Green, Paul, 1894-1981

Paul Eliot Green(1894-1981) was a Southern playwright, poet, and novelist. Born in Lillington, North Carolina, Green lived in the state all of his life and tried to capture in his writings the culture and heritage of the American South, concentrating on the experiences of tenant farmers, mill workers, Native Americans and African Americans. Green studied at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill under folk dramatist Frederick Koch of the Carolina Playmakers. After an interruption of his college career to serve with the armed forces during World War I, he returned to Chapel Hill and graduated in 1921. Green was married to Elizabeth Atkinson Lay in 1922. From 1923 to 1944, and again from 1962 to 1963, Green served on the faculty at UNC Chapel Hill, first as professor of philosophy, then dramatic arts, and later of radio, television and motion pictures. He wrote and published numerous one-act and full-length plays, novels, short stories, essays and articles, motion-picture scripts and radio plays. He also edited The Reviewer, a periodical, from 1921 to 1925. Green was recognized with several literary honors. In 1927, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for In Abraham's Bosom, his play dealing with racism in the South, and in 1965 he was the recipient of the North Carolina Achievement Award. In 1937, Green was asked to write a play as part of the 350th anniversary celebration of the landing of the first English colonists in the "New World." He used this opportunity to tell the story of The Lost Colony in an emerging format, the symphonic drama. This type of play was commonly produced throughout the South during the warmer summer months, and was based on the principles of Greek drama. Green was in favor of integration, and he expressed his social concerns through his plays and writings. From the 1920s onward, he devoted his time, energy, and financial resources to supporting basic civil rights for African Americans and Native Americans. He also spoke out for for the poor, uneducated, and imprisoned, and opposed the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. He was later quick to demonstrate his opposition to the American presence in Vietnam. Several of Green's works were inspired by his interest in social issues, among them Cabin in the Cotton (1932), Hymn to the Rising Sun (1936), and Wilderness Road (1955). Paul Green lived in Chapel Hill until his death in 1981.

From the description of Paul Eliot Green papers, 1917-1968. (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 743316176

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