as Coralie Franklin Cook’s husband George (himself a professor and dean at Howard) who were shaping the study of our collective life, they knew that we could not afford to let others tell our story for us,” she added. “The Howard Players became a platform where rigorous craft met a reclaimed and evolving Black aesthetic, ensuring that our stories would be told by us, in our own voices, for the world to hear.”
meeting audiences, young and old, where they are. “Long before Howard formally declared its mission to create leaders prepared to drive change and solve problems in every sector of society, Theatre Arts had already been living that practice,” Salter attested. “Through its comprehensive programs — including theatre education, directing, playwriting, acting, musical theatre, theatre technology, and theatre arts administration — along with its symposia, conferences, community classes, summer camps, and seasons of shows, the department served its community as a means of nurturing creatives prepared to steward, innovate, govern, protect, and advance the cause of Black humanity. “Our work has always affirmed that the stage is more than a proscenium — it is a civic institution essential to the health and well-being of society,” she continued. “Today’s departmental vision simply codifies what we have always been: a hub for the Black dramatic narrative, a haven for its legacy, and a preeminent training ground for aesthetic and cultural activism.”
THE HOWARD PLAYERS, VINTAGE HOWARD UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPH
ecosystem of the field — from acting, dance, and musical theatre to live design, production, and arts administration — because sustaining and advancing the art requires not only artistic brilliance but also strategic leadership. By cultivating executive thinkers, goal-setters, organizers, managers and producers, we ensure that African diasporic theatre thrives with equity, impact, and a distinctive cultural voice, both on stage and on the balance sheet.”
Touring Ambassadors and a Modernist Home
By mid-century, Howard’s theatre community looked outward without losing its center. In 1949, the Players became the first American university theatre group invited to tour Europe, carrying two productions across Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany as de facto cultural diplomats in the early Cold War. That milestone anticipated a long tradition of international exchange. Back on campus, the university consolidated its arts units (Drama, Art, and Music) into a College of Fine Arts that moved into Childers Hall in 1960. Adjacent to it rose the Ira Aldridge Theater, completed in 1961 and named for the 19th-century Black Shakespearean actor celebrated across Europe. The theater’s curved, limestone-clad Art Moderne exterior was designed by two giants of Black architecture, Hilyard Robinson and Paul R. Williams, a clear manifesto that Black artistry would be housed in facilities equal to its ambition. “The founders of Howard’s Department of Theatre Arts understood that the theatre was equally vital in service to global liberation and to local community needs. While the Players carried our stories abroad as cultural diplomats, they also ensured that D.C. would have a world-class space for Black narratives,” Salter said. “When Washington Post critic Richard Coe declared the Ira Aldridge Theater ‘one of the finest facilities in Washington,’ it affirmed what our founders already knew: that Black creativity deserved a stage of equal stature to its vision and power. Even now, as the virtual space grows in the public zeitgeist as a viable arena for performance, the brick-and-mortar Ira Aldridge Theater continues to anchor and support generations of artists.”
Partnerships That Stretch the Map
The Boseman Era
Howard’s theatre footprint extends into Washington’s professional ecosystem. The Creative Administrators Internship Program, launched with Arena Stage and now in its second year, places students from Howard’s Theatre Arts Administration Program inside one of the nation’s flagship regional theaters for hands-on training. Simultaneously, “Black Stage: Classical Canon,” produced with Shakespeare Theatre Company and aired on WHUT, showcases senior acting majors in classical repertoire, classrooms turning into broadcast stages, with mentorship from working artists. The university is also part of the New York Emmy Award® winning series “Dangerous Acts” in partnership with the landmark Lucille Lortel Theatre. These alliances are pathways into industry and platforms to rehearse leadership. “D.C.’s status as the second largest market for American theatre strategically positions both the city and Howard’s Department of Theatre Arts for partnerships across the country and around the world,” Salter said. “Programs like the Creative Administrators Internship with Arena Stage, the Kankouran Dance Company, and ‘Black Stage: Classical Canon’ with Shakespeare Theatre Company and WHUT provide students with hands-on experience and mentorship locally. Collaborations with the Lucille Lortel Foundation — which produced the 2025 Emmy-winning ‘Dangerous Acts’ starring Phylicia Rashad — multi-city summer internship program with Wasserman Music, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and the International Association of Blacks in Dance demonstrate our
Institutional structures change, often because artists demand it. In 1998, the College of Fine Arts was absorbed into the College of Arts and Sciences, a decision that galvanized students and alumni to organize for a return to a standalone arts college. Their long advocacy, in which alumnus Chadwick A. Boseman played a visible role, culminated in 2021 with the historic reestablishment of the College of Fine Arts — renamed the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts (COFA) under the leadership of Wayne A. I. Frederick (B.S. ’92, M.D. ’94, MBA ’11), the 17th president of Howard. Phylicia Rashad, a celebrated alumna, became the first dean of the revived college. This renaissance is not merely nominal. It reorganized departments (Art, Music, Theatre Arts) under a shared banner and vision, with the university committing to facilities, curricula, and cross-disciplinary collaboration that match the scale of Howard’s cultural footprint. In 2025, COFA welcomed a new dean, Dr. Raquel Monroe, who arrived from The University of Texas at Austin with a mandate to expand opportunities for young Black artists in a changing industry. “Dean Monroe’s leadership ushers in an exhilarating new chapter for the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts,” Salter said. “Her commitment to fortifying infrastructure, expanding curricula, recruiting dynamic faculty, and deepening community and field partnerships positions the college to lead the fields of arts and culture. Through innovative interdisciplinary programming, she is embedding the arts into every facet of campus life and society, ensuring that Howard remains a preeminent incubator for creative leadership, cultural innovation, and the preservation and advancement of the Black dramatic
narrative.”
Training for the Whole Field: From Stage Craft to Stage Leadership
Within COFA, the Department of Theatre Arts remains both traditional and boldly specific. Undergraduate concentrations in Acting, Dance, Musical Theatre, Theatre Technology, and Theatre Arts Administration train students for the entire ecosystem, not just the spotlight. One offering signals how forward-looking the program is: Howard houses the only BFA Theatre Arts Administration program offered by an HBCU, benchmarking its curriculum against leading national programs so graduates can become the producers, general managers, fundraisers, and marketers who sustain the art. It’s a reminder that institutional power in the arts is not merely creative but also administrative, and that diversifying the back office is as urgent as diversifying the cast. “While the Department of Theatre Arts honors the power and responsibility of those trained to be in the spotlight of our cultural leadership, we also understand cultural power in all of its creative practices across our programs,” Salter said. “At Howard, dramatic arts creatives are nurtured across the full
Children’s Theatre, Dance, and the Widening Circle
Howard’s theatre story also includes catalytic experiments that have become tradition. In the early 1970s, the department seeded a children’s theatre initiative that grew into the Howard University Children’s Theatre (HUCT), which won the national Winifred Ward Prize as the most outstanding new children’s theatre in 1974. Meanwhile, dance, which was initially a minor only, was approved as a major within Theatre Arts by 1993. The takeaway is clear: at Howard, the stage has always been bigger than a proscenium; it is a social institution tasked with
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Howard Magazine
Fall 2025
Fall 2025
Howard Magazine
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