Carl Augustus Hansberry was born on April 30, 1895,[1] in Gloster, Amite County, Mississippi.
[4] He and his older brother, William Leo Hansberry, were raised by their stepfather, Elijah Washington.
[8][9] Together Carl and Nannie had four children: When his youngest child was eight years old, Hansberry bought a house in the Washington Park Subdivision of Chicago that was restricted to whites.
In the wake of that loss and frustrated by the pervasive racism in the United States, he made plans to move his family to Mexico.
The family's experience with racial segregation would serve as the inspiration for his daughter Lorraine Hansberry's award-winning play, A Raisin in the Sun.