Today In History: Eulalie Spence Is Born

Yuh kin call it conscience, or yuh kin call it HER! 'Tis one and the same thing, Ah reckon. But he's worryin' powerful hard.
--Martha in Her, by Eulalie Spence

The oldest of seven girls, Eulalie Spence (June 11, 1894 - March 7, 1981) was born to Robert and Eno Lake Spence on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies.  After their father's sugar plantation was destroyed by a massive hurricane, the Spences emigrated in 1903 to New York City, first living in Harlem and then in Brooklyn, where she graduated from Wadleigh High School and the National Ethiopian Art Theater School before she attended New York University, and, ultimately, Teachers College, Columbia University, where she earned a Masters in Speech in 1939.

Eulalie Spence was a respected and award-winning playwright, director, actress, and teacher. An influential member of the Harlem Renaissance, Spence was appreciative of the struggles of black immigrants, having grown up in poverty and with a deep interest in victims of circumstance.  From 1927-1958, Spence taught English, drama, and speech at Eastern District High School in Brooklyn -- mentoring generations of high school students, among them Joseph Papp,  Founder of the Public Theater and annual Shakespeare in the Park Festival.

Influenced by the teachings of American writer and philosopher Alain LeRoy Locke, who looked to "race building", Spence was inspired to explore the central theme of black persons from a "non racial" story line.  Her first play, "Being Forty", was written in 1920 and performed in 1924 by the National Ethiopian Art Players at Harlem's Lafayette Theater,  also known as "House Beautiful".  Her work in black dialect often explored love triangles from a  humorous perspective. Eulalie Spence's one-act plays were highly successful, while her feminist perspective brought a strong, independent, and refreshing voice. She won several competitions and presented a number of plays with W.E. Dubois'  Krigwa Players. While some of her plays were never published, interest in her work has resurged in recent years. 

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Crisis Awards Are Announced. (1926/10/30/, 1926 Oct 30). New Journal and Guide (1916-) 
• Little Theaters Start Tourney for Belasco Cup: Union Players of Brooklyn Give 'Drums of Oude' and the Krigwa Negro Troupe Offers 'The Fool's Errand'. (1927/05/03/, 1927 May 03). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• The Drama: Krigwa Players in Opening Tournament. (1927/05/04/, 1927 May 04). The New York Amsterdam News (1922-1938) 
• Draw Attention in N. Y. Little Theater Contest. (1927/05/14/, 1927 May 14). The Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967) 
• Zeta Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Scores. (1928/06/02/, 1928 Jun 02). The Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967) 
• Lighthouse Players to Give Three Plays on March 3: Annual Show by Blind Girls Taken Place at the Booth. (1931/02/22/, 1931 Feb 22). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• H.U. Players Plan Three Productions. (1932/01/16/, 1932 Jan 16). Afro-American (1893-) 
• Huggins, W. N. (1936/09/26/, 1936 Sep 26). Weekly Forum Views and Reviews: The Negro Teacher and September 18, 1925. The Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967) 
• Wren, C. (2007/03/10/, 2007 Mar 10). 'Drama Under the Influence': Thematic Collage Lurches a Bit. The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Phillips, M. (2020/09/13/, 2020 Sep 13). It's Time to Open up the Canon of Classics: Playwrights from the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement Deserve a Second Look. New York Times (1923-) 

Tips:

• Justice-Malloy, R. (2007). Theatre History Studies. 2007, Volume 27 (1st ed.). University of Alabama Press. e-book.
• Nelson, E. S. (Emmanuel S. (2004). African American Dramatists : An A to Z Guide (1st ed.). Greenwood Press.  e-book.
• Schleitwiler, V. (2017). Strange Fruit of the Black Pacific : Imperialism’s Racial Justice and Its Fugitives (1st ed.). New York University Press. https://doi.org/10.18574/9781479851744. e-book.
• See here for plays by Eulalie Spence held at Columbia University Libraries.

Images:

• Keystone View Company, P. (1903) Sugar Estate, Island of Nevis, B. W. I., Near Home of Hamilton. Saint Kitts and Nevis, 1903. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021642035/.
• Poster Image: Portrait of Eulalie Spence, 1928, Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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