Black Women in America – Part 24
Here we are nearly at the end of one year of stories of amazing African American women. We started last year during Black History Month with the stories of the FIRST African American women to earn PhD’s and/or attain to leadership positions in education. From there we discovered black women in arts, writing, sports, medicine, inventing, and entertainment. There are so many more FIRST African American women in politics, law, awards and achievements, crime fighters, firefighters, pilots, astronauts, motorbike riders, missionaries, religious leaders, business, and activists that we will spend another year recognizing them.
This week we continue with black women in entertainment.
Misty Copeland – (b. 1982) – First in Ballet
“I’m 5’2”. I started when I was thirteen. I’m Black, but I’ve made it happen. I’m very lucky to be where I am…it’s possible.”[1]
Misty was born to Douglas Copeland and Sylvia DelaCerna on September 10, 1982. Her parents divorced while she was just a toddler. Her mother worked hard to give Misty and her five siblings a good upbringing. When Sylvia saw how much Misty loved to dance, she supported her as much as she could. She saw that Misty took lessons at the Boys & Girls Club at her hometown of Kansas City, MO.
Many ballerinas start while they are very young, but Misty did not take ballerina lessons until she was thirteen. Her coach Elizabeth Cantine saw Misty’s obvious giftedness and that she had the internal drive to succeed. It must have been hard for mother and daughter who loved each other very much, but Misty had to live apart from her family for three years while she took intensive training. Her guardian and manager was Cynthia Bradley.
When she was fifteen, Misty won first place at the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards. The Los Angeles Times wrote that Misty was the best young dancer in the Los Angeles area. Later at age seventeen she moved to New York and became a member of the American Ballet Theatre. Misty was given great honors for her solo role in ABT’s production of Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird.
Misty continued to thrill audiences for many years. In 2012 she fractured her tibia. This might have ended her career, but Misty worked hard on her strength training and soon was dancing again. In 2014 Misty was the First black woman to play the role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. In 2015 Misty became the First African American to be named the principal ballet performer for the American Ballet Theatre.
Misty had many other exciting opportunities – dancing with Prince, acting on Broadway, appearing with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and interviewing with President Obama. She also wrote several books. PBS produced a film about her life entitled, A Ballerina’s Tale.[2]
Misty still dances with the American Ballet Theatre. In July 2022, Misty and her husband, Olu Evans (married since 2016) had their first baby – a boy named Jackson.
Ruby Dee, Firsts in Theatre (1922-2014)
“The greatest gift is not being afraid to question.”[3]
Ruby wanted to be an actor from a very early age. In the early twentieth century it was hard for African Americans to get really good roles, so Ruby joined a group known as the American Negro Theatre (ANT).[4]This group contained some people who would later go on the great fame – Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Ossie Davis. Because of racial prejudice, they had to rehearse in the basement of a library building in Harlem. Ruby starred in their first production, On Striver’s Row. This was the first of many starring roles that spanned her career of over seventy years.
Some of her movies include:
Edge of the City with Sidney Poitier
A Raisin in the Sun, based on the play by Lorraine Hansberry.
Television movies include:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, based on Maya Angelou’s memoir
Roots: The Next Generation
Ruby was the First black female actor to appear on a TV soap opera, Peyton Place. Ruby was also the Firstfemale African American to play major roles at the American Shakespeare Festival.
Ruby and Ossie Davis were married in 1948. The couple would star in many movies together. They also became active in civil rights organizations across the United States. They were seen working together on and off screen earning them a reputation as “the first couple of Black Theatre”. They were friends with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and took part in the famous March on Washington in 1963. Ruby and Ossie were members of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).[5] They were also members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Congress of Racial Equality.
In 1995 Ruby and Ossie were awarded the National Medal of Arts. In 2008, Ruby received the NAACP’s highest award – the Spingarn Medal for acting, screen writing, and social justice work. Ruby had also won a Grammy, an Emmy, an Obie and she received the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. Many still remember her today as one of the most significant and accomplished actors and activists in America.
Evelyn Preer – First Lady of the Screen (1896-1932)
In the early 20th century, Evelyn Preer became the First black female actor to achieve celebrity status, nicknamed the “First Lady of the Screen.” Evelyn acted on stage and screen. She showed her great talent when she crossed from early silent movies to sound movies, and also performed on Broadway, acting and singing.
Evelyn Preer was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi to Frank and Blanche Jarvis. She was the oldest of three children. Her father died while she was a child. Her mother moved the family to Chicago. Evelyn received her acting training on Vaudeville. She also gained some experience being in front of an audience while she was street-preaching. She was helping her mother raise funds to build a black Apostolic church.
Evelyn began her professional career in 1918. She worked with Oscar Micheaux, the first black producer of films. She starred in “The Homesteader”, Micheaux’s first film. She went on to star in nine more Micheaux films.
In 1920, Evelyn joined Anita Bush’s theatrical troupe – The Lafayette Players. Evelyn starred in Broadway shows as a singer and an actor. 1923 –She played the role of Salome in “Salome” on Broadway.
She made records with such famous musicians as Duke Ellington. She appeared in comedy shorts for producer Al Christie. Her early movies were “Silent” films; her first “Talkie” sound movie was a musical entitled “Georgia Rose” in 1930.
Sadly, her career was cut short when she died on double pneumonia in 1932. She had been suffering from post-partum complications after the birth of the daughter, Edeve.
Edeve would later join the Sisters of Saint Francis, taking the veil and becoming Sister M. Francesca Thompson, O.S.F. Edeve would also go on to become an Associate Professor of theater and speech at Marian College in Indianapolis. Edeve is recognized as a well-known historian of African American cinema.
I am thankful that we can find some pictures of Evelyn on YouTube.
The one below: Evelyn Preer in scenes from the 1920 film “Within Our Gates”. She was the first black leading lady in Hollywood. Continue to watch the YouTube features which follow. For a Sound movie see the second link below. It is “The Melancholy Dame”.
[1] (Cheryl Willis Hudson. Brave. Black. First.: 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World. (Crown Books for Young Readers: New York, 2020) p. 60.
[2] You can find it on Amazon and at https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/ballerinas-tale/
[3] (Cheryl Willis Hudson. Brave. Black. First.: 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World. (Crown Books for Young Readers: New York, 2020) p. 81.
[4] The terms “Negro” and “Colored” were in use at the time.
[5] The organization did not change its name even though we don’t use “colored” anymore for African Americans.
