Andrews also played a key role in the Harlem Renaissance, supporting writers and intellectuals with dedicated workspace at her 135th Street Branch Library. After hours she cohosted a legendary salon that drew the likes of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. Her work as an actress and playwright helped establish the Harlem Experimental Theater, where she wrote plays about lynching, passing, and the Underground Railroad.
Ethelene Whitmires new biography offers the first full-length study of Andrewss activism and pioneering work with the NYPL. Whitmires portrait of her sustained efforts to break down barriers reveals Andrewss legacy and places her within the NYPLs larger history.
