The fact that you have struggled with this university that you love is a sign that you can use your education to improve the world that you are entering. ~ Chadwick A. Boseman, 2018 Commencement, Howard University

Discover the Howard Players Theatre History Archive

Welcome to the Howard Players Archive

Researched and Curated by Professor Denise J. Hart

This information  is made freely available for research, teaching and educational purposes only. 

Howard Players Theatre History Archive 1909-2019 (HPTHA), is a publicly available digital humanities research archive.

HPTHA chronicles and documents the hidden history of the Howard University Players collegiate theatrical production history from 1909 - 2019. It's a significant resource for researchers, educators and the general public to study the history of Black Theatre. It provides scholars with a deeper understanding of the Howard Players contributions of Black Theatre to American Theatre. 

Its unique factor is the comprehensive digitized snapshot of different time periods and access to biographical information, photographs, playbills, other theatre ephemera, news, video, oral histories and documents related to Howard Players theatrical production from 1909-2019 that have not been brought together before as a single collection. It will also feature specially curated in person and digital projects on various aspects of Black Theatre.

Since its founding in 1909, the Howard University Players has remained intertwined with a global community. To study its history is to study the history of Washington DC, Black Theatre, Regional Theatre, National Theatre and the Black people who have made a significant contribution to arts and humanities.

Howard Players Early Leadership

Howard Players Faculty Leadership 1909-1950


Drama/Theatre formally becomes a department in fall 1950 under Anne Cooke. 

Prior to September 1950 Drama is housed in the Department of English 

and produced under the moniker of The Howard Players from 1920-1950


Ernest Everett Just - 1909 (College Dramatic Club)

Thomas Montgomery Gregory  1920-1925 (Howard Players begins)

Alain LeRoy Locke  1919-1925

Marie Moore-Forrest - 1919-1925

Sterling Brown & Leona B. Dudley - 1925-30

George D. Lipscomb - 1931-1932

John Lovell Jr. - 1932-1933

Sterling Brown - 1933-1937

James W. Butcher Jr. - 1938-1942

Ella Haith Weaver - 1942-1944

Elizabeth Walker Reeves - 1944-1945

Elizabeth Walker Reeves, James W. Butcher Jr, Anne M. Cooke - 1944-1945

Anne M. Cooke - 1946-1950 

Howard Players 1950's. Photo credit: Moorland Spingarn Research Center

Front Row:

At a campus reception faculty members in the Department of English host the Howard Players. Chairman Cooke (Center right, seated on floor in mid ground), Professor Dodson (foreground, second from the left, seated) (1950's)Photo credit: Moorland Spingarn Research Center
Professor Anne Cooke (center), Eleanor Roosevelt (right center), and Professor Owen Dodson (right) before the Howard Players sail to Norway (1949)Photo credit: Moorland Spingarn Research Center
Eleanor Roosevelt (center) receives Professor Anne Cooke (left center), Professor Owen Dodson (right center), and the Howard Players before they sail to Norway (1949)Photo credit: Moorland Spingarn Research Center

Stats on Howard Players Theatrical Production (1909– 2019)

15 department chairs from 1950 – 2019 

Typical tenure, 6 years

Approximately 473 plays & dance concerts 

produced 1909 - 2019

8 Different Drama/Theatre Identities (1909 – 2019)

The Evolution of the Howard Players on the campus of Howard University

Please note, this research site is not a comprehensive report on all Howard University or Department of Theatre Arts performance/workshop/symposia/masterclass presentations. Nor is it comprehensive for all Howard Players performance presentations. Nor is this a comprehensive report on the Dance area performance/workshop/masterclass presentations. The research continues.