African-American History

Born June 22, 1909, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, near Chicago, Dunham enjoyed the security of a middle-class suburban existence for the first four years of her life. Her father, Albert Millard Dunham, was a tailor who had his own business in Chicago. Her mother, Fanny June Guillaume Taylor, who was twenty years older than her husband, was an assistant principal at a city school. Dunham's life changed drastically though, in 1914, when her mother became seriously ill and died, leaving Albert to raise Katherine and her older brother, Albert Jr, alone. Eventually, financial obligations forced Katherine's father to sell the family's home, sacrifice his business, and accept a job as a traveling salesman. 

Over the next few years, Katherine and Albert Jr, stayed with their aunt Lulu Dunham and various relatives in sections of Chicago. They stayed first with cousins Clara Dunham and her 17-year-old daughter. Both were actresses, and lived in an apartment that was also used as a rehearsal space for a black vaudeville show, which they were producing. Later, they moved in with another cousin, who took Katherine to shows at the local theaters, where she delighted in the performances of singers like Bessie Smith, and dancers like the team, Cole and Johnson. These experiences gave Katherine a taste of the entertainment world that she would come to love. 

When Albert Sr., came to collect his children, he brought with him a new wife; a schoolteacher named Annette Poindexter, whom Katherine later described as being, "fiercely loyal," to the Dunham children. In fact, it was an  act of anger (one of many), by Albert Sr., toward his children, that ultimately caused Annette to leave her husband. After Albert Jr. departed for school at the University of Chicago, Katherine, weary of her father's rigid and overprotective manner, also moved out to live with her stepmother. 

In 1928, with help from her brother, Dunham moved to Chicago and began classes at the university along with Albert Jr., who was by now, working toward his masters degree. She continued to take dance classes and performed in several productions at the Cube Theatre, a local playhouse, which her brother had helped to establish. There she met choreographer Ruth Page, and ballet dancer Mark Turbyfill, both members of the Chicago Opera Company. Eventually, the three opened a dance studio, calling their students the "Ballet Negre," to distinguish them as black dancers. When a lack of funds closed the school, Dunham continued to study dance with her teacher, Madame Ludmila Speranzeva, whose mentoring led Dunham to dance her first leading part in Page's La Guiablesse in 1933. 

While at school, Dunham attended a lecture on cultural anthropology where she was introduced to the concept of dance as a cultural symbol. The lecturer also mentioned that many present day dances had their origins in Africa. Fascinated, Dunham began to study the anthropological roots of dance, and after receiving the prestigious Rosenwald Foundation Fellowship, took her first field trip to the Caribbean in 1935 to study native dance. The Caribbean nations of Haiti and Jamaica provided Dunham with new insights, as the villagers who began to trust Dunham invited her to join some of their most sacred dance rituals. She would ultimately claim Haiti as her second home and even adopt their Vodum (or Voodoo) religion. 

Returning to the United States in 1936, Dunham brought with her a wealth of ideas for exciting choreography, which she used in her new appointments as dance director for the Negro Federal Theatre Project in 1938, and the New York Labor Stage in 1939. Her marriage in 1939 to Canadian-born, John Pratt, a painter and costume and set designer who was also white, raised some initial controversy. But the couple's obvious devotion to one another (and later, to their adopted daughter, Martinique), disarmed any skepticism from friends and family concerning the interracial marriage, which would endure until Pratt's death in 1986. 

Her production, Le Jazz Hot-From Haiti to Harlem, in 1940, established Dunham as one of the most celebrated dynamic choreographers for African American dancers, and led to her production of Cabin in the Sky, her first Broadway musical. While Dunham provided dynamic choreography for her dancers, Pratt designed spectacular sets and costumes. The Dunham Dancers enjoyed unprecedented world-wide popularity, especially in Europe. 

During the 1940's and 50's, Dunham's School of Dance became the premier training facility for African American dancers by providing instruction in dance described as "arresting," and "highly theatrical." Alumni include entertainer, Eartha Kitt and actor Marlon Brando among others. Meanwhile, Dunham and her troupe continued to gain international acclaim, as they gave encore performances before audiences with standing room only. 

In addition to touring with her troupe throught the mid 1960's, Dunham answered numerous commissions to choreograph stage, television, and cinema dance performances. She made her last Broadway appearance in Banboche in 1962, the same year that she choreographed Aida for New York City's Metropolitan Opera Company. It was a production whose unothodox choreography summoned strong, if not mixed reviews. It also brought her an offer to serve as artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University, where she staged a brilliant production of Charles Gounod's 1859 opera, Faust, after which SIU offered Dunham a permanent position with the university as Visiting Artist in the Fine Arts Division. 

Upon her acceptance, Dunham consented to house her extensive professional memorabilia nearby at SIU's East St. Louis branch. In St. Louis, Dunham was overwhelmed by the destitution of the area's population, which was predominantly black. She was also struck by the obvious signs of anger and hostility among the city's youth. Believing dance to be "concerned with the fundamentals of society," Dunham secured funding for the creation of the Performing Arts Training Center, a school designed to offer city youth constructive alternatives to violence. The school opened in 1967, and in 1970, Dunham took 43 children from the school to Washington, D.C. to perform at White House Conference on Children. 

In more recent years, Dunham has enjoyed still more commendations for her outstanding work in the field of dance. She acted as advisor on the First World Festival of Negro Arts, held in Senegal in 1965 and 1966. In 1980, she was the subject of a television special entitled, "Divine Drumbeats: Katherine Dunham and Her People." She received the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1983, and has also been inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. In 1989, Dunham was given a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame for the field of Acting and Entertainment. She has also authored numerous books and papers, which chronicle her experiences as she explored the connection of culture to dance. 

Today and always, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online wishes Ms. Dunham the best life has to offer, and thanks her for sharing her celebrated best with us.