Angelina's Oral History Interview

I had an opportunity to interview Angelina, the daughter of Regina's niece Lorelei (so is Angelina Regina's great niece???). Angelina met Regina, her husband Bill, her daughter Regina Ann and Aunt Kate (Regina's maternal aunt who lived to be 106 years old!) in the 1980s when Regina lived in Mahopac, NY.

Regina's Niece's Oral History Interview

In January 2009 I flew to Los Angeles to meet members of Regina's family. I interviewed two relatives for my documentary. Regina's niece, Lorelei (born Margaret Helen Anderson) is the daughter of Regina' brother Maurice B. Anderson. As Lorelei mentions in the clip, she was raised by Regina's mother Margaret from the age of 5 until 17. She got to know Regina and her husband Bill through their visits to Illinois to see Regina's family. Below is a clip.

Regina's Husband William Trent Andrews, Jr.

I am currently reading the biography, King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (left picture) by Wil Haygood (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993), and came across some interesting information about Regina's husband Bill (right picture). I knew that he was an Assemblyman who represented Harlem from 1935 - 1948, but I did not know that when Harlem was redistricted in the 1940s to allow the voters to elect their first African American Congressman that Bill was a contender for the position. As many of you know, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was elected, became even more famous and now Seventh Avenue in Harlem is also known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd. instead of William Trent Andrews Jr Blvd. Regina could have been the wife of a Congressman and attended parties at the White House like Powell's wife pianist Hazel Scott did...

Re: The Harlem Experimental Theatre

Last night I saw the new David Mamet play "Race" at the Ethel Barrymore Theater. I thought it was excellent and appropriate since I am in the Performing Arts room at the Library Hotel. Regina Andrews was a founder, the Executive Director, a playwright and an actress in the Harlem Experimental Theatre from 1928 - 1932. The philosophy of the group was produce plays by both White and Black playwrights like the above production of The Duchess Sayers Her Prayers by White playwright Mary Cass Canfield. Regina is on the right. Their plays by African American playwrights tackled race-related themes like Mamet's play "Race."

Re: The New York Public Library

I am writing in the Rose Main Reading Room of the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwartzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street--right around the corner from my hotel. I am standing in front of either the Patience or Fortitude lion. Regina interviewed for a job at the New York Public Library in this building in 1923. I found out that the lions originally had different names but were renamed by New York City's Mayor Fiorello La Guardia during the Depression to inspire New Yorkers to have patience and fortitude during those difficult times.

Re: Writer's Retreat in NYC

Once again I'm back at my favorite New York City hotel, the Library Hotel, for writer's retreat. Each room corresponds with a Dewey Decimal category. I'm currently staying in the performing arts room which is appropriate because Regina Andrews was part of the Little Theater Movement during the Harlem Renaissance. The room is filled with books about the performing arts including an Alvin Ailey biography.

A Writer's Retreat

Sometimes I need to change environments in order to write. I spent this weekend in a local hotel to work on some sections of the manuscript, Harlem Renaissance Librarian. I also read other biographies for inspiration. I've recently completed Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits by Linda Gordon who presented at the Seminar on Gender History that I attended at Radcliffe a few years ago. I enjoyed reading her gender analysis of Lange's life and career. I just finished reading Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D. G. Kelley. This book was so descriptive about Monk's music that I bought both a CD and a vinyl record of his music!