EASTMAN, CRYSTAL
(June 25, 1881–July 8, 1928) Harlem Renaissance supporter, activist, legal scholar, publisher
Crystal Eastman was a feminist and activist whose quest for justice intersected with the Harlem movement through her association with Claude McKay, one of the genius poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Eastman advanced the black cause by appointing McKay as associate editor of the controversial journal the Liberator. She gave voice to the black experience. In 1919, the publication introduced McKay’s poetry with the seminal work, “If We Must Die,” an artistic expression of the response to the racial riots of the summer of 1919. It became a manifesto for the spirit of the Harlem movement.
Eastman was born to two ministers within the Congregational Church in Massachusetts. She received a graduate degree in sociology from Columbia University and a law degree from New York City University Law School. Eastman was a feminist lawyer with great concern about civil liberties for all people as a compassionate champion of the intersection of race, gender, and class. She was one of the founders of the Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage, the Women’s Peace Party, the National Civil Liberties Bureau, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Her commitment and contribution to the women’s movement was not to overshadow her commitment to workers’ rights and civil rights for blacks. She understood the plight of the working poor woman of color. Her brother, Max Eastman, was a socialist writer and poet who was an active patron of the Harlem Renaissance.—Sheila R. Peters
ELLIS, EVELYN
(February 2, 1894–June 5, 1958) Actress
An actress on the stage, screen, and television, Evelyn Ellis had a successful thirty-five-year career that embraced the Harlem Renaissance era. Although her work was interrupted by the Great Depression, she made a comeback in 1937, and continued to be productive until 1953. Accounts of her work vary from that of minor actress and one whose name is not widely recognized in entertainment to that as an actress of outstanding talent and performance.
Born in 1894, in Boston, the facts of her family life and educational background are virtually obscure. Ellis made her professional stage debut in 1919, at the Lafayette Theater, appearing in a production of Othello. She then had parts in several Broadway shows, including Roseanne. Ellis appeared in the revival of Goat Alley in 1927, and played the role of Bess in the hit drama Porgy, the forerunner of Porgy and Bess. An actress in race films, she appeared in Easy Money (1921) and Oscar Micheaux’s controversial A Son of Satan (1924).
In 1937, Ellis was cast in the comedy Horse Play, supported through the Works Progress Administration and its efforts to sustain the black theater. She continued with a number of successful performances, including Native Son (1941), Blue Holiday (1945), Deep Are the Roots (1945), Tobacco Road (which she also directed, 1950), and Supper for the Dead (1954). Ellis died in Saranac Lake, New York, of a heart ailment.—Jessie Carney Smith
EPPERSON, ALOISE BARBOUR
(March 21, 1889–July 13, 1953) Poet
As the audiences of the 1920s encouraged black women to offer their creative talents through poetry while confronting segregation and racist notions of the day, some preferred less confrontational approaches in their technique. Aloise Barbour Epperson is one such poet who, because of her devastating experiences in the racist South, chose to focus more on lyrical poetry using conventional and religious themes, while invoking a keen sense of observation. Although a recognized member of the Harlem Renaissance writers, publications of her work are unknown prior to her book of poetry, The Hills of Yesterday, in 1943. Epperson was respected for her poetry in her local community. She died from a cerebral hemorrhage and is buried in West Point Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia.—Lean’tin L. Bracks
EVANTI, LILLIAN [ANNIE LILLIAN EVANS]
(August 12, 1890–December 6, 1967) Opera singer, music educator
Lillian Evanti
Following the advice of Jessie Redmon Fauset, a Harlem Renaissance novelist and editor, Lillian Evans combined her maiden and married names to become known professionally as [Lillian] Evanti. Annie Lillian Evans was born in Washington, D.C., on August 12, 1890, to Bruce Evans, a physician-turned-school principal, and Anne Brooks, a music teacher. She was educated at Miner’s Teacher’s College and received her degree in music in 1917, from Howard University. In 1918, she married Howard music professor Roy W. Tibbs and had a son, Thurlow E.
To pursue a career in opera, Evanti traveled abroad to Paris, France, and Italy, and she was among the first black Americans to sing abroad with the Nice Opera, a European opera company. In 1925, critical reviews were bestowed upon her when she performed the lead role in Lakme, by Delibes, at the Casino Theatre in Nice, France. While in France, and for the next five years, she studied voice with Madame Ritter-Ciampi, as well as acting with Monsieur Gaston Dupins.
Upon her return to Washington, D.C., Evanti continued to perform throughout the United States, Europe, and Latin America. In 1934, she gave a performance at the White House for President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, something she repeated years later for presidents Eisenhower and Truman. When the National Negro Opera Company produced Verdi’s La Traviata, Evanti received rave reviews for her performance as Violetta in 1943.
In addition to being a renowned opera singer, Evanti was also a songwriter who founded her own music publishing house, Columbia Music Bureau. She died in Washington, D.C.—Sharon D. Brooks