Venzella Jones Explained

Venzella Newsome Jones (1893–1973) was a black actress, orator, playwright, drama teacher, and theatre director.

Education and career

Jones was born in Ohio. She attended King's School of Oratory in Pittsburgh, becoming its first black graduate.^[1] Later she taught drama at Rust College, Mississippi^[2] and at Morgan State College in Baltimore.^[3]

She organised the Imperial Art Players in Pittsburgh in 1924^[4] and later formed the eponymous Venzella Jones Repertory Group.^[5]

She was the Director of the Federal Theatre Project’s Negro Youth Theatre.^[6]

Further reading

• Book: Childress . Alice . Perkins . Kathy A. . Selected Plays . 2011 . Northwestern University Press . xiv–xv.
• Book: Ellett . Ryan . Encyclopedia of Black Radio in the United States, 1921–1955 . 2012 . McFarland & Co., Inc. . Jefferson, NC . 978-1476693392. 1369512406. 95.
• Book: Sewell . Jan . Smout . Claire . The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Women on Stage . 2020 . Springer Nature . 444–446.

Notes and References

1. News: Imperial Art Players Will Give Play Here . The Gazette Times . 15 June 1923 . 5 . Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . Google News Archive.
2. Will Appear in Special Lyceum . The Pittsburgh Courier . 19 June 1926 . 6 . 12 September 2022 . Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
3. Afro-American Notes . The Pittsburgh Press . 31 July 1921 . 50 . Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
4. March 30th Presentation by Imperial Arts Players to be triumph . The Pittsburgh Courier . 31 Mar 1928 . 6 . Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
5. Book: Sewell . Jan . Smout . Claire . The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Women on Stage . 29 April 2020 . Springer Nature . 445.
6. Theatricals . The New York Age . 29 Aug 1936 . 8 . 12 September 2022 . New York City.