Lorraine Hansberry was born in the
Woodlawn neighborhood.
The family then moved into an all-white
neighborhood, where they faced racial
discrimination.
•Hansberry attended a predominantly white public school
while her parents fought against segregation.
•This experience later inspired her to write her most
famous work, A Raisin in the Sun.
•Attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked
on the staff of Freedom magazine.
•Died of pancreatic cancer
Published in 1959, four years
after Rosa Parks’ was arrested
for refusing to give up her seat
to a white person on a bus,
sparking the Civil Rights
Movement, Hansberry’s play
illustrates black America’s
struggle to gain equal access to
opportunity and expression of
cultural identity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Civil-Rights Leader
1929-1968
I have a dream… a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the
true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal.’
•Debuted on Broadway in 1959.
• First play written by a black woman to be
produced on Broadway
•Story is based upon a family's own
experiences growing up in Chicago's
Woodlawn neighborhood.
•The title comes from the opening lines of
"Harlem", a poem by Langston Hughes
The Youngers are not one big happy family.
Mrs. Lena Younger
(Mama)—Matriarch of the
family. She has strong
values and ideas about
how to run her family;
these sometimes conflict
with those of her grown
children.
Mama does not
understand how her
children turned out
the way they did.
Walter Lee (Brother)— Mrs. Younger’s
eldest child. He wants to start his own
liquor business, against his family’s
wishes. Walter wants things that no
one else believes he can have.
Beneatha—Walter Lee’s
younger sister. She plans to go
to medical school after college
and has ideals many people
find difficult to understand.
Ruth Younger Walter Lee’s
wife, who wants a tranquil
home, but who experiences
difficulty in communicating
with her husband. Pregnant,
she is considering having an
abortion.
Travis Younger—Walter and
Ruth’s son. Both his parents
want him to aim for a life with
more advantages than they
have been able to provide.
Joseph Asagai—One of Beneatha’s
gentleman friends; a fellow student at
her school who is originally from Africa.
In the midst of crisis, he shows Beneatha
an unexpected side of his personality.
George Murchison—Another friend of
Beneatha’s. Because he is rich, the family
urges Beneatha to marry him, but she is not
so sure this is what she wants.
Karl Lindner—A white man representing a
new-neighbor committee, who wants to make
a humiliating “deal” with the Younger family.
Bobo—One of the men Walter wants to start a liquor
business with; he delivers some shocking news to the
family.
Mrs. Johnson—Nosy neighbor of the Youngers, who
cannot help hinting that there might be dire
consequences if the family moves to the new
neighborhood.
Walter Younger Senior—Deceased husband of Mrs.
Younger. How the money from his insurance policy will
be used is a source of conflict for the Younger family.
Their apartment is too old and small, and they
never seem to have enough money.
But one day the Youngers get a check for ten
thousand dollars in the mail.
Not surprisingly, they
all have different ideas
on what they should do
with the money.
Will the decision they
make save the family or
destroy it?
The Youngers live on the South Side of Chicago
in the 1950s.

In the 1950s, African Americans faced a lot
discrimination.
Racially motivated
lynchings, bombings,
and fires were not
uncommon.
In 1949, New Jersey and Connecticut became
the first states to outlaw segregation of public
places.
In 1954, the Supreme Court found in favor of the
plaintiffs in the Brown v. The Board of Education
case. However, the segregation of schools didn’t
begin to take effect until 1957. Moreover, the
case’s decision did not abolish segregation in
other public areas, such as restaurants and
restrooms.
But that did not mean that states and cities
enforced desegregation rulings.
African Americans faced
discrimination in
housing: White people
living in certain
neighborhoods all
agreed not to sell their
homes to African
Americans.
Because of segregation and discrimination,
African Americans often had to work in lowpaying jobs.
For example, in the play, Walter is a chauffeur
and Ruth cleans houses.
The 1950s was also a
time when African
Americans began to
come together to fight
for their civil rights.
African Americans were
also beginning to find
ways to celebrate their
unique identity and their
African heritage.
Discuss (1)
What would happen if you got ten thousand in
the mail? What would you want to do with it?
• What do you think your family would want to
do with it?
• Do you think you would all agree? Why or why
not?
Discuss (2)
• Have you ever experienced discrimination?
How so? How did you react?
• What do you think you would do if someone
tried to tell you that you could not live in his
or her neighborhood?