<emph render="italic">Home Is the Hunter </emph>

]> PUBLIC "-//The New York Public Library//TEXT (US::NN::Sc MG 363::American Negro Theatre Scrapbook, 1945-1947)//ENG" "scantscr.xml" Inventory of the American Negro Theatre Scrapbook, 1945-1947 Processed by Paula Williams; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex Data Services; revised by Terry Catapano.

Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, April 1999. . Revised by Terry Catapano, April 2000 Description is in English October 16, 2006 EAD v1.0 finding aid converted to EAD 2002 using UC Berkeley's eadv1to2002.pl perl script. Inventory of the American Negro Theatre Scrapbook, 1945-1947 Sc MG 363 Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The New York Public Library New York, New York Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. New York Public Library. 515 Malcolm X Boulevard New York, NY 10037-1801 (212) 491-2224 scmarbref@nypl.org http://nypl.org/research/sc/scm/marb.html Processed by: Paula Williams Date Completed: December 1998 Encoded By: Apex Data Services; Terry Catapano

Preface

This inventory was prepared as part of an archival preservation project to arrange, describe and catalog resources essential for the study of the African-American theater history. The necessary staff and supplies for the Blacks on Stage: African-American Theater Arts Collection Project were made available through a combination of funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the City of New York.

Descriptive Summary American Negro Theatre Scrapbook, 1945-1947 Sc MG 363 American Negro Theatre 1 flat box. The New York Public Library Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture English Administrative Information Source

Gift of Maxwell Glanville

SCM83-22

Biography

Maxwell Glanville was born in February 1918 in Antigua, West Indies and attended the New School for Social Research in New York City. He began his career as an actor with the American Negro Theatre (ANT) and the Committee for the Negro in the Arts (CNA), but subsequently became a playwright, producer, and director. Glanville was also a founder and artistic director of the American Community Theatre (ACT); all three groups were formed in Harlem, New York. His theatre credits include: <emph render="italic">Home Is the Hunter </emph>(1945); <emph render="italic">Walk Hard </emph>(1946); <emph render="italic">Anna Lucasta </emph>(1946 to 1947); <emph render="italic">How Long Till Summer </emph>(1949); <emph render="italic">Freight </emph>(1950) <emph render="italic">Autumn Garden </emph>(1951); <emph render="italic">Take A Giant Step </emph>(1953) <emph render="italic">Cat on a Hot Tin Roof </emph>(1955); <emph render="italic">Simply Heavenly </emph>(1959); <emph render="italic">Nat Turner </emph>(1960); <emph render="italic">Golden Boy </emph>(1964) and <emph render="italic">Zelda </emph>(1969). He also appeared in such films as: <emph render="italic">Cotton Comes to Harlem</emph>, <emph render="italic">The Out of Towners </emph>(1970), and <emph render="italic">Come Back Charleston Blue </emph>(1972) and on television in <emph render="italic">N.Y.P.D.</emph>, <emph render="italic">, Newark</emph> and <emph render="italic"> Reality </emph>(1979), and in a Bell Telephone commercial (1981).

The American Negro Theatre (ANT), 1940 to 1951, was cofounded by Abram Hill and Frederick O'Neal. ANT provided professional training and development, and produced plays concerning aspects of black life that appealed primarily to the Harlem community. The Committee for the Negro in the Arts (CNA) was active in the theatre although it was more of an interracial, cultural group that, according to one author, was comprised of the “Harlem radical political leftwing.” During the period of the CNA's activity, 1947 to 1954, a number of black-authored plays were produced, among them: <emph render="italic">Florence</emph>, <emph render="italic">, Just A Little Simple, </emph>and <emph render="italic">A Medal for Willie. </emph>Unlike ANT, CNA's upscale fee for admittance to its productions hindered many Harlem community theatergoers from attending CNA's productions.

In 1951, Glanville produced <emph render="italic">Soul Gone Home </emph>at Club Baron and three plays, <emph render="italic">Alice in Wonder</emph>, <emph render="italic"> The Other Foot, </emph>and <emph render="italic">A World Full of Men. </emph>Following the demise of ANT (1951) and CNA (1954), Glanville founded the American Community Theatre (ACT) in 1958 and became its artistic director. While with ACT, he produced some of his own plays, including <emph render="italic">The Bonus </emph>(1961), <emph render="italic">Cindy </emph>(1962), and, <emph render="italic">Long Stretch-Short Haul </emph>(1969). In 1970 Glanville wrote <emph render="italic">Dance to the Nosepicker's Drum </emph>with Rudy Gray, one of his students from ACT. At that time it was decided to emphasize training rather than the development of a theatre company, therefore, the company was renamed ACT/Pro/Workshop. Productions of ACT were usually presented at various community theatres around New York City including the Harlem Young Men's Christian Association.

Moreover, Glanville directed <emph render="italic">Light in the Cellar </emph>(1975), <emph render="italic">Tale of an Instant Junkie</emph>, <emph render="italic"> Anna Lucasta </emph>(1978), <emph render="italic">Branches from the Same Tree </emph>(1980), <emph render="italic">God's Trombone </emph>(1982) and <emph render="italic">Outside Daughters </emph>(1986). Less than a decade before his death in January 1992, Glanville wrote <emph render="italic">TWIT </emph>with Gertrude Greenidge (1986).

Scope and Content

The American Negro Theatre scrapbook, donated by Maxwell Glanville, dates from 1945 to 1947 and contains articles from the Burrell Clippings Service, as well as clippings from other sources, telegrams, and programs. Programs include <emph render="italic">On Strivers' Row,</emph><emph render="italic">Juno and the Paycock </emph>(featuring student actors), <emph render="italic">You Can't Take It With You, </emph>and <emph render="italic">Angel Street. </emph>The scrapbook contains reviews of plays, follow-up articles on actors and actresses who appeared in ANT productions, and articles on ANT's history until approximately one decade after its founding. There is also publicity on ANT ancillary activities, specifically ANT radio broadcasts of plays and operas, and their theatre instruction classes, articles on Frederick O'Neal and Abram Hill, newspaper and magazine pictures from ANT productions, and editorials about the ANT.

Maxwell Glanville is not listed on the above programs nor mentioned in any of the newspaper clippings. There is no discernible arrangement to the contents in the scrapbook.

Container List 1 1 Reviews and Feature Articles on 1945-1946 season: 1 1 Home is the Hunter 1 1 On Strivers' Row 1 1 Green Pastures, 1 1 Three Is A Family 1 1 Anna Lucasta 1 1 Publicity for 1946 summer productions: 1 1 Angel Street 1 1 You Can't Take It With You 1 1 Juno and the Paycock 1 1 Reviews and feature articles on 1946-1947 season: 1 1 Walk Hard 1 1 Home Is the Hunter 1 1 On Strivers' Row 1 1 The Peacemaker 1 1 Rain 1 1 Publicity for the thirteen week 1946 WNEW sponsored ANT Operatic series, plays, and theatre instruction classes.