Dodson, Owen, 1914-1983

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1914-11-28
Death 1983-06-21

Biographical notes:

Owen Dodson was a playwright and author.

From the description of Owen Dodson Collection 1936-1951. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80551547

From the description of Owen Dodson Collection 1936-1951. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702148305

African American author, poet, playwright, and professor of drama at Howard University; died 1983.

From the description of Owen Dodson papers, 1930-1968. (Moorland-Spingarn Resource Center). WorldCat record id: 741522194

Owen Dodson (1914-1983) was an African American playwright, director, and poet who served for many years as professor of drama at Howard University, where he became known as the "Dean of Black Theater." He graduated from Bates College in 1936 and then studied at Yale Drama School, graduating with an MFA in 1939. He served briefly in the United States Navy, producing plays designed to improve the morale of Black seamen. During this period, and throughout his career, he both wrote and directed plays and also served as a teacher of drama. Dodson was also a poet and novelist.

From the description of Owen Dodson papers. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 706098605

1914 Born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Sarah Elizabeth Goode and Nathaniel Barnett Dodson 1932 Graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, Brooklyn 1936 B.A. degree from Bates College, Lewiston, Maine; elected to Phi Beta Kappa 1938 1939 Received fellowships from General Education Board 1938 1942 Directed drama at Atlanta University and Spellman College, Atlanta, Georgia 1939 Master of Fine Arts, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 1940 Won Anderson Award for Verse Drama for his Garden of Time 1941 Won contest sponsored by the Committee on Interracial Cooperation, Atlanta, Georgia, for his Gargoyles in Florida 1942 Directed drama at Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va. 1942 43 Served in U.S. Navy (Seaman I/C) during which time he directed a morale building program and wrote several verse dramas 1944 Awarded Rosenwald Foundation Fellowship 1946 His Powerful Long Ladder, a book of poems was published 1947 Appointed Associate Professor of the Department of Drama, College of Fine Arts, Howard University 1949 Under the auspices of the Department of State toured Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Germany with his Howard University Players 1951 His Boy at the Window, a novel, was published 1953 Awarded Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship "for creative activity in the field of fiction." 1955 Won prize in international short story contest sponsored by Paris Revue for The Summer Fire 1960 Promoted to full Professor, Department of Drama, College of Fine Arts, Howard University 1963 Toured the United States with his Howard University Players 1964 Named member of National Committee of the Shakespeare Anniversary Committee to plan the American celebration of the Shakespeare Quadricentennial 1967 Received Doctor of Letters degree from Bates College Mr. Dodson's plays have been performed by theatre groups throughout this country and in England. His poems, plays and fiction have been translated into French, Polish, Italian, Japanese and Norwegian.

From the guide to the Owen Vincent Dodson Papers, 1930-1968, (Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University)

Links to collections

Comparison

This is only a preview comparison of Constellations. It will only exist until this window is closed.

  • Added or updated
  • Deleted or outdated

Information

Permalink:
SNAC ID:

Subjects:

  • Theater
  • African American authors
  • African American authors
  • African American college teachers
  • Authors, American
  • Authors, American
  • Drama festivals
  • Prompt-book
  • Sopranos (Singers)
  • Workshops (Seminars)

Occupations:

  • African American poets
  • Male dramatists

Places:

  • Washington (D.C.) (as recorded)

SNAC Cooperative Logo

Social Networks and Archival Context

SNAC is a discovery service for persons, families, and organizations found within archival collections at cultural heritage institutions.

Sponsors

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Institute of Museum and Library Services
National Endowment for the Humanities

Hosts

University of Virginia Library
National Archives and Records Administration