Mary Elizabeth Vroman came to be an "Alabama" author in a rather unusual way. She was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1924 [?], but grew up in Antigua in the British West Indies. I have been unable to locate a specific birthdate or anything about her parents. Why the move is also a mystery.
By the late 1940s she was enrolled at Alabama State Teachers College [now Alabama State University] in Montgomery and graduated in August 1949. One source notes that Vroman attended Alabama State "like three generations of women educators in her family before her." She then began teaching at a rural elementary school in the state.
That experience led to her first publication, a short story called "See How They Run" published in the June 1951 issue of the Ladies Home Journal. In the following year she won the Christopher Award for the story. That accolade is given to writers and others associated with films, literature or television productions that promote "the highest values of the human spirit." The award is presented by the Christophers, a Christian organization founded in 1945.
Vroman's story about a teacher who tries to inspire as well as instruct her students from poor families was adapted the following year for the film Bright Road. Like the story, the film is set in Alabama, although filmed at MGM studios in Culver City, California. Released on April 17, 1953, and 74 minutes long, Bright Road stars Dorothy Dandridge as the teacher Jane Richards and Harry Belafonte [in his first film role] as the principal Mr. Williams. Philip Hepburn plays C.T. Young, the student Miss Richards gives special attention. He's doing poorly academically but she sees his potential. All three give excellent performances, especially Hepburn.
Bright Road is an unusual film that quietly confronts issues of poverty and racism but does not dwell on either. Jane Richards could be any teacher in any school trying to help a student reach his or her potential. All the cast members are black with the exception of Robert Horton, who plays a doctor called to attend one of Richards' sick students. Unfortunately, the film was not a commercial success.
Several biographical sources note that Vroman was an advisor on the film and helped on the screenplay. As a result, she became the first black female member of the Screen Writers Guild. I'm not sure where her participation is documented; the film itself credits only Emmett Lavery for the screenplay. The movie was directed by Gerald Mayer.
Vroman continued her teaching career for a total of twenty years in Chicago and New York City, and married a dentist in Brooklyn, Dr. Oliver M. Harper. She died after surgery at Brooklyn's Unity Hospital on April 29, 1967. Vroman was 42.
"See How They Run" was not her only published work. Another story, "And Have Not Charity" was also published in the Ladies Home Journal. She also published three books. Harlem Summer [1967] is a young adult novel. Shaped to Its Purpose [1965] is a history of the first fifty years of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Her adult novel is Esther [1953], which follows the title character through menial jobs, rape and pregnancy to finally reach her goal of becoming a nurse. She works in a segregated hospital in the South.
Some specific Alabama connections also appear in the film itself. Belefonte sings "Suzanne (Every Night When the Sun Goes Down)" which includes the line "Goin' back to Mobile town". Belefonte's character the principal asks Dandridge's after the holiday if she had a good Christmas. The teacher responds, "Oh, yes, I had a visit with my family down in Mobile". Then, "Where are you planning to spend your vacation?" the principal asks later in the film. "Mobile", she says. Dandridge has a brief musical interlude in the film during a school pageant. She and Belafonte would be reunited in the 1954 film musical Carmen Jones.
A profile of Vroman appeared after her death in the May 18, 1967 issue of Jet magazine. The piece includes photos of Vroman receiving her Christopher Award and in her Alabama classroom. You can see the original theatrical trailer for the film here.
No comments:
Post a Comment