Richard B. Harrison
Encyclopedia
Richard Berry Harrison was a renowned actor
, teacher
, dramatic reader and lecturer
. He was featured on the cover of TIME
magazine on March 4, 1935. The son of fugitive slaves, Harrison was born in London, Ontario
, Canada
, on September 28, 1864, the eldest of five siblings.
Harrison's parents had escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad
. His mother named him Richard after seeing a performance of Shakespeare's Richard III. Her interest in theatre placed Harrison on the way to becoming an actor. In his youth, he worked selling newspapers, and managed to work near a local London theatre, where he would try to get to know the actors. Whenever he saved enough money he would attend the plays. His talents were recognized early in recitations that he would give at school and in church. He also has descendent family members in Kansas City, Missouri and throughout the Kansas City metro area.
After moving to Detroit, he began his dramatic studies at the Detroit Training School of Dramatic Art, and privately with British drama coach Edward Weitzel, drama editor for the Detroit Free Press
. From 1892 to 1896, Harrison traveled the U.S., performing as a dramatic reader. Harrison’s repertoire included works from Shakespeare and poetry from his friend Paul Laurence Dunbar
, including promotional tours for Dunbar's book Oak and Ivy. He married Gertrude Janet Washington in 1895; she was the first Black person to graduate from the Chicago Conservatory of Music. They had two children, Lawrence Gilbert and Marian Ysobel.
Harrison became extremely well known after playing "de Lawd" in more than 1,650 performances of Marc Connelly
’s play, The Green Pastures, which opened on Broadway
on February 26, 1930. The show ran for 16 months, then went on tour, appearing in more than 203 cities and towns (including his hometown of London, Ontario, at the Grand Theatre
), and later won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama
for playwright Connelly in 1931.
He taught elocution
and dramatics courses at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College
, Branch Normal in Arkansas
, and Flipper-Key College in Oklahoma
.
Harrison died of heart failure in New York City
, on March 14, 1935, ten days after he was featured on the cover of TIME magazine.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, dramatic reader and lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
. He was featured on the cover of TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
magazine on March 4, 1935. The son of fugitive slaves, Harrison was born in London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, on September 28, 1864, the eldest of five siblings.
Harrison's parents had escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
. His mother named him Richard after seeing a performance of Shakespeare's Richard III. Her interest in theatre placed Harrison on the way to becoming an actor. In his youth, he worked selling newspapers, and managed to work near a local London theatre, where he would try to get to know the actors. Whenever he saved enough money he would attend the plays. His talents were recognized early in recitations that he would give at school and in church. He also has descendent family members in Kansas City, Missouri and throughout the Kansas City metro area.
After moving to Detroit, he began his dramatic studies at the Detroit Training School of Dramatic Art, and privately with British drama coach Edward Weitzel, drama editor for the Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
. From 1892 to 1896, Harrison traveled the U.S., performing as a dramatic reader. Harrison’s repertoire included works from Shakespeare and poetry from his friend Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal African American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 "Ode to Ethiopia", one poem in the collection Lyrics of Lowly Life....
, including promotional tours for Dunbar's book Oak and Ivy. He married Gertrude Janet Washington in 1895; she was the first Black person to graduate from the Chicago Conservatory of Music. They had two children, Lawrence Gilbert and Marian Ysobel.
Harrison became extremely well known after playing "de Lawd" in more than 1,650 performances of Marc Connelly
Marc Connelly
Marcus Cook Connelly was an American playwright, director, producer, performer, and lyricist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930.-Biography:...
’s play, The Green Pastures, which opened on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
on February 26, 1930. The show ran for 16 months, then went on tour, appearing in more than 203 cities and towns (including his hometown of London, Ontario, at the Grand Theatre
Grand Theatre, Ontario
The Grand Theatre is a professional theatre located at 471 Richmond Street just south of Dufferin Avenue in London, Ontario, Canada.Its main auditorium has a seating capacity of 839 with a regular season running from September to May...
), and later won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
for playwright Connelly in 1931.
He taught elocution
Elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone.-History:In Western classical rhetoric, elocution was one of the five core disciplines of pronunciation, which was the art of delivering speeches. Orators were trained not only on proper diction, but on the proper...
and dramatics courses at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is a land-grant university located in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest publicly funded historically black college in the state of North Carolina.NC A&T is a constituent institution of the University of North...
, Branch Normal in Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, and Flipper-Key College in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
.
Harrison died of heart failure in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, on March 14, 1935, ten days after he was featured on the cover of TIME magazine.
Accolades
- Received the NAACP’s 1930 Spingarn MedalSpingarn MedalThe Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for outstanding achievement by an African American....
for Distinguished Achievement.
- On his 70th birthday in 1934, he was awarded an honorary Master of ArtsMaster of Arts (postgraduate)A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree from Howard UniversityHoward UniversityHoward University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
and honorary doctorateDoctorateA doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
degrees in Dramatic Literature from North Carolina Agriculture and Technical College and Lincoln UniversityLincoln UniversityLincoln University or University of Lincoln or variations may refer to:in England*University of Lincolnin New Zealand*Lincoln University, New Zealandin the United States*Lincoln University...
, and he became the first actor ever to be awarded the Sigma Society Key from Boston UniversityBoston UniversityBoston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. He had shaken the hands of mayors and received congratulatory telegrams from 14 university presidents and seven governors, was praised by many religious leaders for his performance and was awarded an inscribed BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
from the Clergy Club of New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. - A public library in RaleighRaleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, was named after Harrison in 1935. In today's Richard B. Harrison Library is also the Richard B. Harrison Community Auditorium. - Richard B. Harrison High School is named after Harrison, located at Elm and McHaney Streets in Blytheville, ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. - Richard B. Harrison Gymnasium on Noble Street in Smithfield-SelmaSmithfield, North CarolinaSmithfield is a town in Johnston County, North Carolina, United States. In 2008, the estimated population was 12,965. It is the county seat of Johnston County...
, North Carolina, is named after Harrison. - Harrison has also received honorary degreeHonorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
s from many U.S. colleges and universities. - Due largely to the efforts of documentary filmmaker/ historianHistorianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Chris DotyChris DotyChris Bourke Doty was a Canadian journalist, historian, award-winning documentary filmmaker, author and playwright, noted for his many contributions to the cultural life of his hometown of London, Ontario....
, in 2003 an interpretive historical plaque was erected in a London, OntarioLondon, OntarioLondon is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, park named in Harrison's honour at the foot of Clarence Street, near where Harrison’s childhood home was before it was torched in a race-related incident, hours after the Harrison family moved to Detroit, MichiganDetroit, MichiganDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, circa 1880. (Harrison's childhood home was located on Wellington Street (west side) immediately north of the Thames River.) - In 2006, the Richard B. Harrison Auditorium was completed at the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NC A&T).
- The North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University's theater company is named after him.
External links
- When the Lord was a Black Man: A Fresh Look at the Life of Richard Berry Harrison by Andrea J. Nouryeh, 1982 Indiana State University, Black American Literature Forum, Volume 16, Number 4, Winter 1982, pages 142 -146
- Bio of Richard B. Harrison
- Richard B. Harrison Library in North Carolina
- TIME magazine cover of March 4, 1935, featuring Harrison
- Memorial Service for Richard B. Harrison