Lorraine Hansberry
Full name: Lorraine Vivian Hansberry
Also known as: Lorraine Hansberry
Born: May 19, 1930 in Chicago, IL
Died: January 12, 1965 in New York City, NY
Occupation: playwright, writer
Notable works: A Raisin in the Sun (1959); A Raisin in the Sun; screenplay (1961); Les Blancs (1969, posthumous)
"I am a writer. I am going to write."
— Lorraine Hansberry writing to Robert Nemiroff, December 26, 1952.
Associations: Labor Youth League; "Freedom" newspaper; Jefferson School of Social Science (JSSS)
Honors and awards: "To Be Young, Gifted and Black," a song about Hansberry, was released by Nina Simone (1969); posthumously inducted into Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame (1999); inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame (2010); inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame (2013)