Garland Anderson (February 18, 1886 – June 1, 1939) was an American playwright and speaker, known for his contributions to African-American literature. After having a full-length drama on Broadway, Anderson gave talks on empowerment and success largely related to the New Thought movement. Born in Wichita, Kansas, his family moved to Sacramento, California. Anderson left home at an early age, working as a newsboy, railroad porter and hotel bellhop. In his late 30s he read a book about New Thought, saw a play by Channing Pollack and thought that his life experience and new attitude had the makings of a play. Anderson wrote the initial version of Appearances; with the assistance of Al Jolson, the play (the first three-act play by an African American) was produced on Broadway. Although it was not a success, Anderson's industry and can-do attitude were appreciated. The play was produced several times and toured the US and the UK. Anderson settled in the UK, inventing a malted-milk product and giving religious talks. He received support from Dean of Canterbury Dick Sheppard, and returned to the US for a speaking tour. During the tour, he became a New Thought minister and married Doris Sequirra. After their return to England, she wrote a book about their experiences which was published in the UK and the US. Anderson wrote other plays and books; in early 1939 he was promoting his book, Uncommon Sense, as a possible play. After having a heart attack in London, he died in New York a few days after his return. Anderson was cremated, and Doris brought his remains back to the UK.
Appearances was the first three-act play by an African American on Broadway after The Chip Woman's Fortune, a 1923 one-act play by Willis Richardson which was the first non-musical Broadway play by an African American. The substance of Appearances moral dimensions and its history are the objects of diverse points of view.
Background According to Alan Kriezenbeck in 1994, most available primary information about Anderson is in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Most of the material is unsourced, undated newspaper clippings from Anderson's scrapbooks.Garland Anderson and "Appearances": The Playwright and His Play by Alan Kreizenbeck, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre; New York, N.Y.6.2 (Spring 1994): 28. The Helen Armstead-Johnson collection at the library also has a number of clippings; Anderson was the first person of color who was a member of PEN International.
Kansas Anderson was born on February 18,Ancestry.com; California State Library; Sacramento, California; Biographical Files, dated March, 1928, noted as author of From Bellhop to Playwright and Appearances on the back.Ancestry.com; Registration State: California; Registration County: San Francisco; Roll: 1544246; Draft Board: 12. 1886, the fourth of twelve children. After about four years of schooling, he and his family moved to California. Their last known residence in Kansas may have been Topeka in 1895,Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1895 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: v115_137; Line: 19. and a March 1928 California State Library biography lists his parents as Louis Anderson and Naomi Bowman. Newspaper articles also indicate the early-to-mid-1890s for Anderson's arrival in California;Henry Doughterty, "Noted negro's philosophy does not embrace 'isms'", The Honolulu Advertiser, January 29, 1936, pp. 1, 5. they referred to his father's birth in slavery,"Garland Anderson captures London", The Pittsburgh Courier, January 18, 1930, p. 16. and Wichita was incorporated as a city on July 21, 1870 (after the American Civil War). The only black man then in the settlement, a migrant from the east, signed the petition to form the city.Michael Carmody, "Early Wichita's African-Americans", February 20, 2014. It is doubtful that Anderson's parents' families were from Wichita; his parents were probably attracted to it because of economic opportunity and relatively-relaxed attitudes about race. Churches for blacks were founded in the late 1870s, and a larger black settlement began during the 1880s.Patrick Joseph O'Connor, "Black Experience and the Blues in 1950s Wichita", Mid-America Folklore, Spring 1993.
After Wichita was incorporated, it experienced an economic boom with the founding of two colleges and the passage of the Kansas Civil Rights Act of 1874. By 1890 Wichita was Kansas' third-largest city, despite anti-Chinese violence in 1886Julie Courtwright, "A slave to yellow peril - the 1886 Chinese ouster attempt in Wichita, Kansas", Great Plains Quarterly, Center for Great Plains Studies, paper 2351, January 1, 2002. and increased racial segregation. The city fell into recession, and many of its original settlers went bankrupt.
California When Anderson's family arrived in Sacramento, his father was a janitor for the post office. His mother died shortly after their arrival, and Anderson soon moved to San Francisco. From the 1860s to the 1880s San Francisco began its transformation into a major city, expanding in all directions and culminating in the 1887 construction of Golden Gate Park. The city's cable-car system was developed around this time.
During the first decade of the 20th century, Anderson worked as a newsboy; decades later, his old boss remembered him working before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. He may have been a railroad porter after the fire. For about 15 years beginning around 1909, Anderson worked as a bellhop at a number of hotels. According to a 1918 draft card, Anderson was married and a hotel clerk in San Francisco. In the 1920 census Anderson, divorced, worked on Sutter Street as an operator; his father was born in Virginia and his mother in Ohio.Year: 1920; Census Place: San Francisco Assembly District 32, San Francisco, California; Roll: T625_138; p. 3B; Enumeration District: 200; Image: 289.
Appearances Anderson briefly dabbled in Christian Science. In early 1924, before he heard about Channing Pollack's The Fool,Wood Soanes, "Curtain Calls", Oakland Tribune, April 29, 1924, p. 29. he became aware of psychology and read a book on New Thought, which impressed him."Bell boy turns to play writing", The Sun (New York), January 12, 1925, p. 11. Anderson received tickets from an elderly couple, saw Pollock's play and became convinced that he could write a comparable play based on his experiences. His son was eight years old at the time,In the Black world: Thomas Fleming's 20th Century By Thomas C. Fleming Edited by Max Millard. and the whereabouts of his first wife are unknown. Anderson headed the household of his brother's widow and her four children. He later said about his decision to write: At first the idea seemed absurd ... No one realized more than myself that though I wanted to write this play, I had no training in the technique of dramatic construction; but I also realized that to shirk what I wanted to do could be likened to the outer shell of the acorn after it was planted in the ground saying to the inner stir of life for expression, "What are you stirring for? Surely you don't expect to become a great oak tree?" With this firm conviction I determined to write a play."
He wrote about the process of writing:Whenever the switchboard would ring while I was writing I would say to myself, "This is just a loving call coming just at the right time to refresh my thoughts in order that I might be able to write better"; and when someone would speak to me I would mentally say, "This is a loving interruption coming at just the right time to prevent me from writing the wrong thing.
Anderson wrote Don't Judge By Appearances in three weeks. According to his typist, she became engrossed by it and it helped her solve a personal problem. He showed the play to San Francisco Chronicle critic George Warren; Warren thought the idea very good, but its writing needed work. Anderson received support from friends and co-workers at his hotel because of his optimism and enthusiasm.J. F. Driscoll, "Here are your young Americans who have made good spectacularly. Nothing could stop them from climbing up and up and up", St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), December 13, 1925, p. 130. He was connected with Al Jolson, who supported the play's early development and his move to New York City in 1924. Anderson, living at the Braeburn Apartments on Sutter StreetMr. Garland Anderson…, The Pittsburgh Courier, November 29, 1924, p. 12."Racial drama by negro playwright will be produced on coast", The Pittsburgh Courier, April 9, 1927, p. 15."Hotel Fielding" (advert), Ukiah Dispatch Democrat, March 11, 1927, p. 7. and noted as vice-president of San Francisco's NAACP chapter, appeared in New York with his attorney in November. By Christmas, Anderson reported a leave of absence from the Braeburn Apartments Hotel (where he was a switchboard operator) and support from Al Jolson, Marjorie Rambeau, Channing Pollock and Richard Bennett.* "Play by bellboy indorsed by stars", The Indianapolis Star, December 26, 1924, p. 2. Earl L. Shaub, "Colored Bellhop turns playwright", The Akron Beacon Journal, December 26, 1924, p. 13. He stayed at the Harlem YMCA.
New York In January 1925, it was reported that Jolson had financed Anderson's move to New York.* "Al Jolson plays expenses of California bellboy to bring play to Broadway", The New York Age, January 3, 1925, p. 6. "Bell boy turns to play writing", The Sun (New York), January 12, 1925, p. 11. Anderson made the rounds of newspapers, who took him at his word. By April, however, the play had funding difficulties. Early in the month, Anderson presented a reading to an audience of 600 at the Waldorf-Astoria to drum up support."600 Waldorf-Astoria guests applaud negro bellhop's play", Buffalo Evening News, April 7, 1925, p. 18. Although audience members were reportedly moved to tears, the reading earned only $140. Newspapers continued to cover the play's development,* "Anderson's drama in first reading", Asbury Park Press, April 6, 1925, p. 3. Thelma E. Berlack, "Post lenten dances give many thrills", The Pittsburgh Courier, April 25, 1925, p. 3. and a free reading at the Manhattan Opera House was scheduled for April 26.* "Judge not according to appearance" (advert), The New York Times, April 20, 1925, p. 21. "Bellboy's play to have a second reading", The Sun (New York), April 20, 1025, p. 9. When funding still lagged, Anderson went to see President Calvin Coolidge and New York Governor Al Smith; in June, another writer was brought in and the play was renamed Appearances. Theater manager Lester W. Sagar offered to produce it, receiving an option to purchase half the rights for $15,000 while Anderson retained the West Coast production rights. Two Braeburn Apartments residents reportedly became major investors. Anderson returned to his job in San Francisco, selling half the West Coast production rights for another $15,000 after two public readings (the second broadcast on KFCR). His sendoff from the mayor of San Francisco was well-publicized; he hurried back to New York in a touring car driven by a friend"Drives flint coast to coast in 120 hours", The Sun (New York), September 2, 1925, p. 22. (another car held his supporters) in early September and appeared on WHN several weeks later, receiving a positive review.* WHN, New York - 361, The New York Times, September 20, 1925, p. 18. WHN - New York - 961, The Daily Review (Long Island, NY), September 22, 1925, p. 5. "L-S-N-R", "On the radio last night", The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 3, 1925, p. 14. Appearances previewed in Elmira, New York, on September 26"Lyceum tonight" (advert), Elmira Star-Gazette, September 26, 1925, p. 16. and Utica on the 27th,* "Negro's play here tomorrow", The Utica Observer-Dispatch, September 27, 1925, p. 4B.