{"id":63205,"date":"2022-02-22T21:07:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T21:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/?p=63205"},"modified":"2022-02-22T22:06:47","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T22:06:47","slug":"21-fredis-migration-washingtons-forgotten-war-on-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=63205","title":{"rendered":"21. Fredi\u2019s Migration: Washington\u2019s Forgotten War on Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"

21. Fredi\u2019s Migration: Washington\u2019s Forgotten War on Hollywood<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Chapter in the anthology: Women and Migration: Responses in Art and History<\/em><\/a>
\nDeborah Willis, Ellyn Toscano and Kalia Brooks Nelson (ed.)
\n(2019-09-12, Open Book Publishers)
\nPrinted ISBN: 9781783745654
\neBook ISBN: 9791036538070<\/p>\n

Pamela Newkirk<\/strong><\/a>, Professor of Journalism
\nNew York University<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>
Fig. 21.1. Portrait of Fredi Washington<\/a>. Courtesy of Schomburg Center, New York Public Library<\/em><\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nearly eight decades before #OscarsSoWhite<\/a> focused attention on the dearth of roles for Blacks and other people of color in Hollywood<\/a>, actress Fredi Washington<\/a> became one of the most vocal critics of the industry\u2019s racial bias. But despite her trailblazing work on stage and screen beginning in the 1920s, Washington has largely been forgotten as one of the pioneering African-American leading ladies, and for her noteworthy civil rights activism.<\/p>\n

The eldest of five children, Washington was born in Savannah, Georgia<\/a> in 1903 and relocated to Philadelphia<\/a> aged eleven following the death of her mother, a former dancer. In 1919 Washington launched her own career as a chorus girl in Harlem\u2019s<\/a> Alabam Club, and, in 1926, landed a coveted role in the landmark Broadway<\/a> play Shuffle Along<\/em>. When the show closed she sailed to Europe<\/a> to tour with her dance partner Al Moiret. Two years later she returned to the United States<\/a> and starred in a string of successful films and plays including the short film Black and Tan Fantasy<\/em><\/a> with Duke Ellington<\/a> (1929); Black Boy<\/em><\/a> starring Paul Robeson<\/a> (1930); Emperor Jones<\/em> with Robeson again (1933); and Drum in the Night<\/em> (1933); with an equal number of plays, including Singing the Blues<\/em> (1930), Sweet Chariot<\/em> (1930) and Run Lil\u2019 Chillun<\/em> (1933).<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s stardom was secured with her performance as Peola, the tortured bi-racial daughter who passes for white<\/a> in Imitation of Life<\/a><\/em>, the 1934 feature film starring Claudette Corbert<\/a> and Louise Beavers<\/a>. However, after achieving critical acclaim for her performance Washington was routinely passed over for lead roles. This was in part due to Hollywood\u2019s Hays Codes<\/a>, which, beginning that year, explicitly prohibited the depiction of miscegenation<\/a> in film. The Hays Codes made life especially challenging for Washington, whose green eyes and pale complexion rendered her too light to be cast in films with all-Black casts. In 1937 her skin was darkened for her co-starring role in One Mile from Heaven<\/em><\/a> with Bill Robinson<\/a>…<\/p>\n

Read the entire chapter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

21. Fredi\u2019s Migration: Washington\u2019s Forgotten War on Hollywood Chapter in the anthology: Women and Migration: Responses in Art and History Deborah Willis, Ellyn Toscano and Kalia Brooks Nelson (ed.) (2019-09-12, Open Book Publishers) Printed ISBN: 9781783745654 eBook ISBN: 9791036538070 Pamela Newkirk, Professor of Journalism New York University Fig. 21.1. Portrait of Fredi Washington. Courtesy of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1245,11,1933,8413,459,8,23674,20,25],"tags":[33115,33116,27925,9754,3192,33117,15109,21351],"class_list":["post-63205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-biography","category-books","category-bookchapter","category-communications","category-history","category-media-archive","category-social-justice","category-usa","category-women","tag-deborah-willis","tag-ellyn-toscano","tag-fredericka-carolyn-washington","tag-fredi-washington","tag-georgia","tag-kalia-brooks-nelson","tag-pamela-newkirk","tag-savannah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63205"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63213,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63205\/revisions\/63213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}