{"value"=>"<p>The FBI files obtained via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) contain several reports on the surveillance of both Hansberry and Nemiroff (c. 1952-1965), and target Hansberry as a communist. Found here are photocopies of documents relating to her work with the Youth Labor League at the University of Wisconsin, at Camp Unity, her role as a speaker and performer in \"A Salute to Paul Robeson\" in 1956, and her work as a journalist for Communist publication Daily Worker and Paul Robeson's Freedom newspaper. The bulk of the reports focus on A Raisin in the Sun, suggesting that the play was authorized or controlled by Communists, or had Communist-related themes. The files were culled from FBI headquarters as well as bureaus in Chicago and Philadelphia, and New York City.</p> <p>Robert Nemiroff explored many avenues to keep Lorraine Hansberry's legacy alive. The Lorraine Hansberry Legacy and Projects subseries, 1965-1991, undated (bulk dates 1970s-1980s) (15. 8 lin. ft.) deals specifically with projects produced by Nemiroff in the form of dramatic productions, books and films. The subseries contains the files for two of Nemiroff's productions, To Be Young Gifted and Black, and Raisin, and working files for a book project, \"All the Dark and Beautiful Warriors. \".</p> <p>Following Hansberry's death in January 1965, Nemiroff devoted a great deal of his life to the task of articulating and affirming the playwright's legacy, according to his third wife, the late Jewell Gresham-Nemiroff. Considering that only two plays had been produced prior to her death, Nemiroff believed that he could present Hansberry's larger creative output by letting her speak for herself. In 1966-1967 he wrote the first draft of To Be Young Gifted and Black, which included excerpts from her plays, essays, poetry, fiction, speeches, letters, interviews, and journal entries. The title was taken from the last speech Hansberry made to young winners of a United Negro College Fund writing contest.</p> <p>The producers for various productions (several of whom formed the YGB Company) were Harry Belafonte, Edgar Lansbury, Burt D'Lugoff and Ray Larsen. The play opened at the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre on January 12, 1969 with Cicely Tyson and John Beal, directed by Gene Frankel. Its successful run lasted for nineteen months and became the longest running off-Broadway drama of 1969. Four touring companies presented road productions between 1970 through 1972 with performances in forty-one states, and at over 270 colleges and other institutions. Other adaptations that further popularized the production include a song (with the same title as the play), first performed by Nina Simone in 1969, and a spoken word record album produced by Caedmon Records which featured James Earl Jones, Barbara Baxley, and Claudia McNeil, in 1970. The audience widened for To Be Young, Gifted and Black when the stage production and subsequent book version were adapted for television and film (in 1972) by the producer Robert M. Fresco and directed by Michael A. Schwartz. The book To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words was published by Prentice-Hall with an introduction by James Baldwin. The 1969 volume included photographs and original drawings by Hansberry.</p>"}