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9781681342528

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BOOKLIST REVIEW Red Stained: The Life of Hilda Simms By Jokeda ""JoJo"" Bell Sept. 2024. 240p. Minnesota Historical Society, $22.95 (9781681342528). 973.92 One of the great tragedies of racism is that it deprives us of the gifts of great artists and thinkers. Look no further than Hilda Moses Simms, a talented Black actress and writer whose career was intentionally derailed by the 1950s communist purge. Although less well-known than her contemporaries Lena Horne, Paul Robeson, and Langston Hughes, Simms worked alongside them, fighting racism through the arts while battling accusations of un-American activity. Simms' career was always tied to activism; her earliest experience writing and performing was at a progressive settlement house in her hometown of Minneapolis. Moving to New York in the 1940s, she chafed against ""tragic mulatto"" roles. It was her work with the American Negro Theatre in Harlem that established her as a serious actress. Her starring role in the play Anna Lucasta made her the first Black woman to headline a successful Broadway show. Alas, like Robeson and other Black actor-activists, Simms' admiration for the Soviet Union led to her passport being flagged and her career sidelined, but Simms remained unrepentant. Bell tells a remarkable story of a remarkable woman. -- Lesley Williams

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Jokeda ""JoJo"" Bell is the executive director and the director of exhibitions and programming for the African American Interpretive Center of Minnesota (AAICM). Her roles within the organization have led to collaborative programming with institutions like the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. She has also appeared as an expert in the Minnesota Historical Society's documentary, Storied: African Americans in WWI. In 2019, JoJo curated ""The Builders"" exhibition for AAICM, which was named one of the top ten art exhibitions of the year by the Star Tribune. Bell is a PhD student in the history department at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include black women and land ownership in the Upper Midwest. She lives in Maple Grove, Minnesota.

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