Loading...
Creator
Hall, Ed, 1931-1991
Call number
Sc MG 447
Physical description
0.42 linear feet (1 box)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Ed Hall papers, Sc MG 447, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
Home to Harlem Project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

The Ed Hall Papers consist of correspondence concerning professional and personal matters (1944-1983), and a poem authored by Owen Dodson. Several letters are from Ted Shine and George Rose, and one letter each are from director Lloyd Richards, Bobby Short, Thornton Wilder, Boston Globe drama critic Kevin Kelly, Vinnette Carroll, and a telegram from Lorraine Hansberry. There are also several contracts for the productions in which he acted, including television shows. A file for Zulu and the Zayda contains quarterly financial reports for 1965-1966, showing that Hall was a small investor in the production. The collection includes obituaries and other articles with information about Hall's career.

Biographical/historical information

Ed Hall (1931-1991) was an actor of stage, screen and television. He began his professional acting career in 1950 and performed primarily on Broadway, touring productions of Broadway plays, and later with the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. Hall had joined the Trinity Repertory Company in 1965, as its first black actor, and remained a member for 26 years, acting in more than eighty productions. His radio credits include the Philip Morris Playhouse.

Among the more well-known productions he acted in were: "Raisin in the Sun" (where he played the African student, Joseph Asagai, in the original 1959 Broadway production), "No Time for Sergeants," "The Death of Bessie Smith," "Trumpets of the Lord," "The Zulu and the Zayda," "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," and the television show "Separate But Equal" which aired in 1991.

Scope and arrangement

The Ed Hall Papers consist of correspondence concerning professional and personal matters (1944-1983), and a poem authored by Owen Dodson. Several letters are from Ted Shine and George Rose, and one letter each are from director Lloyd Richards, Bobby Short, Thornton Wilder, Boston Globe drama critic Kevin Kelly, Vinnette Carroll, and a telegram from Lorraine Hansberry. There are also several contracts for the productions in which he acted, including television shows. A file for Zulu and the Zayda contains quarterly financial reports for 1965-1966, showing that Hall was a small investor in the production. The collection includes obituaries and other articles with information about Hall's career.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift, Marion Simon, Trinity Repertory Company, Dec. 1991

Revision History

This finding aid was updated by Allison Hughes. (2022 January 14)

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor