The African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry was an occasional contributor to The Ladder before rising to national fame as author of A Raisin in the Sun. She separated from her husband Robert Nemiroff during this period. In the May 1957 issue appears her long letter to the editor signed as "LHN" (Lorraine Hansberry Nemiroff), on pages 26-28, agreeing with the magazine's advocacy of "a mode of behavior and dress acceptable to society": "Someday, I expect, the 'discreet' Lesbian will not turn her head on the streets at the sight of the 'butch' strolling hand in hand with her friend in their trousers and definitive haircuts. But for the moment, it still disturbs." She also draws parallels between the struggles of lesbians and African-Americans to gain acceptance. The September 1958 issue of The Ladder feature's Hansberry's short story, "Chanson du Konallis," written under the pen name Emily Jones, on pages 8-10 and 20-26. San Francisco: Daughters of Bilitis, 1957-58.
![[LORRAINE HANSBERRY (1930-1965)] Pair of issues of the early lesbian magazine The Ladder with content by Hansberry.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//893\755893.jpg)
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![[LORRAINE HANSBERRY (1930-1965)] Pair of issues of the early lesbian magazine The Ladder with content by Hansberry.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/thumb//\893\755893tn.jpg)
![[LORRAINE HANSBERRY (1930-1965)] Pair of issues of the early lesbian magazine The Ladder with content by Hansberry.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/thumb//\893\755893_view_02tn.jpg)