Gill, Glenda E. 1939- (Glenda Eloise Gill)

PERSONAL:

Born June 26, 1939, in Clarksville, TN; daughter of Melvin Leo, Sr. (a postmaster) and Olivia (a college professor) Gill. Ethnicity: "African American." Education: Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College (now University), B.S., 1960; University of Wisconsin—Madison, M.A., 1964; University of Iowa, Ph.D., 1981. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Presbyterian. Hobbies and other interests: Dancing, reading.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Huntsville, AL. E-mail—gegill@mtu.edu.

CAREER:

High school teacher in Normal, AL, 1960-62; Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College (now University), Huntsville, teacher, 1963-69; University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, teacher, 1970-75; Simpson College, Indianola, IA, assistant professor of English, 1981-82; Tuskegee University, Tuskegee University, AL, associate professor of English and head of department, 1982-83; Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC, associate professor, 1984-90; Michigan Technological University, Houghton, professor of drama, 1990-2006, professor emeritus, 2006—. Tuskegee University, Ralph Ellison Lecturer, 2007.

MEMBER:

Eugene O'Neill Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Grants from National Endowment for the Humanities, 1974, 1985, 1989, 1991; Rockefeller scholar, 1976, 1977; Roothbert fellow, 1986, 1987; fellow at National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1990.

WRITINGS:

White Grease Paint on Black Performers: A Study of the Federal Theatre of 1935-1939, Peter Lang (New York, NY), 1988.

No Surrender! No Retreat! African-American Pioneer Performers of Twentieth-Century American Theater, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Contributor to academic journals, including Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Theatre Survey, Theatre Journal, and Eugene O'Neill Review.

SIDELIGHTS:

Glenda E. Gill once told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is to illuminate the struggles and achievements of African Americans in the performing arts. I was mainly influenced by the many artists I saw as a ‘campus kid’ growing up at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College between 1944 and 1958."

She later added: "I write because of my profound interest in the effect art has on justice. In the fall, 2005 issue of the Journal of American Drama and Theatre I examined the negative impact of the casting of Sean (Diddy) Combs as the protagonist, Walter Lee Younger, an iconic role in the 2004 Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. In 2007 I also delivered a lecture on that topic at Tuskegee University."