Richmond’s History Makers
Charles Sidney Gilpin was born in Richmond’s Jackson Ward in 1878. He quit school when he was 12 years old and became a printer’s apprentice at the Richmond Planet newspaper. He later began to travel with the Williams and Walker Vaudeville Company and was part of the Canadian Jubilee singers.
Charles Sidney Gilpin was born in Richmond’s Jackson Ward in 1878. He quit school when he was 12 years old and became a printer’s apprentice at the Richmond Planet newspaper. He later began to travel with the Williams and Walker Vaudeville Company and was part of the Canadian Jubilee singers. He was one of the original members of the Pekin Stock Company in Chicago. Gilpin appeared in the leading role “The Girl at the Fort” in 1914 with the Anita Bush Company.
Gilpin worked as an elevator operator in Macy’s department store in New York to subsidize his living. He was solicited for the leading role in Eugene O’Neil’s play “The Emperor Jones” at the Provincetown Theatre in Greenwich Village in 1920. It was the first dramatic production with an African-American actor in an all-white theater. The play launched Gilpin’s career, ranking him with the greatest artists.
He was received at the White House and was awarded the NAACP Spingarn Medal for his notable performance in “The Emperor Jones.” In 1921 the play won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1926 he starred in the film version of “Ten Nights in the Barroom.
Gilpin’s career ended when he lost his voice in 1929. He died at the age of 52. Gilpin Court, named after the actor in 1941, is Richmond’s oldest and largest public housing development.
