Martha Pryor Anderson papers

1943-1990

Born in Richmond, VA. in 1890, Martha Pryor Anderson was an African American woman poet and dramatic performer. She founded the Pryor's Dramatic Players in Richmond in the 1930s, but later moved to New York where she started the group anew. She made her debut at Carnegie Hall in the early 1940s. She travelled extensively, appearing in churches, local schools and colleges. Her repertoire included some of her own poems and dramatic works. She died in Harlem in 1993. Correspondence, notebooks, programs, printed matter and scrapbooks documenting Martha Pryor Anderson's activities as a poet and diseuse, and her membership in the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York. The collection also includes materials documenting her 95th birthday trip to Richmond where she was honored by the Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Governor's office.