- unitid
-
{"value"=>"1163430", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"circa1959-1995", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1959/1995", "certainty"=>"approximate"}
{"value"=>"1960-1989", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1960/1989"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"title\">The Drinking Gourd</span>"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>".8 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Drinking Gourd, a play about American slavery, was commissioned in 1959 by producer-director Dore Schary to initiate a series of ninety-minute television dramas commemorating the centennial of the Civil War on NBC. According to Nemiroff, a studio official considered it superb, but because of its empathy demonstrating that both blacks and whites were victims of slavery, it was never broadcast on television.</p> <p>In 1967 radio station WBAI broadcast two scenes as part of the program \"Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words\", to commemorate the second anniversary of the playwright's death. One of these scenes was later used in the biographical play Nemiroff compiled, To Be Young, Gifted and Black. The Drinking Gourd is the only Hansberry script that was produced in part.</p> <p>Files include the historical background material Hansberry gathered (copies of nineteenth century Congressional documents), first and second drafts of scripts, and two versions shown to Dore Schary. She completed the script in 1960, and Nemiroff oversaw the publication by Addison Wesley Publishing Co. in 1969. Several versions of the play and the galley for Addison-Wesley form part of the collection, in addition to a photocopy of the Random House version (1972) of the play. There are also notes and drafts for Nemiroff's introduction to the 1972 Random House edition, and a file regarding the publication of reprints of The Drinking Gourd, with accompanying correspondence with theatre historian James V. Hatch. Production files include scenes broadcast on WBAI, correspondence pertaining to its staged performances, and casting for a planned television production of the play (1989). Additionally, there is a program and reviews for two amateur performances of the play.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1959
- keydate
-
1959
- date_end
-
1995
- date_inclusive_start
-
1959
- date_inclusive_end
-
1995