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Houston Brummit
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio—and with the manager of the Beecher Street Movie Theater living next door—Houston Brummit saw every film that was screened in ...view moreABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio—and with the manager of the Beecher Street Movie Theater living next door—Houston Brummit saw every film that was screened in his neighborhood from 1932 through 1946. While he loved most of what he saw in those days, Babes in Arms starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney really captured his imagination. In that film, he saw so clearly that anyone with a suitable space could stage a show. And even though there were several physicians in his family and it was a foregone conclusion that he, too, would attend medical school, while attending Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio, he wrote and produced variety shows and discovered the passion for telling a good story.
After graduating medical school, serving two years in the United States Air Force, and getting through resident training in adult and child psychiatry, Brummit settled in New York and worked with the Congress of Interracial Relations (COIR) to help desegregate some of the city’s housing. Continuing his passion for the theater, in 1962, he became the first person of color to produce an Off-Broadway play (a spoof of A Raisin In the Sun), an accomplishment that opened the gates for several black actors and other creatures of the theater to receive admission to the Actors’ Equity Association, which gave them access to the opportunity for more work in the dramatic field.
Brummit trained in child psychiatry at New York University Hospital and obtained certification in both adult and child psychiatry, at the same time pursuing many years of analytic training at the American Institute of Psychoanalysis. In 1967, he was invited to speak at the University of Alabama, becoming one of the first African-Americans to be afforded this opportunity.
In 1963, Dr. Brummit opened two large office suites a half block from the Waldorf Astoria, in an attempt to give young black and Hispanic medical professionals the opportunity to practice in midtown Manhattan. He has avidly continued his writing, primarily for musical theater, and has been active in the support of black and Hispanic theater. It was only after retiring from his medical practice that he was able to come back to many of his writing projects, including his most recent book, TALLADEGA DAYS: Race, Rural Life, and Memories of a Forgotten Legend, where he rediscovered the legend of Dr. William H. Brummit, a notable victim of the Ku Klux Klan at the climax of his career, and the grandfather Houston Brummit never knew.view less
Books by Houston Brummit
Talladega Days: Race, Rural Life, and Memories of a Forgotten Legend and Kkk Survivor