicago in nineteen forty eight 31 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: and then went to the University of Wisconsin for two years, 32 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: where she worked to integrate her dorm. After that, she 33 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: briefly attended the Art Institute of Chicago to study painting, 34 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: but she wanted to pursue writing in theater, so after 35 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: a summer of studying art at Roosevelt University, she moved 36 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: to New York and began attending the New School for 37 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: Social Research. While she was there, she wrote articles for 38 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: the Young Progressives of America magazine and became a reporter 39 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: for Paul Robeson's radical monthly magazine Freedom. She covered the 40 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: civil rights movement other freedom movements around the world, and 41 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: she was active in the fight for black civil rights. 42 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: By nineteen fifty three, she was an editor at the magazine, 43 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: but that same year she resigned from her position at 44 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: Freedom to further pursue playwriting and married Robert Nimrov, a 45 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: writer and graduate student at New York University. In nineteen 46 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: fifty seven, Lorraine completed the manuscript for A Raisin in 47 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: the Sun, a play about a black family living in 48 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: Southside Chicago in the nineteen fifties, and in March nineteen 49 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: fifty nine, the play opened on Broadway, making Handsbury the 50 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: first black woman to have a play produced on Broadway. 51 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: The play ran for five dred and thirty performances and 52 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: put actor Sidney Pointier in the spotlight. The play also 53 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: got Handsbury national recognition, and she won the New York 54 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: Drama Critics Circle Award for it. Lorraine was praised for 55 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: the plays commentary on race and Black American culture, but 56 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: when NBC commissioned her to write a TV drama about 57 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: slavery for a commemoration of the Civil War. Her resulting work, 58 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: The Drinking Gourd, was deemed too controversial and discontinued. Handsbury 59 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: also wrote other plays, including The Sign and Sidney, Bruce, 60 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: Deean's Window, and Le Blanc, and She continued her work 61 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: in the civil rights its movement, raising funds for the 62 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee and writing the text for 63 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: a snake photo book called The Movement Documentary of a 64 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: Struggle for Equality. Handsbury took part in a meeting with 65 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,679 Speaker 1: Attorney General Robert Kennedy to get him to help protect 66 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: civil rights workers in the South. She also supported the 67 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:25,840 Speaker 1: American lesbian liberation movement, writing about radical feminism, misogyny, and homophobia. 68 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty three, Handsbury was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 69 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 1: The next year, she divorced her husband. She died in 70 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five, at thirty four years old. More than 71 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: six hundred people attended her funeral in Harlem that January. 72 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: Lorraine was working on several projects that remained unfinished at 73 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: the time of her death, including an epic opera about 74 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: Toussaint l'overture and an autobiographical novel called All the Dark 75 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: and Beautiful Warriors. I'm Eve Jeff Coo and hopefully you 76 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today then you did yesterday. 77 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: If you have any burning questions or comments to tell us, 78 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: you can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at 79 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: T d i HC Podcast. Thank you for joining me today. 80 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: See you same place, same time tomorrow. Here everyone, I'm 81 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: Eves and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 82 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: podcast where I bring you a little nugget of history 83 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: every day. The day was May nineteen eighty. The sky 84 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: in New England in parts of northern Canada turned unusually 85 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: dark in an event remembered as the Dark Day. Several 86 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: days before May nineteen, people in New England noticed that 87 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: the sky appeared smoky and the sun and the moon 88 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: appeared red. On the morning of May nineteen, the sky 89 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: was cloudy and still had a reddish hue throughout the morning. 90 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,280 Speaker 1: The sky continued to get darker. By noon, people were 91 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: using candles for light. The darkness stretched from the skies 92 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: over Portland, Maine to the southern coast of New England. 93 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: It was so unusual that many people panicked. Some people 94 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: went to church, while others went to taverns. Birds reportedly 95 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: suffocated from the smoke and ash. Some people noted that 96 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 1: the air smelled like sood. The Connecticut legislature even moved 97 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: to adjourn. Abraham Davenport, a member of the Governor's Council, 98 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: opposed adjourning the legislature. He said that quote, the day 99 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: of judgment is either approaching or it is not. If 100 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: it is not, there is no cause of an adjournment. 101 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 1: If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. 102 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: Harvard professor Samuel Williams collected observations about the darkness and 103 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: wrote about the day's events. According to his account, the 104 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: darkness continued until the middle of the next night. He 105 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: said the following candles were lighted up in the houses. 106 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: The birds, having sung their evening songs, disappeared and became silent. 107 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,239 Speaker 1: The fouls retired to roost. The cocks were crawling all around. 108 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: As at break of day. Objects could not be distinguished, 109 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: but at a very little distance, and everything bore the 110 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: appearance and gloom of night. Williams reported that people saw 111 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: a layer of scum on the surface of water that 112 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: appeared to be the ashes of burnt leaves. From his observations, 113 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: he determined the likely cause of the darkness. He suggested 114 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: that fires had caused vapors to rise and collect in 115 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: the air, since the weather had been clear, the air heavy, 116 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: and the wind quote small and variable. But many people 117 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: dismissed the idea that wildfires caused the darkness. In the 118 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: weeks after May nineteenth, people proposed different theories about the 119 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: origins of the event. Some thought that sunlight was being 120 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: blocked by a huge mouth untin. Others believe that a 121 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: biblical prophecy was being fulfilled. Later research suggested that distant 122 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: forest fires caused the darkness. Researchers from the University of 123 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: Missouri and U S Forest Service examined tree rings and 124 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: fire scars and determined that a major fire occurred in 125 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. They 126 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: concluded that a low pressure weather system carried smoke from 127 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: the west or north to New England. The fires in 128 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: the Algonquin Highlands were the most likely cause of New 129 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: England's dark Day, but fires burning in the eastern US 130 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: could have also contributed to the darkness. I'm each Jeffcoat 131 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 132 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. And if you want to send 133 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: us any kind notes or you have any other comments 134 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: are suggestions, please send them to us at this day 135 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,679 Speaker 1: at i heeart media dot com. You can also hit 136 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: us up on social media where at t d i 137 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: A see podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thanks so 138 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,079 Speaker 1: much for listening to the show and we'll see you tomorrow. 139 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: M For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the 140 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,079 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 141 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.