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The birth of August Wilson
Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 27, 1945. His mother, Daisy Wilson, was of African American heritage. His father was a German immigrant named Frederick Kittel. August Wilson was the fourth of six children and the oldest son. -
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School Life
Growing up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the setting for many of his plays, Wilson attended St. Richard’s Parochial School and then progressed to Central Catholic High School in 1959. -
The moved
Together with five siblings, he was raised by his mother, Daisy Wilson, after his father, Frederick August Kittel, left her and their children. Daisy Wilson later remarried, and in 1958 the family moved from the poor Bedford Avenue area of Pittsburgh to the mostly white neighborhood of Oakland. -
The era of Jim Crow Law
In the era of Jim Crow laws and stark prejudice against African-Americans, Wilson faced hostility and harassment that forced him to transfer to two other high schools during his freshman year. -
August's Start of his Legacy
In 1960, at age 15, Wilson dropped out of Gladstone High School after a teacher accused him of plagiarizing a paper on Napoleon. Later Wilson pursued an independent education at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where he would earn his high school diploma. -
U.S Army
In 1962 he enlisted in the U.S Army for three years but then he left after one year of service. August Wilson worked odd jobs as a dishwasher, porter, cook, and gardener to support himself. -
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August's Wilson Name Changed
In the following the year Frederick Kitte passed away in 1965 but the 20-year-old Wilson adopted the pen name "August Wilson" — reportedly an homage to his mother — and declared himself a poet. -
August Introduction to the Realm of Writing
In 1965, Wilson purchased his first typewriter for $20, using money paid to him by his sister Freda for writing a term paper for her. At this time, Wilson began to write poetry. -
Black Horizon Theater
Wilson and Rob Penny co-found the Black Horizon Theater, a community-based, Black Nationalist Theater Company in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. -
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Family Life
In 1969 Wilson married Brenda Burton. The couple welcomed a daughter, Sakina Ansari Wilson, on January 22, 1970; they divorced two years later. -
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Black Nationalist Theater Company Dissolves
During Wilson and Penny's collaboration, where Penny was the playwriter and Wilson served as the self-taught resident director up until the mid 1970's, when the company dissolved. -
Living In Minnesota
He moves to Saint Paul, Minnesota and begins writing educational scripts for the Science Museum of Minnesota. Where he concentrated more on playwriting and became a company member of the Penumbra Theatre led by colleague Lou Bellamy. -
Jitney
Wilson wrote his first notable play in 1979, Jitney, for which he earned a fellowship at the Minneapolis Playwright Center. Which this play takes place in in 1977 in a gypsy cab station otherwise known as a jitney. Youngblood and Rena are a young couple struggling to get along. Fielding, Turnbo and Doub are other jitney drivers who take calls in turn as the phone is answered, "Car Service". -
Award from Minneapolis Play-write's Center/ Second Marriage
Wilson received a fellowship from the Minneapolis Playwrights Center in 1980, and the following year, he married his second wife Judy Oliver. -
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Wilson’s third American Century Cycle play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which premiered at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in 1982, was the first to gain him widespread recognition. This play takes place in the 1920s and it's about"he harsh absurdity & social commentary make it seem surprisingly close in spirit to Albee's plays & after I finished reading this I went straight to reading Albee's "The Death of Bessie Smith" to compare the 2." -
Broadway
In 1882 August Wilson meets Lloyd Richards, the African-American artistic director of the Yale Repertory Theatre who would direct Wilson’s first six plays on Broadway. -
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Pulitzer Prize/ Divorce
In March 26,1987, Fences opens at 46th street Theatre on Broadway where it will enjoy a run of 525 performances and Wilson won the Pulitzer Prize for Fences. In 1990, The Two Trains Running premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre in March. On April 16, 1990 The Piano Lesson opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway where it will enjoy a run of 328 performances and earn Wilson his second Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In that same year Wilson divorces Judy Oliver and moves to Seattle. -
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Seattle, Washington
In 1990 he later moved to Seattle, Washington where he the met a costume designer Constanza Romero. In 1994, they got married and together they had a daughter Azula Carmen Wilson. -
End of August's Wilson legacy or story
n June 2005, at the age of 60, Wilson was diagnosed with liver cancer. He died on Sunday, October 2, 2005, in Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center. -
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End of a Legacy
Shortly after his death, on October 16, 2005, the former Virginia Theater on Broadway was renamed August Wilson Theatre, and on February 17, 2006, the African American Cultural Center of Greater Pittsburgh officially became the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. In addition to these buildings, the August Wilson Monologue Competition, now in its seventh year, further preserves Wilson’s legacy.