A Woman to Know: Gertrude Hadley Jeannette
Women were going into plants and everything else. I said, well, I know one thing — I can drive a car. — Gertrude Hadley Jeannette
(image via The New York Times)
Some things you should know about Gertrude:
In 1942, she became the first licensed woman to cab around New York City.
In the 1950s, she wrote and directed her own plays, survived the Red Scare (got blacklisted along the way) and set up a Harlem theater company.
Just 10 years later, she was acting on Broadway, originating roles in plays by Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder and James Baldwin.
In 1979, she founded the H.A.D.L.E.Y players, a troupe in Harlem that she continued running well into her 90s.
She retired at age 98 and lived to be 103. 👑
Add to your library list:
The Amen Corner (James Baldwin)
Vieux Carré (Tennessee Williams)
The Skin of Our Teeth (Thornton Wilder)
Read more:
Actor, Director and Cabdriver Dies at 103 (The New York Times)
Gertrude Jeannette, Pioneering African-American Playwright (Playbill)
Meet Gertrude Hadley Jeannette (The New York Daily News)
Theater legend Gertrude Hadley Jeannette, 103, passes (New York New Amsterdam News)
See more:
Gertrude Jeannette: Theater Maker (Harlem Cultural Archives)
Gertrude Hadley Jeannette Oral History (The History Makers)
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