Chicago, Illinois (May 19, 1930 -January 12, 1965) age 34 yrs

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was a playwright, writer, and activist. She was the granddaughter of a freed slave. She was also the youngest by seven years of four children. She was the first African American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Hansberry wrote A Raisin in the Sun. It is a play about a struggling black family. The play opened on Broadway to great success. Hansberry was the first black playwright and the youngest American to win a New York Critics’ Circle award. Throughout her life she was heavily involved in civil rights. She died at 34 of pancreatic cancer.