1910s: Rachel, by Angelina W. Grimke, is the first successful stage play by an African-American Writer

1920s: The Harlem Renaissance characterizes a period of flowering of African-American literature and the arts. The Krigwa Players in Washington, D.C., is an association of African-American dramatists of the Harlem Renaissance era

1930s: The Depression, which began with the stock market crash of 1929, results in economic hardship for writers of the Harlem Renaissance, leading to a decline in literary production and the end of the Harlem Renaissance era.

1950s: The most prominent African-American theaters in the United States include the American Negro Theater and the Negro Playwrights' Company. A Raisin in the Sun (1959), by Lorraine Hansberry, is the most prominent and widely celebrated play by an African-American writer.

1960s and 1970s: The Black Arts Movement, also called the Black Aesthetic Movement, represents the cutting edge of African-American...