"A Raisin in the Sun"

1959

Lorraine Hansberry’s acclaimed 1959 stage play, A Raisin in the Sun, depicts the story of a Black family living on the South Side of Chicago. The family, still recovering from the loss of its patriarch, fights against housing discrimination as they use life insurance funds to purchase their first home. Hansberry’s own family won a U.S. Supreme Court case, Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32 (1940), as they fought against race-based covenants. In 1959, A Raisin in the Sun was named the best play of the year by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. This playbill is from the 2004 Broadway revival production.