Eulalie Spence (June 11, 1894 – March 7, 1981) was a writer, teacher, director, actress and playwright from the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

. She was an influential member of the Harlem Renaissance, writing fourteen plays, at least five of which were published."Eulalie Spence papers, 1926-1991."
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,

The New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

. Retrieved October 22, 2012. (website lists two different birth dates- 1884 and 1894. Date of 1894 is used for this article.) Spence, who described herself as a "folk dramatist" who made plays for fun and entertainment, was considered one of the most experienced female playwrights before the 1950s,Perkins, Kathy A
''Black Female Playwrights: An Anthology of Plays Before 1950.''

Bloomington, IN Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Monro ...

: Indiana University Press, 1990. . ''

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

.'' Retrieved October 27, 2012. and received more recognition than other black playwrights of the Harlem Renaissance period, winning several competitions. She presented several plays with

W.E.B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up i ...

' Krigwa Players, of which she was a member from 1926 to 1928. Spence was also a mentor to theatrical producer

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created ...

, founder of

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

and the accompanying festival currently known as Shakespeare in the Park.Zara, Christopher
"Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep Pitch in for Public Theater Reboot."
'' International Business Times'', October 5, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2012.

Early life

Spence was born on the island of

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...

in the

on June 11, 1894, to Robert and Eno Lake Spence, the oldest of seven girls. She spent her formative years on her father's sugar plantation.Shafer, Yvonne. "Eulalie Spence.
''African American Dramatists: An A to Z Guide.''
Nelson, Emmanuel Sampath (Ed.) Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. . 429-434. ''Google Books.'' Retrieved October 25, 2012. The plantation was destroyed by a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

, and she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

with her family in 1902, living in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

before eventually settling in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Her niece Patricia Hart, described Spence as "prim, proper and ultracorrect in speech and dress, yes – but she was gentle, generous and loving and the backbone of a family of seven girls." Because of her father's difficulty in finding steady employment, Spence and her family lived in meager circumstances, crowded in a small apartment in

. Poverty forced their mother to make clothes from discarded uniform fabric at the school where she worked, and there was a great sense of loss when their father "gave up his dream of returning to their homeland." Moreover, she was quite aware that

West Indians A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use ...

were not welcomed by the indigenous black population. Despite her difficult circumstances, Spence had many positive influences, particularly from her mother. Spence's mother often read to her as a child, and the strong, independent nature she displayed, served as a model for Spence, both in her own life and in the female characters she created in her plays.

Education

Spence overcame her impoverished childhood and managed to obtain an exceptional education. She graduated from Wadleigh High School and the New York Training School for Teachers. In 1924 she was a student at the National Ethiopian Art Theatre School, which was dedicated to the training and employment of black actors. Spence received a B.A. in 1937 from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and an M.A. in speech in 1939 from Teacher's College, Columbia University, where she studied under Hatcher Hughes. Spence began teaching in the New York public school system in 1918, including over thirty years (1927-1958) at the Eastern District High School in Brooklyn, where she taught elocution, English, and

dramatics Theatre studies (sometimes referred to as theatrology or dramatics) is the study of theatrical performance in relation to its literary, physical, psychobiological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also e ...

. One of her students during that time was

, a playwright and producer who founded The Public Theater in 1954."History of The Public Theater."
''www.publictheater.org.'' Retrieved November 5, 2012.

Writing career

W. E. B. Du Bois, founder and editor of ''

The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Mi ...

'', the monthly journal of the N.A.A.C.P., surmised that Black Drama must be built from scratch, by Blacks for a Black theater. In 1926, he founded Krigwa (Crisis Guild of Writers and Artists), originally known as Crigwa. Krigwa sponsored a yearly literary contest that included a playwriting competition and fostered a theater company, the Krigwa Players, which rehearsed and performed at the 135th St. branch of the New York Public Library.Scott, Freda L. “Black Drama and the Harlem Renaissance.” ''

Theatre Journal The ''Theatre Journal'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the theatre arts, with articles from the October and December issues centering on a predetermined theme. It is an official publication of The Association for Theatre i ...

'' 37 (1985): 426-439. The contest, originally titled "The Amy Spingarn Prizes in Literature and Art","The Amy Spingarn Prizes in Literature and Art."

Crisis Magazine Sophia Institute Press is a non-profit publishing company based in Nashua, New Hampshire, United States. It publishes Catholic books, the online opinion journal ''Crisis Magazine'', the traditionalist Catholic website ''OnePeterFive'', the Tri ...

, November, 1924. ''Google Books.'' Retrieved February 18, 2013 was held in 1925 and 1926, and was funded by Amy Spingarn, wife of

Joel Elias Spingarn Joel Elias Spingarn (May 17, 1875 – July 26, 1939) was an American educator, literary critic, civil rights activist, military intelligence officer, and horticulturalist. Biography Spingarn was born in New York City to an upper middle-cla ...

, who was treasurer of the N.A.A.C.P. at the time, and later served as president. Mrs. Spingarn contributed over $1200.00 to prize winners."Mrs. Spingarn named to Board of NAACP."
''

The Afro-American The ''Baltimore Afro-American'', commonly known as ''The Afro'' or ''Afro News'', is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the flagship newspaper of the ''AFRO-American'' chain and the longest-running Africa ...

'', September 30, 1939. ''Google News Archives.'' Retrieved February 18, 2013.Schaefer, Adam
''The Harlem Renaissance.''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Heinemann Library Heinemann Library is an imprint of American book publishing company Capstone Publishers Capstone is a publisher of children’s books and digital products. Capstone focuses on the educational market. They also sell to the trade market and intern ...

, 2003. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved February 18, 2013. Spence finished second in the 1926 Krigwa playwriting contest for her

one act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

''Foreign Mail.'' She also won a second place prize for ''Her'', which was entered into a contest held by ''

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

'',Hatch, James V., and Ted Shine
''Black Theatre USA Revised and Expanded Edition, Vol. 1 : Plays by African Americans, The Early Period 1847 to 1938.''
New York: Free Press, 1996. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved November 6, 2012. a magazine published by Charles S. Johnson. In 1927, ''Fool’s Errand'', with sets designed by artist Aaron DouglasBrown, Lois
''The Encyclopedia of the Harlem Literary Renaissance.''
New York: ''

Facts on File Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, including ...

'', 2006. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved July 2, 2013. competed in the Fifth Annual International Little Theatre Tournament, a first for Blacks since the finalists competed in a

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

.''The Fool's Errand'', Frolic Theatre, May 2, 1927.
''Internet Broadway Database.'' Retrieved July 1, 2013.''The Fool's Errand'', Frolic Theatre, May 2, 1927.
''playbillvault.com.'' Retrieved July 1, 2013. The Krigwa Players won one of four $200.00 prizes and the play was published by

Samuel French Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays. Biography French foun ...

.Kemble, Jean. "Eulalie Spence (playwright), 1894-1981.
''The Harlem Renaissance: A Guide to the Materials at the British Library.''

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

: Eccles Centre for American Studies, 1997. .

The British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

. Retrieved May 28, 2014. ''Undertow'' tied for third place in the 1927 ''Crisis'' contest. Spence's play ''The Hunch'', won second place in the 1927 ''Opportunity'' contest, while ''The Starter'' won third place, and was included in ''Plays of Negro Life'', an early collection of African-American theater written by

Alain Locke Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect ...

and Montgomery Gregory.Peterson, Bernard L., Jr
''Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers.''
New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved June 30, 2013. Ovington, Mary White
"Book Of 20 Plays."
''The Afro-American'', December 3, 1927. ''Google News Archives.'' Retrieved June 29, 2013 Spence's play ''Her'' opened the Krigwa Players' second season, and her sisters, Olga and Doralene Spence, acted in the Krigwa Players' productions, with both receiving praise for their acting performances. Doralene Spence went on to replace

Rose McClendon Rose McClendon (August 27, 1884 – July 12, 1936) was a leading African-American Broadway actress of the 1920s. A founder of the Negro People's Theatre, she guided the creation of the Federal Theatre Project's African American theatre units n ...

as the lead role in

In Abraham's Bosom ''In Abraham's Bosom'' is a play by American dramatist Paul Green. He was based in North Carolina and wrote historical plays about the South. Production ''In Abraham's Bosom'' premiered on Broadway at the Provincetown Playhouse on December 30, ...

at the

Cherry Lane Theatre The Cherry Lane Theatre is the oldest continuously running off-Broadway theater in New York City. The theater is located at 38 Commerce Street between Barrow and Bedford Streets in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, ...

in 1927.Allen, Cleveland G
"Krigwa Players Give Three One Acters."
article lists Olga and "Doralyne" Spence as cast members in two plays by Eulalie Spence.) ''The Afro-American'', January 29, 1927. '' Google News Archive.'' Retrieved February 18, 2013. Critic William E. Clarke wrote in the New York Age, “''Her''…was by far the best of the bill. It was a ghost story and was written with such skill that it rose to the heights of a three-act

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

that might have been written by a Eugene ’Neill"Clarke, Williame E
"Krigwa Shows Remarkable Progress as 2nd Season Opens."

New York Age ''The New York Age'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1887. It was widely considered one of the most prominent African-American newspapers of its time.

, 1927-1928. ''fultonhistory.com.'' Retrieved August 5, 2013. Another play by Spence, ''On Being Forty'', went unpublished, but was presented publicly on at least two occasions, on October 15, 1924 by the National Ethiopian Art Theatre,Wintz, Cary D., and Paul Finkelman, eds
Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: K-Y.
New York:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, 2004. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved August 14, 2013.Miller, Henry D
''Theorizing Black Theatre: Art Versus Protest in Critical Writings, 1898-1965.''

Jefferson, NC Jefferson is a town in and the county seat of Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,611 at the 2010 census. History The North Carolina General Assembly created a special commission in 1799 to found a county seat for ...

: McFarland & Company. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved February 17, 2013. and a presentation in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Little Negro Theater in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, on May 6, 1927."Newark Begins Little Theatre."
''

'', May 7, 1927.] '' Google News Archive.'' Retrieved February 17, 2013. Spence also directed two plays, ''

Before Breakfast ''Before Breakfast'' is a 1919 American short comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. Cast * Harold Lloyd as The Boy * Snub Pollard * Bebe Daniels * Sammy Brooks * Lew Harvey * Noah Young See also * List of American films of 1919 * Harold Lloyd ...

'' by

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

and '' Joint Owners in Spain'' by Alice Brown for the Dunbar Garden Players, a short-lived theater group that was named in honor of

Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...

Dispute with W.E.B. DuBois and the end of the Krigwa Players

The plays of Eulalie Spence helped to make a name for the Krigwa Players amongst both Black and white critics.,Walker, Ethel Pitts. “Krigwa, a Theatre by, for, and about Black People.” ''Theatre Journal'' 40 (1988): 347-356 however, Spence and Du Bois did not see eye to eye, artistically or politically. Du Bois felt that theatre should be used as a vehicle for propaganda to advance the cause of the American

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

. Spence, on the other hand, always acutely aware that she was from the West Indies, had a different outlook on the theatre. She felt that the theatre was a place for people to be entertained and not antagonized by the problems of society. In a 1928 essay for ''Opportunity'' she wrote, "The white man is cold and unresponsive to this subject and the Negro, himself, is hurt and humiliated by it. We go to the theatre for entertainment, not to have old fires and hates rekindled." Du Bois tried several times to get Spence to write politically themed drama but she refused. Spence "insisted that plays obey the rules of dramatic form, not a political agenda."White, Andrew
"Drama Under the Influence: Audience Guide."
February, 2007. Ed. Jack Marshall. 18-19. Du Bois took the $200.00 prize money from the 1927 Little Theatre Tournament and used it to reimburse production expenses and paid neither the actors nor Spence. The Krigwa Players disbanded as a result.

''The Whipping''

Spence's only three-act play was her last, ''The Whipping'', adapted from a novel written by

Roy Flannagan Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

.Braconi, Adrienne Macki. "Eulalie Spence.
''The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre.''
Ed. Harvey Young.

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

: Cambridge University Press, 2013. . 117-134. ''Google Books.'' Retrieved July 17, 2013.Leno, Brian
"Roy Flannagan."
''REH: Two-Gun Raconteur'', August 13, 2010. Retrieved July 18, 2013. The story is about a promiscuous young white woman whose arrival in town causes a scandal among the local people. She is attacked by the Ku Klux Klan in an attempt to scare her away. She instead frames the Klan, and uses the media attention to start a movie career. The plot about a white woman subverting the Klan was unique for an African-American female writer in the Harlem Renaissance, as black women of that era wrote mostly about black folk life. Spence crossed racial barriers when she approached the white author to secure publishing rights, and by hiring a white agent, Audrey Wood, who also represented

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

. Spence cast

Queenie Smith Queenie Smith (September 8, 1898 – August 5, 1978) was an American stage, television, and film actress. Life and career Smith was born in Texas. Her family moved from Texas to New York shortly before Smith began studying at the Metropol ...

, a popular Broadway actress in the 1920s, in the lead role for the play, which was scheduled to open at the Empress Theatre in Danbury, Connecticut in 1933.Bonan, Dave
"Heirloom Arts Theatre in Danbury, Connecticut."
''www.cinematreasures.org.'' Retrieved August 12, 2013. The production was canceled without explanation four days before it was to open, and a disheartened Spence

optioned In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...

the screenplay to Paramount Pictures for $5000.00. Although her play never reached the stage, it remains significant because it represents one of the earliest attempts to enter commercial theater by an African-American writer. According to some sources her screenplay was never made into a film, but in a 1973 interview Spence revealed that her screenplay was filmed as Ready for Love, a 1934 film starring

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

and

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...

and directed by

Marion Gering Marion Gering (June 9, 1901 in Rostov-on-Don – April 19, 1977 in New York City) was a Russian-born American stage producer and director. He moved to the United States in 1923 as an artist. He became involved in the theatrical community in Chicag ...

.Donati, William
''Ida Lupino: A Biography.''

Lexington, KY Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-larges ...

University Press of Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...

, 1996. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved July 22, 2013."Ida Lupino: 1918 - 1995."
''Arabella & Co.'' Retrieved July 24, 2013. The discrepancy is likely due to the fact that she was not listed in the film credits."Ready for Love" (1934).
''www.imdb.com.'' Retrieved July 17, 2013

Writing style

Eulalie Spence developed a sensitivity towards race and gender from memories of her parents' struggles as black immigrants. Spence's plays were mostly comedies, although she did write three dramatic works: ''Her'', ''Undertow'', and ''La Davina Pastora.'' Spence wrote "folk plays", which tended to focus on the everyday lives of African-Americans, particularly domestic life, shunning Du Bois' belief that the black theater should be used for propaganda, or "race plays." Her plays often included a love triangle, with weak male characters contrasting against the strong personalities of the female characters. Although Spence said that this contrast was likely from her experiences at home with a quiet, soft-spoken father who left all the decisions to his wife, the differences between her male and female characters was unintentional. In a 1924 review, writer

George S. Schuyler George Samuel Schuyler (; February 25, 1895 – August 31, 1977) was an American writer, journalist, and social commentator known for his conservatism after he had initially supported socialism. Early life George Samuel Schuyler was born in ...

criticized Spence's play ''On Being Forty'' for its inability to connect with the audience and for having characters that were "not true to Negro life." The review of ''On Being Forty'' was mostly negative, but it did hint at dramatic depth that would make Spence's 1927 play ''Undertow'' one of her lasting works, and one of the few plays from the Harlem Renaissance era that can be successfully produced today. ''Undertow'' is about a woman who returns to Harlem after many years in the South to take back the man she loves, from his wife. The hint of racial overtones is also present in the script, as the man's dark-skinned wife is obsessed with light skin of his former lover, and she eventually destroys their attempt to reunite. Spence uses the ethnicity of the characters in ''Undertow'' as part of plot development, instead of racial propaganda. Spence did not agree with Du Bois' political views in regards to the theater, but her plays are not entirely apolitical. She frequently addressed issues such as

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and ri ...

, and the roles of women, using

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

as a medium because she felt it provided other ways, such as

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

, to bring awareness to the African-American experience. While her characters "were undeniably black", Spence avoided racial themes in her plays in favor of universal themes.

Use of black dialect

Spence was a disciple of

, who believed that black theatre "should woo its audiences into appreciating its African roots." During the mid-1920s, a time when there was conflict about how African-Americans should be represented on stage, she insisted on using Black dialect in her plays. In 1929, when asked by

Willis Richardson Willis Richardson (November 5, 1889 – November 7, 1977) was an American playwright. Biography Willis Richardson was born on November 5, 1889 in Wilmington, North Carolina, a son of Willis Wilder and Agnes Ann (Harper) Richardson. His fami ...

to submit a play without dialect, she replied that she was "very sorry indeed, that I have no play on hand suitable for the book you have in mind." This response is an example of how important she felt the use of dialect was to accurately portray the characters she wrote about, many of whom were poor and lived in urban environments that included prostitution and

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

. Spence's use of black dialect onstage, considered "a bold and dangerous choice", actually "underscored race consciousness" by dramatizing black women's struggle to maintain racial and gender identity. According to Adrienne Macki Braconi, "Spence's work serves as a paradigm to examine the presence of dialect on the stage in black drama, taking into account how linguistic patterns confirm ethnicity on-stage and what that suggests in performance."

Legacy

Eulalie Spence was considered one of the Harlem Renaissance's rising young playwrights,"Spence, Eulalie."
''Facts on File.'' Retrieved July 22, 2013. Epstein, Helen
''Joe Papp: An American Life.''
New York:

Da Capo Da capo (, also , ) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). It is often abbreviated as D.C. The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is a ...

, 1996. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved July 22, 2013. although she did not have a great deal of financial success.

' refusal to give Spence a share of the award money won by her play at the National Little Theatre Tournament eventually led to the end of the Krigwa Players."Krigwa Players."
''Facts on File.'' Retrieved July 22, 2013 The $5000.00 payment she received for her screenplay of ''The Whipping'' was the only compensation she ever received as a writer. Spence, who never married, retreated from public life after ''The Whipping'' and focused on her work as a high school teacher,Parascandola, Louis J., Ed
''Look For Me All Around You: Anglophone Caribbean Immigrants in the Harlem Renaissance.''

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Wayne State University Press Wayne State University Press (or WSU Press) is a university press that is part of Wayne State University. It publishes under its own name and also the imprints Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), ...

, 2005. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved July 21, 2013. while she continued to write and act for Columbia University's Laboratory Players.

Influence on Joe Papp

Spence was a progressive thinker who challenged her students to discuss social norms. Teaching in a predominantly white classroom, she encouraged her students to think about race and gender in the literature they studied, something that was unheard of prior to the 1960s. Theatrical producer Joe Papp called Eulalie Spence "the most influential force in his life." He continued to speak about her in reverential terms even fifty years after he was a student in her classroom, at Eastern District High School, where she was the only black teacher. Papp credited Spence with "scrubbing his tongue" of its

Brooklyn accent The sound system of New York City English is popularly known as a New York accent. The New York metropolitan accent is one of the most recognizable accents of the United States, largely due to its popular stereotypes and portrayal in radio, ...

and eliminating his "gutter speech" by teaching him grammar and proper enunciation. She brought actors to class and gave her students poetry and plays to read. Papp said that Spence "was interested in me. She made me feel good about myself. She took me under her wing. And she was interested in an area that I seemed to find interesting: language." Papp never forgot the impact of Spence on his life and career, but was unaware of her life as playwright, only learning about her theatrical work years later at a Harlem museum exhibit.

Re-assessment of her work

Contemporary scholars have tended to dismiss Spence's plays because of their inclusion of Black dialect and because of her inability to sustain a career in theatre.Braconi, Adrienne Macki. ''"Talking B(l)ack": Construction of Gender and Race in the Plays of Eulalie Spence.'
''Theatre History Studies 2007.''
Ed. Rhona Justice-Malloy.

Tuscaloosa, AL Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

University of Alabama Press The University of Alabama Press is a university press founded in 1945 and is the scholarly publishing arm of the University of Alabama. An editorial board composed of representatives from all doctoral degree granting public universities within ...

, 2007. . 86-109. ''Google Books.'' Retrieved July 28, 2013. Spence has actually made a notable contribution to theatrical history, especially in relation to the art theatre movement and the history of African American theatre. She was responsible for a major shift in attitudes on dialects in race drama by the mid 1920s. Many modern critics hold Spence in high esteem, such as Elizabeth Brown-Guillory, who said that Spence could be credited with "initiating

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

in plays by black women", and James Hatch and Ted Shine, who noted that Spence was one of the first to write "black characters into non-racial plots." Hatch and Shine also called Spence one of the best craftswomen of the Harlem Renaissance, and probably the only playwright of the period to formally attend classes in dramatic structure."

Modern performances of her plays

Spence has been overshadowed by the counterparts of her day such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and

James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop ...

, although in recent years scholars have reconsidered her work along with other lesser known African-American female writers such as

May Miller May Miller (January 26, 1899 – February 8, 1995) was an American poet, playwright and educator. Miller, who was African-American, became known as the most widely published female playwright of the Harlem Renaissance and had seven volumes of po ...

and Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins. Eulalie Spence's play ''Hot Stuff'', a story about Harlem street hustlers, was presented on stage in February and March 2007 by The American Century Theater of

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

(TACT) as part of ''Drama Under the Influence'', a collection of one-act plays written by women during the 1920s. The production was conceived and directed by Steve Mazzola. Included along with Spence's work were plays by

Sophie Treadwell Sophie Anita Treadwell (October 3, 1885 – February 20, 1970) was an American playwright and journalist of the first half of the 20th century. She is best known for her play ''Machinal'' which is often included in drama anthologies as an examp ...

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...

, Susan Glaspell and Rita Wellman. The Xoregos Performing Company opened its ''Harlem Remembered'' program on February 14, 2015 with a performance of Spence's play ''The Hunch.'' The production was directed by Shela Xoregos, and had nine shows February 14–28, 2015 in

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...

and Newburgh, in New York state."Photo Flash: Meet the Cast of The Xoregos Performing Company's HARLEM REMEMBERED."
''www.broadwayworld.com'', February 11, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015."'Harlem Remembered' a Play Performed by Xoregos Performing Company."
''www.nypl.org'', February 26, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015. Her play ''The Starter'' premiered in Xoregos Performing Company's program ''Songs of the Harlem River'' in New York City's Dream Up Festival, August 30-September 6, 2015.
''www.dreamupfestival.org.'' Retrieved October 9, 2015. ''Songs of the Harlem River'' also opened the Langston Hughes Festival in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

on February 13, 2016.

Death

Eulalie Spence died in

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

, on March 7, 1981, at the age of 86. She had been living at the home of her niece, Patricia Hart, and died at the Warner Hospital. Hart occasionally corresponded with writers inquiring about her aunt, providing photos and additional biographical information. Spence's obituary did not mention her career as a playwright, saying only that she was a retired schoolteacher."Eulalie Spence obituary."
'' Gettysburg Times'', March 9, 1981, p. 6. '' www.newspaperarchive.com.'' Retrieved May 11, 2013.

Written works

Plays

* ''The Starter'' (1923) * ''On Being Forty'' (This play was never published, but was first presented on October 15, 1924 at the Lafayette Theater in

. No extant copies of the script have been found.) * ''Foreign Mail'' (1926) * ''Fool’s Errand'' (1927) * ''Her'' (1927) * ''Hot Stuff'' (1927) * ''The Hunch'' (1927) * ''Undertow'' (1927) * ''Episode'' (1928) * ''La Divina Pastora'' (1929) * ''The Whipping'' (1934)

Essays

* "A Criticism of the Negro Drama as it Relates to the Negro Dramatist and Artist."

, June 28, 1928. * "Negro Art Players in Harlem."

, December, 1928.Hatch, James V
''Lost Plays of the Harlem Renaissance, 1920-1940.''

, 1996. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved August 18, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Eulalie African-American dramatists and playwrights African-American women writers African-American screenwriters Screenwriters from New York (state) 1894 births 1981 deaths People from Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis emigrants to the United States New York University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni American women dramatists and playwrights Harlem Renaissance 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American writers