Set against the backdrop of transforming theatre conventions in the early 1900s and US entry into World War I in 1917, this book relates the stories of the actors, stage artists, critics and many others - black and white - involved in the groundbreaking production of ""Three Plays for a Negro Theatre"". Curtis explores in great depth both the progress in race relations that led to this production and the multi-faceted reasons for its quick demise. She also investigates the heightened national self-consciousness that followed the United States' entry into the war. By focusing on a single event at a critical moment in history, ""The First Black Actors on the Great White Way"" offers a glimpse into race relations in early 20th-century American society.