Rachel

One of the first plays to protest lynching, and generally accepted as the first play published and produced by an African American woman. Originally titled Blessed are the Barren, this three-act play depicts an educated young woman whose sensibilities are overcome by the realities of American racism. Rachel Loving cares deeply for children and wants to have her own until the horrors and dangers of racism change her mind and make her essentially give up on love. 

The playwright, Angelina Weld Grimke, born in 1880, was the Great-Niece of the famous Grimke sisters, who were white abolitionists from a wealthy slave-owning family in Charleston. In addition to writing plays, Angelina W. Grimke was a teacher, a journalist and a poet.