Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
A Raisin in the Sun was the first show to make it to Broadway that was written by an African American woman (Lorraine Hansberry). It is also the first show on Broadway with a Black American director, Lloyd Richards.
A Raisin in the Sun was produced five years after Brown v. Board of Education.
The play was nominated for 36 Tony Awards in 1960, including Best Play, Best Actor in a Play, Best Actress in a Play, and Best Direction of a Play.
Lorraine Hansberry married the editor of A Raisin for the Sun. In 1957, she came out as a lesbian after separating from her husband.
Hansberry grew up in Chicago with activist parents. Her father was a successful realtor. Hansberry attended a segregated school. She studied at the University of Wisconsin and then lived in New York City in the early 1950s.