Endesha Ida Mae Holland (August 29, 1944 – January 25, 2006) was an American scholar, playwright, and civil rights activist. Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, Holland never knew her father and was raped at the age of 11….
Holland’s mother adamantly opposed her involvement with the SNCC, fearing reprisals from members of Greenwood’s white community. In 1965 a fire broke out in the family’s home, killing Holland’s mother; Holland said afterward that she believed the Ku Klux Klan had indeed firebombed the house in retaliation for her civil rights work. In all, she was jailed thirteen times for her civil rights work.
She got a high school equivalency diploma, encouraged by her colleagues in the civil rights movement. She studied at the University of Minnesota beginning that year, where she helped start an African-American studies department, and initiated Women Helping Offenders (WHO), a prison-aid program. In 1979 Holland earned a bachelor’s degree in African-American studies from the University of Minnesota, followed by a master’s degree in American Studies in 1984 and a PhD. in American studies in 1986.
{S}he was awarded the $1,000 National Lorraine Hansberry Award for the second-best play of 1981. In 1983, she took Endesha as her first name in order to honor her African heritage. She taught at the State University of New York, Buffalo from 1985 to 1993. She was a professor of theater at the University of Southern California, retiring in 2003. –Wikipedia
| Credit Type | Production | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Playwright | From the Mississippi Delta | 1987-88 Season |
| Playwright | From the Mississippi Delta (2020) | 2020-21 Season |