In 1959, Lorraine Vivian Hansberry became the first African American woman to have a Broadway production of her work. A Raisin in the Sun, named for a line in the Langston Hughes poem Harlem , debuted on Broadway in 1959, just six years before her death in 1965 at the age of 34. An artist/activist, Hansberry’s life and body of work served as the inspiration for The Hansberry Project, a professional Black theatre company dedicated to the artistic exploration of African Americ

In 1959, Lorraine Vivian Hansberry became the first African American woman to have a Broadway production of her work. A Raisin in the Sun, named for a line in the Langston Hughes poem Harlem , debuted on Broadway in 1959, just six years before her death in 1965 at the age of 34. An artist/activist, Hansberry’s life and body of work served as the inspiration for The Hansberry Project, a professional Black theatre company dedicated to the artistic exploration of African Americ