Attend a performance of the world premiere of the play: Eclipsed: The Sun, the Moon, and Gladys Atkinson Sweet. We will be joined by the Detroit playwright, D.L Patrick, after the performance for a talk-back and discussion. The Sweet trials which are the background of this play, established an important civil rights victory, that Black people were entitled to the right of self-defense.
The Story: On the night of September 9, 1925, Gladys Atkinson Sweet was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, along with her husband, Dr. Ossian Sweet, his two brothers and seven other African Americans following the attack on her home. They were well-educated, well-respected, talented people who would have been assets to any community. Although much has been written about Dr. Sweet and the two Sweet trials, litigated by Clarence Darrow, this play imagines the perspective of Gladys Sweet and the women who populated her life. It is about what women do, and have always done, in the shadows.
Our SSW history intersects with the story told in this play. In 1926, some of the earliest social work students at University of Michigan, attended this trial as members of an inter-racial alliance. Some of our first graduate students socialized with Dr. Sweet and his family in Detroit.
Audience Masks Required.
Theatre NOVA
410 W Huron St A
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
University of Michigan
School of Social Work
1080 South University Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106