Rachel is a play that was written in 1916 by African American teacher, playwright and poet Angelina Weld Grimké (February 27, 1880 – June 10, 1958).
For the first production of the play the program read: "This is the first attempt to use the stage for race propaganda in order to enlighten the American people relative to the lamentable condition of the millions of Colored citizens in this free republic.
"[1] Originally titled Blessed are the Barren, this three-act play depicts an educated, sensitive young woman who comes to understanding of the realities of American racism.
From its status as a work in progress years earlier through this production, Grimké received guidance from John Garrett Underhill, a white New York critic, playwright, producer and member of the Board of Directors of the NAACP.
Lillian Wald, head of the Henry Street Settlement, worked with Mary White Ovington, one of the founders of the NAACP, to bring this production of Rachel to the Neighborhood Playhouse in 1917.
(Lillian D.Wald, Progressive Activist, edited by Clare Coss, The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1989, pp 11-12) It opened on April 25, 1917.
Patricia R. Schroeder argued that like Mary Burrill, Angelina Weld Grimké's anti-lynching drama relied upon naturalistic settings, vernacular language in the hopes "to use realism's mimetic power to question stereotypes and illustrate social injustice".
[3] Similarly, Judith L. Stephens has argued that the recourse to realism in anti-lynching plays illustrated the graphic nature of the act and its pervasive influence in everyday life.
[4] Will Harris offers an interpretation of Grimké's realism highlighting its move towards a liberative racial and sexual politics: "While dramatizing the plight of their race, as a means of both raising a black racial consciousness and appealing to a possible white audience, early black women playwrights also formulated dramatic strategies which enabled them to stage substantive, independent African American female presences, and thus propose their sexual equality.
[9] Grimke humanizes African-Americans with her domestic setting and by portraying both men and women in a way that creates a positive image of black family life.