ANDERSON, GARLAND

(1886-1939)

   An African American born in Wichita, Kansas, Anderson spent part of his youth in Sacramento, California. He left home at 11 after his mother died. He was working as a hotel bellboy in San Francisco when he saw a play and decided to write one himself. With the financial aid of Al Jolson, Anderson got a reading of Appearances in New York. Its production in October 1925 made Garland Anderson the first African American to have a full-length legitimate drama produced on Broadway.