African American engagement with Shakespeare goes back a long way—maybe even farther than you'd imagine. And like so much else surrounding American race relations, African American performance of Shakespeare is inextricably linked to the experiences of slavery, freedom, Jim Crow segregation, and the battle for equal rights.

In this episode, which we originally broadcast in 2015, we explore two periods in the long history of African American engagement with Shakespeare. One story begins in the 1820s, when freedom first came to the enslaved African Americans of New York. The other encompasses the long period of change stretching from the 1950s to today. We have help from five scholars of Shakespeare, race, and American History:

- Kim Hall is a professor of English at Barnard College.

- Caleen Sinnette Jennings is an actor, playwright, and professor of theater at American University in Washington, DC.

- Bernth Lindfors is professor emeritus of history at the University of Texas.

- Francesca Royster is a professor of English at DePaul University.

- Shane White is a professor of history at the University of Sydney in Australia.

This episode is narrated by Rebecca Sheir.

From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, "Freedom, Heyday! Heyday, Freedom!”, was originally February 11, 2015, and rebroadcast with an updated introduction on August 18, 2020. It was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. We had help gathering material for Shakespeare Unlimited from Esther French. Esther French and Ben Lauer are the web producers. We also had help from Britta Greene and Anne Marie Baldonado at Fresh Air with Terry Gross, who gave us their 1987 recording of August Wilson. Original music composed and arranged by Lenny Williams.