Black Souls (play)

The play depicts the lynching of an innocent black man on a college campus and concerns themes of miscegenation and bigotry in the Southern United States in the post World War I era.

Written in 1924 and first performed in 1932 on Broadway, Meyer was assisted in crafting her play through input from black writers Zora Neale Hurston and James Weldon Johnson.

[4] She also received help from the African-American writer and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson who edited the play's dialogue for the authenticity of the language.

[6] Ultimately she succeeded in attracting the director James Light, and his staging of Black Souls premiered on Broadway at the Provincetown Playhouse on March 30, 1932.

In contrast, Andrew's brother-in-law, David Lewis, is an angry young black poet and teacher of literature at Magnolia College who is convinced that only a violent uprising could persuade American society to change.

While the ceremony is taking place and President Morgan is giving a speech about racial equality, David is isolated and cornered by a white mob who lynches him.