Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry was born May 19 1930 in Chicago Illinois Her family challenged legal segregation giving rise to the Supreme Court case Hansberry v Lee This might have inspired Hansberry to accomplish a first The opening of A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway on March 11 1959 which was adapted to screenplay form for two feature films No black female author had done the former before The plays storyline about the Youngers a black family trying out an integrationist vision of life in spite of societal racism resonates with Hansberrys fathers legal battle from a decade earlier Although Hansberry had many writings published and wrote other plays The Sign in Sidney Brusteins Window was her only other play that got a production during her life In 1963 Hansberry received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer leading to her untimely death at the age of 34