Glossary

"If the salt loses it's flavor"

Could refer to any of three Bible verses:

Matthew 5:13 "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

Mark 9:50 "Salt is good: but if the salt have lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another."

Luke 14:34-35 "Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither for the land, nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Riding Habit

The clothes worn for horseback riding. 1950s versions often featured a pair of calf high boots, tight fitting pants, a button down shirt, a jacket, a hat and a riding crop.

No Ways Tired

May refer to the Negro Spiritual "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired". The phrase has been used in several African American songs and expressions - often referring to how those who take the Christian faith are "renewed by the Lord" and therefore do not grow weary. It often also refers to the renewing of reaching Heaven where all their struggles will be rewarded and the tiredness they experienced on Earth will be taken away.

Dungarees

May refer to denim pants - jeans - or bib and and brace overalls made of denim.

Napoleon

A French statesman and military leader who was the Emperor of the French from 1804-1815 (briefly) and took control of most of the European continent in that time.

Tarzan

A fictional character first appearing in works by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912 who is a feral child raised by apes in the jungles of Africa.

Yoruba

An African ethnic group living most often in Nigeria and Benin which is the largest ethnic group in Africa.

"Empty as Jacob's kettle"

Refers to the Biblical story found in John Chapter 4 wherein Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well Her pot (or kettle) was empty. Jesus tells her that if she believes, then she will have living water (a spiritual life) instead of just water (the necessity for physical life).

Dinah Washington

Known as the "Queen of the Blues" Dinah Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones in 1924. American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s". Popular recordings include "What a Difference a Day Makes" and "Unforgettable."

"This Bitter Earth"

"Pearl Bailey- deadpan skepticism"

"And Ethiopia stretch forth her arms again"

Refers to a passage in Psalms Chapter 68 which begins "Rise up, O God, and scatter your enemies". The verse quoted here is Psalms 68:31 - Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

Jomo Kenyatta

a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to 1978. He was the country's first black head of government and played a significant role in the transformation of Kenya from a colony of the British Empire into an independent republic.

Harry Belafonte

an American singer, songwriter, actor, and social activist. One of the most successful Jamaican-American pop stars in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style (originating in Trinidad & Tobago) with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) is the first million-selling LP by a single artist.

"Matilda"

Paul Robeson

An African American singer, actor, athlete, scholar and activist who was heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement and Anti-Imperialism, gaining the attention of McCarthy Era congress and the HUAC, and was blacklisted in Hollywood and had his passport revoked from 1956-1958.

Chaka

Chaka, also known as Shaka, or Shaka Zulu, was an early nineteenth century African warrior-king who implemented warfare techniques and weaponry which have been studied and adopted by military leaders and personnel worldwide ever since Shaka's time. Shaka Zulu incorporated into his own army the warriors from defeated tribes; he also established military towns in order to ensure that his armies were well provided for and excellently trained. Shaka Zulu initiated the idea of complex battle formations in order to outflank and confuse his enemies, not unlike those strategies used in football formations. In addition, Shaka Zulu revolutionized the existing Zulu weaponry by designing a short-handled stabbing spear, known as the "assegai."

Uncle Tom

A derogatory term originating from Harriet Beecher Stowe's titular character from her 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. An Uncle Tom is a Black person who is overeager to win the approval of Whites (as by obsequious behavior or uncritical acceptance of white values and goals)

Ashanti Empire

The Ashanti, originally a part of present-day Ghana, were people within the Ghana Empire whose ascendancy was based on the iron and gold found within this wealthy country. The Ashanti benefited from early firearm adoption. Combined with effective strategy, they fashioned an empire that stretched from central Ghana to the present-day Ivory Coast. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Ashanti Kingdom has been extensively studied and has more historiographies by European, primarily British, authors than almost any other indigenous culture of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Songhay Civilization

a state that dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its leading ethnic group and ruling elite, the Songhai. Sonni Ali established Gao as the capital of the empire, although a Songhai state had existed in and around Gao since the 11th century. Other important cities in the empire were Timbuktu and Djenné, conquered in 1468 and 1475 respectively, where urban-centered trade flourished.

Bantu

a loosely defined categorization which includes other Bantoid languages, constitute a traditional branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages. Bantu languages are spoken largely east and south of present-day Cameroon, that is, in the regions commonly known as Central Africa, Southeast Africa, and Southern Africa.

"English tattooing themselves with blue dragons"

Though evidence of this is scarce and historians consider it conjecture, it is possible that 5th Century Anglo-Saxon warriors tattooed themselves with several symbols - including the symbol of the dragon.

Prometheus

A Greek mythological figure who is credited with having created man and defied the gods by stealing fire from them and gifting it to man. Zeus punishes Prometheus by tying him to a rock where every day his liver is eaten by an Eagle.

Garbo Routine

Refers to Greta Garbo, a famous actress from the 1920s and 30s, who was notoriously glamorous, moody, mysterious and dramatic.

Conked head

A popular hairstyle for Black men from the 1920s - 1960s wherein the hair was cropped and relaxed with chemicals.

"30 pieces and not a coin less"

the price for which Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, according to an account in the Gospel of Matthew 26:15 in the New Testament.

Mrs. Miniver

An Oscar-winning film (1942) which starred Greer Garson as Mrs. Miniver, an English middle-class housewife who appears in many scenes tending her roses. In the movie, despite the blitz bombs of Nazi Germany, Mrs. Miniver stands stalwart, the symbol of England's hope and strength.

Scarlet O'Hara

The main character of Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone With the Wind and the 1939 film. Scarlett is a pampered, fashionable Southern plantation lady with a tendency to seduce and beguile all those who come in contact with her.

U. S. Steel

The company formed by J. P. Morgan and attorney Elbert H. Gary founded U.S. Steel on March 2, 1901 by combining Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company with Gary's Federal Steel Company and William Henry "Judge" Moore's National Steel Company for $492 million ($14.16 billion today). At one time, U.S. Steel was the largest steel producer and largest corporation in the world. It was capitalized at $1.4 billion ($40.30 billion today), making it the world's first billion-dollar corporation.

Mr. Charley

a pejorative expression used within the African-American community to refer to an imperious white man. The expression suggests that whites are generic or interchangeable.

Here you can find a website that has pronunciations of the Yoruba alphabet which may give insight into how some of the Yoruba words are pronounced. Below is a phonetics chart of the Yoruba alphabet.

HERE you can find more information about the Yoruba language, with several resources including a dictionary, link to online radio and language lessons.

Arrivederci

Italian word meaning goodbye

Ocomogosiay

A shout of triumph in battle. It is a coined word, combining syllables from the Yoruban, Zulu and Swahili languages.

"Alundi, alundi / Alundi, alunya / Jop pu a jeepua / Ang gu soooo / Ai yai yae /Ayehayae - alundi"

A Yoruban harvest festival song. Alundi is a Yoruban word meaning "Happy holidays"

Owimoweh

A variation of a Zulu word meaning lion

Morgan Park

Morgan Park located on the far south side of the city of Chicago and is south of the Beverly (properly Beverly Hills) neighborhood and shares a border at 107th St. with Beverly on the north, Halsted St. (north of 115th St.) and Ashland Ave. (south of 115th St.) on the east, 119th St. on the south, and (roughly) California Ave. on the west, and includes Mount Greenwood Cemetery. More demographic/historical information can be found here

Liberia

Officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its west, Guinea to its north and Ivory Coast to its east. The Republic of Liberia began as a settlement of the American Colonization Society (ACS), who believed black people would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the United States. The country declared its independence on July 26, 1847 and was the first African republic to proclaim its independence, making it Africa's first and oldest modern republic

Benin

Officially the Republic of Benin and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. This region was referred to as the Slave Coast from as early as the 17th century due to the large number of slaves shipped to the New World during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. After slavery was abolished, France took over the country and renamed it French Dahomey. In 1960, Dahomey gained full independence from France, and had a tumultuous period with many different democratic governments, military coups and military governments.

"39th and South Parkway"

A popular intersection in South Side Chicago. South Parkway was renamed Martin Luther King Drive in 1968. Several historic buildings are located along Chicago's King Drive. They include the Chicago Orphan Asylum Building, 5120 S. King Drive; Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church, 4100 S. King Drive; Oscar Stanton House, 4536 S. King Drive, and the Supreme Life Building, 3501 S. King Drive.

South Center

The South Center department store, 421-429 E. 47th Street, was one of the largest retail establishments on Chicago’s south side when it opened in 1928. Among other things, the store helped anchor and attract consumers to the emerging bright-light district along 47th Street near South Parkway (now Martin Luther King Drive), an area sometimes referred to as the “Harlem of Chicago.” More significantly, the store, located as it was in the heart of Chicago’s African-American community, rejected racist hiring practices and enthusiastically recruited African-Americans as employees and customers.

Springfield

the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois. The government of the state of Illinois is based in Springfield. State government entities include the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor of Illinois.

Maxwell St.

An east-west street in Chicago, Illinois that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West. The Maxwell Street neighborhood is considered part of the Near West Side and is one of the city's oldest residential districts. After 1920, most of the residents were African Americans who came North in the Great Migration (African American), although most businesses continued to be Jewish-owned. During the period when it was predominantly African American, and especially in the decades after World War II, the area became famous for its street musicians, mostly playing the Blues, but also Gospel and other styles. It is considered the birthplace of Chicago Blues, which is different that traditional southern or Delta Blues because it employs the use of electronic amps and electronic instruments, rather than the acoustic style of Delta Blues. (Read "Chicago's Love Affair with Maxwell Street" from The Chicago Tribune)

Below are the amounts of money mentioned in the play and the buying power of that amount in 2017

• Most insurance payouts are made between 30-60 days of the insured's death. On page 57, Mama, when given the check says "We known it was coming for months". It stands to reason that Big Walter likely passed away around 2 months prior to the action of the play.
• Below is an image from The National Center for Education Statistics' 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait which details school enrollment by race and gender, which may give insight to Beneatha's educational aspirations.

• According to The United States Census Bureau the median gross rent rate in Illinois in 1950 was $47, which included utilities (electricity, gas, water and sewer) and fuels (oil, coal, kerosene, wood, etc.). In 2017 this would equal $493.50.