Anderson, Regina M. (1900–1993)
Anderson, Regina M. (1900–1993)
African-American librarian, playwright, and arts patron. Name variations: Regina Anderson Andrews; (pseudonym) Ursula Trelling. Born in Chicago, Illinois, May 21, 1900; died Feb 6, 1993, in Ossining, NY; dau. of William Grant (attorney) and Margaret (Simons) Anderson; attended Normal Training School and Hyde Park High School in Chicago; studied at Wilberforce University in Ohio, University of Chicago, and City College of New York; received library science degree from Columbia University Library School; m. William T. Andrews, 1926; children: Regina Andrews.
Instrumental in launching careers of countless black artists who in turn gave rise to the Harlem Renaissance, moved to NY from Chicago; became assistant librarian at Harlem's 135th Street branch of New York Public Library (later named the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture); helped plan the famous Civic Club dinner (1924), with guests like Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, and James Weldon Johnson; became involved with the fledgling Krigwa Players, which served as the parent group of the Negro Experimental Theater (also known as the Harlem Experimental Theater); became 2nd vice president of the National Council of Women as well as National Urban League representative to US Commission for UNESCO; also worked with the State Commission for Human Rights.
See also Women in World History.