Casiville Bullard, Addison Bullard, and their children, ca. 1908. Pictured are (clockwise, left to right) Casiville, Lilly, Addison, Howard, Janet, and Casiville Jr. Public domain.

St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church (3600 Snelling Avenue, Minneapolis), 1975.

Irene Paull, Joe Paszak, and an unidentified person, 1937.

Promotional artwork created by Daniel Alexander Jones for Ntozake Shange's play a photograph: lovers in motion, ca. 1994. From folder 7 of box 5 of Penumbra Theatre Company records (GV002), Archie Givens, Sr. Collection of African American Literature, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Actors in August Wilson's play Seven Guitars, ca. 2002. From folder 14 of box 6 of Penumbra Theatre Company records (GV002), Archie Givens, Sr. Collection of African American Literature, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

The program for S. H. Murakoshi's Slippery When Wet, 2005. From folder 23 of box 6 of the Penumbra Theatre Company records (GV002), Archie Givens, Sr. Collection of African American Literature, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

In this video produced by the Minnesota Historical Society, Lou Bellamy and his daughter Sarah sketch out the history of Penumbra Theatre.

August Wilson (1945–2005) is among America’s most critically acclaimed playwrights. He penned several groundbreaking plays while living in St. Paul in the 1980s, including Pulitzer Prize winners Fences and The Piano Lesson. They are both part of Wilson’s magnum opus: a series of ten historical plays called the Pittsburgh Cycle. In the series, each decade of the twentieth century is represented through a play, exploring the cultural, spiritual, and daily lives of African Americans. MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports.

Penumbra Theater Company, ca. 2010s. From Penumbra Theatre Company records (GV002), Archie Givens, Sr. Collection of African American Literature, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.