Venzella Jones
Actress, playwright, theatre director (1893–1973)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Venzella Newsome Jones (1893–1973) was a black actress, orator, playwright, drama teacher, and theatre director.
Education and career
Jones was born in Ohio. She attended King's School of Oratory in Pittsburgh, becoming its first black graduate.[1] Later she taught drama at Rust College, Mississippi[2] and at Morgan State College in Baltimore.[3]
She organised the Imperial Art Players in Pittsburgh in 1924[4] and later formed the eponymous Venzella Jones Repertory Group.[5]
She was the Director of the Federal Theatre Project’s Negro Youth Theatre.[6]
