sign in sign up
<<
Home , Canada Lee

C olumbia U niversity RECORD May 3, 2002 3 Actor/Activist Canada Lee Brought to Life in New Play by Arts Alumna Lee,” a two act play based on BY JO KADLECEK the actor and activist’s life, a play that took Smith six years in he name “Canada Lee” all to complete. It was work- doesn’t ring a lot of shopped last May in Los Ange- PEOPLE Tbells for most New les and now Smith is co-produc- Yorkers. Ask what they know ing it as it opens in Carol Gluck, the George about him and you’ll probably May 9—the 50th anniversary of Sansom Professor of History, get blank stares and apologies. Canada’s death— at The Kraine has been honored with the Ful- Mona Z. Koppelman Smith, a Theater, 85 East Fourth Street bright Program 50th Anniver- 1994 graduate of Columbia’s and runs through May 26. sary Distinguished Scholar playwriting program in the Smith has even recruited fel- Award by the Japan-United School of the Arts, hopes to low Columbia alumni to help: States Educational Commis- change that. Traci Burwitz Mariano, MFA sion, in recognition of her Smith first came across Lee’s ’93, will direct the showcase “scholarship of the highest name shortly after graduating production and her husband order” and contributions to from Columbia while she was Mike Mariano, MFA ’93, will international understanding working as a booking manager be the set designer. “in the true Fulbright spirit.” for the jazz singer, Carla White. Co-producer, JoAnne Mey- Award ceremonies will be held Smith—twice the winner of ers, is donating her public rela- in Tokyo in May, where Gluck Columbia’s John Golden Award tions services and has launched will give an address, and in for her plays, “Borderlands,” a web-site, www.canadalee. New York and Boston in Sep- about two women struggling to com. And because of her dili- tember. survive in Bosnia, and, “Fire in gence in putting together the Gluck is an historian of a Dark House” about German- pieces of Lee’s life, Smith has modern Japan in the depart- Americans during World War also signed a contract with ments of history, East Asian I—wanted to write a new play Faber and Faber Publishing to languages and cultures, and about the era of bebop music write the first biography of the East Asian Institute. after World War II. She had Lee’s life, due out sometime in PHOTO COURTESY OF MONA Z. KOPPELMAN SMITH studied with former playwriting 2003. Judith L. Klavans, director professor Romulus Linney, and Actor/Activist Canada Lee in one of his early performances Smith is still perplexed that of the Center for Research on interned under Andrei Serban, one of the country’s greatest Information Access (CRIA) at internationally acclaimed direc- he starred in, and mostly, the told the contents were too frag- black actors could have fallen the Columbia University tor and playwriting professor in events he participated in that ile for the public to handle. But into relative obscurity. But she’s Libraries and research scien- the School of Arts. Her time landed his name on the famous Smith was determined and equally passionate about the tist in the department of com- with these mentors “opened up "blacklist" created by the House archivists eventually referred opportunity to tell his story, per- puter science, has been award- another world to me,” and now of Un-American Committee, her to the attorney who oversaw haps because she—a Nebraska ed a $542,000 grant by the she wanted to write a play that the media and the FBI in 1949. the donation. He told her to native who hadn’t discovered Mellon Foundation for the “As a former newspaper jour- write a letter to the donor out- the theatre until she was in her Computational Linguistics for nalist, I responded to the histor- lining her request to review the late twenties—has been so Metadata Building (CliMB) ical, social and political context materials for her play. Smith affected by his courage and project, which creatively of Canada’s story,” Smith says. did, and within a few months, contributions to theatre. brings together the most recent “As a theatre professional, I she received a phone call from “Canada’s life was about tak- developments in natural lan- was perplexed by my complete the donor: Mrs. Frances Pollack ing risks. He feared anonymity guage processing and applies lack of knowledge about some- Lee, Canada’s widow. because, as he said, he had to them to the problems of auto- one who had done significant In November of 1998, Mrs. ‘mean’ something. He wanted matically extracting metadata work on the stage, screen and Lee, 79, invited Smith and one to leave his mark, to do some- from text. radio.” of Smith’s research colleagues thing for his community and The CLiMB project will last What she found in her search to visit her at her home in that resonates with me,” Smith approximately two years and pro- was a troubling lack of infor- Atlanta and there filled in the says. “He was a far greater poses to develop innovative uses mation. At the NYPL, she came missing pieces of Canada’s life force for change than I could of computational linguistic tech- across only a few and for the playwright. They learned ever hope to be, but it’s certain- niques to the identification and newspaper clippings from the of Lee’s numerous civil rights ly why I felt it was so important extraction of descriptive metadata 1930s and 40s about Lee’s per- efforts, the speeches he made at to tell his story on the stage.” with the purpose of improving formances. From these, she various rallies and the platform It’s also why Smith hopes access to image collections. The pieced together general infor- he had as an actor to address the from this point on that people CRIA website is: http://www. mation about him: he grew up injustices facing African Ameri- will know who Canada Lee is columbia.edu/cu/cria/. in , worked as a jockey, cans. the next time they’re asked. a boxer and then an actor who Smith recorded 19 hours of For performance informa- Gauri Viswanathan, profes- Playwright Mona Z. Koppelman was discovered by a young tape with Mrs. Lee, and filled tion on "Becoming Something: sor of English and comparative Smith, SOA‘94. director named as three notebooks over that week- Canada Lee" visit www. literature, is research collabora- he was casting a ‘Negro’ pro- end visit, providing her with canadalee.com or for ticket tor in a major international pro- explored the intersection of art duction of “MacBeth” for the more than enough material to orders, 212-206-1515. ject on Globalization and and politics. Work Program Administration complete her play. Autonomy, 2002-2007. The She began digging through Federal Theatre. Lee was cham- And from his civil project is funded by the Social White’s musical archives and pioned by the newspaper rights activism, Sciences and Humanities IBRARY

found the bebop era was pri- columnist (before she finally learned L Research Council of Canada, marily a response by the his famous television show) what had made which awarded a $2.5 million African American jazz commu- and later Hollywood called him McCarthy label grant. It is based in Toronto and nity to black soldiers who had for leading roles in movies such Lee “dangerous.” ANUSCRIPT

M Hamilton, Ontario. fought in a segregated army as “Cry the Beloved Country,” “Frances against Hitler only to come “” and Alfred showed me special ContentFilm announced it OOK AND

home to Jim Crow, the Klan Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat.” equipment (rigged B will finance and distribute

and lynchings. Smith went to Smith also learned that Lee for her by family ARE “The Guys,” a motion picture the was as popular an actor in his and friends) that , R based on the acclaimed one- ILE (NYPL) to begin reading more day as was in the she was using to F act play by Anne Nelson, about the post World War II 1960s and Denzel Washington help her comput-

UMBY director of the International world, which led her to Senator is today. Yet his early death at erize hundreds of G Programs for the Graduate Joseph McCarthy’s fight age 45 of a stress-related heart Canada’s docu- School of Journalism. Nel- against “Communists” in the attack in 1952 cut his career ments, including son’s play was commissioned LEXANDER U.S. and a book that had a foot- short and his name was lost in all of his letters, A and mounted by the Flea The- note about Canada Lee. Lee’s obscurity. diaries and atre in lower in the name—and story—jumped out Unfortunately, Smith could speeches,” Smith wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. at her. not find enough information says. “She opened The film will star Sigourney

Having worked for four years that would link Lee to the gov- her home, her files OURTESY OF THE C Weaver and Anthony as a crime reporter for the ernment’s un-American con- and her memories LaPaglia, both of whom HOTO “Miami Herald,” Smith (who cerns. She knew more research to me with pro- P appeared in the stage produc- currently is the manager of would strengthen the play, but found generosity; tion. Weaver’s husband Jim adult programs at the Brooklyn she felt she had exhausted her she continues to Simpson, who as Artistic Museum of Art) used her jour- leads. be an inspiration.” Director of the Flea Theatre nalistic instincts and went to Then she learned of a dona- The result of directed the play, will also work. She began searching tion of Lee’s materials to the Smith’s tenacity direct the motion picture. The everywhere to answer specific NYPL’s Schomburg Center for and Mrs. Lee’s film version of “The Guys” questions about Lee’s life and Research in Black Culture in kindness is will be shot on location in career, the Broadway produc- Harlem. When she tried to “Becoming Some- A newspaper drawing from the 1940s announces New York. tions he performed in, the films access them, however, she was thing: Canada Lee’s role as in “.”