Lorraine Hansberry, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 19, 1930. Hansberry was a prolific African American playwright and writer, best known for her award-winning play A Raisin in the Sun. Married to Robert Nemiroff from 1953 to 1962, she came to think of herself as a lesbian and wrote two letters that were published in The Ladder, a lesbian magazine, in 1957. Hansberry died on January 12, 1965. You can learn more about her work and legacy in these two exhibits: Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965): A Museum Show and Opening the Archive, by Kaitlyn Greenidge and Kevin Mumford and Lorraine Hansberry: An Interview with Documentary Filmmaker Tracy Heather Strain by Judith Smith