African American actresses the struggle for visibility, 1900-1960 - Regester, Charlene B. (Indiana University Press, 2010)
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002
Includes bibliographical references and index
Introduction -- Madame Sul-Te-Wan : the struggle for visibility -- Nina Mae McKinney : early success and tumultuous career -- Louise Beavers : negotiating racial difference -- Fredi Washington : the masquerades and the masks -- Hattie McDaniel : centering the margin -- Lena Horne : actress and activist -- Hazel Scott : resistance to othering -- Ethel Waters : personification of otherness -- Dorothy Dandridge : intertwining the reel and the real -- Conclusion
Nine actresses, from Madame Sul-Te-Wan in Birth of a Nation (1915) to Ethel Waters in Member of the Wedding (1952), are profiled in African American Actresses. Charlene Regester poses questions about prevailing racial politics, on-screen and off-screen identities, and black stardom and white stardom. She reveals how these women fought for their roles as well as what they compromised (or didn't compromise). Regester repositions these actresses to highlight their contributions to cinema in the first half of