African American Entertainers photograph   Save
Ohio Guide Photographs
Description: This photograph of African American members of the Federal Theatre Project was taken in Cincinnati in 1936. It measures 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). The Federal Theatre Project, organized under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), was created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The program employed out-of-work actors, directors writers, crew and entertainers, most of whom were out of work after the stock market crash of 1929. Divisions of the Federal Theater Project were established in Cleveland and Cincinnati. An African American adaptation of MacBeth by Orson Welles was one of the most controversial productions of the Federal Theatre Project. Although it ran in several other cities, the play was not produced in Cincinnati because local officials insisted the audience would have to be segregated, a violation of WPA policy. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3165_3780166_001
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Arts and Entertainment; Entertainers
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)