life.style: Black Celebration- 6 of 28

life.style: Black Celebration- 6 of 28

"You're not Negroid enough, you're too light, you will photograph too white, your speech is too perfect."

 Osceola Macarthy Adams (stage name Osceola Archer), one of my beloved  Founders of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., was an African American pioneer of the arts. She holds the distinction of being one of the first African American actresses on Broadway and one of the first African American women to direct stage productions professionally, as well as a theatre educator and clothing designer.

As an actress, Adams appeared on Broadway multiple times in such productions as Elmer Rice's Between Two Worlds and Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Her directing career was launched at the American Negro Theatre (ANT) Studio Theatre where she taught and directed such acting greats as Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, and Harry Belafonte.

Because of her race and skin color, Adams suffered discrimination in various forms, losing casting for being black, as well as for not being 'black enough.' This, however, did not stand in her way; Adams dedicated much of her career to fighting racial barriers in the dramatic arts, paving a way for so many African American actors and directors to follow.