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Creator
Jeannette, Gertrude, 1914-
Call number
Sc MG 965
Physical description
5.96 linear feet (17 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Gertrude Hadley Jeannette papers, Sc MG 965, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Gertrude Hadley Jeannette was an actor, playwright, director, and producer. Additionally, she is believed to be the first woman to get a taxi license and drive a cab in New York City. Her papers consist of personal material, correspondence, printed matter, and drafts and manuscripts of her writing.

Biographical/historical information

Gertrude Hadley Jeannette was an actor, playwright, director, and producer. Additionally, she is believed to be the first woman to get a taxi license and drive a cab in New York City.

Born Gertrude Hadley on November 28, 1914, in Urbana, Arkansas, Jeannette met her future husband, Joe Jeannette II, former prizefighter and president of the Harlem Dusters motorcycle club, on prom night. In 1933, they eloped and moved to New York, where she began working as a taxi driver. She also enrolled in shorthand classes at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, where she met Frederick O'Neal, one of the founders of the American Negro Theater. Upon his recommendation, she enrolled in a speech class, held at the Theater, to correct a childhood stammer. Acting was part of the speech therapy curriculum. Since Jeannette had to learn the map of New York City in order to drive a taxi, she realized that she only had to read a script once or twice to know her lines. The American Negro Theater required its students to audition and Jeannette soon became known for her stage presence. She acted alongside such notable figures as Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Sidney Poitier. She was cast in her first Broadway production, Lost in the Stars, in 1948. She would subsequently act in other Broadway productions, including The Long Dream (1960), The Amen Corner (1965), and Vieux Carré (1977), among others. She also found roles in film, including Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Shaft (1971).

In response to what she saw as a lack of authentic black characters in the theater, Jeannette began writing plays in 1950; she wrote five plays altogether including The Way Forward (1948-1950); A Bolt from the Blue (1950); Light in the Cellar (1960), a sequel to This Way Forward; Who's Mama's Baby, Who's Daddy's Child (1985); and Gladys' Dilemma (1990). Also around 1950, during the time of the Second Red Scare, the American Negro Theater closed and Jeannette was barred from working because of her association with Paul Robeson, a singer, actor, and political activist (Jeannette's husband was a bodyguard of sorts for Robeson). Instead of heading to Hollywood like many of her acting peers, she took over a space at the Elks Building, calling it the Elks Community Theater. In 1979, she founded another theater company that would be known as the HADLEY (Harlem Artist's Development League Especially for You) Players. In addition to directing many of the Players productions and overseeing its operations, she transformed her two plays, This Way Forward and Light in the Cellar, into a novel, The Secret in the Cellar, which was published in 2006.

Jeannette received numerous awards and accolades during her lifetime including the Paul Robeson Award from Actors' Equity. She continued to act into her 80s and retired from directing at 98. She died at age 103 in April 2018.

Scope and arrangement

The Gertrude Hadley Jeannette papers consist of material regarding her personal life and her various careers as an actor, writer, director, and the founder of the HADLEY Players. The personal material is small and mainly consists of a few personal documents, correspondence, and awards. The professional material includes correspondence, playscripts, film scripts, and printed matter (such as reviews, clippings, and interviews) in relation to her performances, writing, teaching, and management of the HADLEY Players. The Writing series, which is the largest, contains various drafts, typescripts, and notes, mainly of her playscripts and novel. The last series, Subject files, includes mostly printed matter about friends and colleagues; topics such as black theater; and publications, many of which are playscripts and film scripts.

The Gertrude Hadley Jeannette papers are arranged in four series:

  • Personal
    1955-2015

    This series consists of Jeannette's personal documents, the majority of which are awards. Biographical, the first subseries, contains such material as a copy of her birth certificate, property deeds, correspondence, family obituaries, and daily planners. The second subseries, Awards, includes various awards bestowed on Jeannette for her acting career, such as the Paul Robeson Award, and as the founder of the HADLEY Players, such as the Black Art History Makers Award; these files mostly contain the awards themselves, many of which have been removed from frames.

  • Professional
    ca. 1950-2016

    This series relates to Jeannette's multiple professional careers. The performing and writing subseries contains resumes; correspondence; various playscripts and film scripts; and printed matter, which includes interviews with Jeannette and reviews of her performances and writing. The scripts are further arranged into two subgroups, one of which consists of the film scripts and playscripts in which she acted or for which she auditioned, and the other of which contains playscripts she directed or showed an interest in directing. The second subseries, the smallest, is comprised of material from her time as an instructor at the Arts and Culture Pre-Vocational Program of Central Harlem. The third subseries consists of material related to Jeannette's role as the founder and CEO of the Hadley Players. This material includes correspondence, meeting minutes, financial information, grant applications, reviews of plays produced, and printed matter related to productions, such as playbills and flyers.

  • Writing
    1948-2006

    This series, the largest, consists of various drafts and iterations of Jeannette's writing, which includes playscripts, a screenplay, a novel, and two memorials. The majority of the drafts are typescripts with handwritten notes, and a few are photocopies. The subseries are arranged according to when they were first written, not when they were published or produced.

  • Subject files
    1958-2003

    This material mainly consists of publications and printed matter about colleagues, fellow and emerging playwrights, and organizations. The publications are mostly playscripts by other authors plus a few poems. It is unclear if all of the plays are published works but they are included here because it is not evident if they were produced by the HADLEY Players, sent to Jeannette for producing or directing consideration, or obtained by Jeannette for auditions. There are a few published works, mostly related to theater, acting, and actors. In addition, there is some printed matter on topical subjects, also mostly related to the theater.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Angela Hadley Brown, April 2019.

Revision History

Finding aid updated by Allison Hughes. (2022 December 19)

Processing information

Processed by Lauren Stark, November 2019.

Separated material

Transferred to the Art and Artifacts Division: one drawing.

Transferred to the Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division: six books.

Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound (MIRS) Division: audio and moving image materials. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.

Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: five boxes of photographs (includes photo albums) and oversized framed photographs.

Related Material

American Negro Theatre records, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library

Frederick O'Neal papers, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library

Bibliography

McCracken, Elizabeth. "Gertrude Jeannette: Her Impediment Ensured Her Success." nytimes.com. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/27/magazine/lives-they-lived-gertrude-jeannette.html (accessed November 7, 2019).

Wolfe, Jonathan. "Gertrude Jeannette, Actor, Director and Cabdriver, Dies at 103." nytimes.com. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/obituaries/gertrude-jeannette-actor-director-and-cabdriver-dies-at-103.html (accessed November 7, 2019).

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