Mary P. Burrill was a celebrated playwright whose works inspired many prominent writers of the New Negro Movement/Harlem Renaissance. She used her plays to confront many topics, including, but not limited to, lynching, the Black experience, and bodily autonomy for women. Mary Powell Burrill, occasionally referred to as “Mamie,” was born on August 1st, 1881 in Washington, DC to parents John H. Burrill and Clara E. Burrill. She remained in DC until 1901 and graduated from M Street High School, now known as Dunbar High School, one of the first high schools for Black students. While attending Dunbar, Burrill shared a romance with fellow student Angelina Weld Grimké. Their connection was enough to ignite Burrill’s passion for writing and, subsequently, shift the course of her life. Grimké would grow to become a Black journalist, poet, and playwright who would later encourage Burrill to pursue a career as a playwright as well. Burrill and her parents moved to Boston post-graduation, where she continued her impressive academic career at the Emerson College of Oratory. She received her degree three years later in 1904. Burrill was the first woman of color to graduate from Emerson. After college graduation, Burrill returned to Washington, DC. and taught between 1905 and 1944. Burrill worked at a variety of schools and the subjects she taught were also varied, ranging from English to Speech to Drama. Burrill’s plays are a prominent part of her legacy. She wrote The Other Wise Man in 1905.It wasn’t until 1919 that she wrote the two plays considered some of her best work. They That Sit in Darkness takes place in the rural South and highlights the realities of being a young mother with multiple children. They That Sit in Darkness aimed to highlight the cyclical nature of poverty due to systemic problems. Burrill’s work was groundbreaking, as she wrote the play from the perspective that Black poverty did not stem from inferiority, but rather “the cyclical oppression which trapped African Americans and, in particular, black women.” American activist Margaret Sanger published They That Sit in Darkness in her progressive publication Birth Control Review. Sent out every month, the works the Review featured were in support of reproductive rights, a cause Burrill believed in wholeheartedly. Burrill’s pieces were controversial and ahead of their time. Aftermath, Burrill’s second most prominent play, was set in rural South Carolina. It depicts a young soldier named John returning from World War I who, upon making it home, finds that his father has been a victim of a most heinous crime - lynching. Featured in The Liberator, a publication created by socialist Max Eastman, the play was eventually performed in New York City in 1928. Undoubtedly dedicated to her creative pursuits, Burrill and Slowe worked to create safe spaces for other DC creatives, namely within their own home. Records show “the house was known as a refuge for Howard University’s female students, and Slowe regularly hosted get-togethers there to talk, counsel and encourage her young charges. The women also received many other guests there, mostly educators such as Mary McLeod Bethune, but also politicians and activists from around the country.” Amidst these successes and various gatherings, Burrill returned to Emerson College in 1929 to pursue further education and received a bachelor of literary interpretation that following year. She then returned to DC to continue teaching. Through her plays and her work as an educator, Burrill taught various writers whose writings were integral to the New Negro Movement/Harlem Renaissance. She died in New York at age 64 on March 13th, 1946. Burrill’s body was returned to DC for burial in Woodlawn Cemetery. In 2002, Emerson College announced the Mary Burrill Scholarship. As of 2020, the Slowe-Burrill house where she lived for 15 years with her partner Lucy Diggs Slowe, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

click here