April 27, 1945

August Wilson stands in front of his childhood home.
August Wilson stands in front of his childhood home. Circa 2005.

Frederick August Kittel is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the city neighborhood known as “The Hill.” The Hill is Pittsburgh’s Harlem, a hub of creativity and commerce and, in 1945, still racially mixed. His mother, Daisy Wilson, is African-American while his father, a German immigrant named Frederick Kittel, is white. He is one of seven children who will eventually be born to the couple, though Frederick would be absent for most of his children’s lives.


1959

Young August Wilson
Young August Wilson

A student at the predominantly white private Central Catholic High School, young Frederick is the victim of constant race-based bullying and abuse. He leaves Central Catholic for Connelly Trade School, where he feels unchallenged. He later transfers to Gladstone High School in the neighborhood of Hazelwood.


1960

Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library

Now a tenth-grader, Wilson is assigned an essay on a historical figure. After being accused of plagiarizing his paper on Napoleon Bonaparte, the 15-year-old drops out of Gladstone High. He becomes a voracious reader and educates himself by spending his days at the nearby Carnegie Library.


1962

Wilson enlists in the U.S. Army but leaves after a year.

1963-1964

Wilson works a variety of jobs and begins writing poetry. He purchases his first typewriter and discovers Bessie Smith and the blues.


1965

Daisy Wilson
Daisy Wilson

To honor his mother, Frederick August Kittel changes his name to August Wilson. His biological father dies.


1968

Embracing a heightened black consciousness, Wilson co-founds the Black Horizons Theater with colleagues Rob Penny, Sala Udin, Maisha Baton, Claude Purdy and others. Watch him speak about this time period.

1969

Wilson marries Brenda Burton. His stepfather, David Bedford, passes away.

1970

Wilson’s daughter, Sakina Ansari Wilson, is born.

1976

Kuntu Repertory Theater produces Wilson’s first play, The Homecoming, directed by Dr. Vernell Lillie.


1977

Black Bart and the Sacred Hills, playbill.
Black Bart and the Sacred Hills, playbill.

Wilson writes a western musical play, Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. The production was a success, but Wilson doesn’t count that play as part of his playwriting career.


1978

Wilson leaves Pittsburgh for St. Paul, Minnesota, with the help of his friend Claude Purdy. He is hired as a writer for the St. Paul Science Museum.

1980

The respected Minneapolis Playwrights Center grants Wilson a fellowship.

1981

August Wilson marries Judy Oliver.


1982

Jitney Playbill
Jitney Playbill
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom playbill
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Playbill

Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Repertory Theater stages Jitney.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a play about the legendary blues singer, is accepted by the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut.

August Wilson and Lloyd Richards
August Wilson and Lloyd Richards

August Wilson meets Lloyd Richards, an African-American director who serves as the Dean of the Yale University School of Drama and the artistic director of the Yale Repertory Theatre. The two men forge a friendship that results in Richards directing Wilson’s first six Broadway plays.


1983

Still of Ma Rainey at Yale Repertory Theatre
Still of Ma Rainey at Yale Repertory Theatre

Wilson’s mother, Daisy Wilson, dies.

1984

Ma Rainey premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre to critical acclaim, quickly moving to Broadway. The play wins Wilson his first New York Drama Critics Circle award. Watch a monologue from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.


1985

Still from Fences at Yale Repertory Theatre. Two men, including a baseball player in uniform, stand in a confrontational manner in front of a house.
Still from Fences at Yale Repertory Theatre

Fences, the story of a frustrated former Negro League baseball player, premieres at Yale Repertory.

1986

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone premieres at the Yale Rep.


1987

Fences Playbill coverFences opens on Broadway. Wilson wins his second New York Drama Critics Circle Award and his first Pulitzer Prize. The play goes on to gross $11 million during its inaugural Broadway season.
Watch a scene from Fences.


1988

Still from Yale production of The Piano Lesson. Actor sits at the piano wearing a hat.
Still from Yale production of The Piano Lesson

Joe Turner wins the New York Drama Critics Circle Award after opening on Broadway. Wilson returns to Pittsburgh to lecture at the Carnegie Institute and appears on Bill Moyers’ “World of Ideas.”

Yale Rep premieres The Piano Lesson.


1989

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh awards Wilson its first ever high school diploma.


1990

Pittsburgh Magazine cover circa 1990 with August Wilson.
Pittsburgh Magazine cover circa 1990 with August Wilson.

Wilson is named 1990 Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine.

The Piano Lesson opens on Broadway and wins Wilson his fourth New York Drama Critics Circle Award and his second Pulitzer Prize. Two Trains Running premieres.

Wilson’s second marriage ends and he moves to Seattle, Washington.


1992

Two Trains Running Playbill coverTwo Trains Running opens on Broadway and wins the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best American play.

1994

Hallmark Hall of Fame produces a teleplay of The Piano Lesson starring Charles Dutton, Alfre Woodard, and Courtney Vance; it is filmed in Pittsburgh.

Wilson marries costume designer Constanza Romero.


1995

The Piano Lesson is broadcast on national television. Seven Guitars premieres.


1996

Seven Guitars playbill coverSeven Guitars reaches Broadway and Wilson is awarded his sixth NYDCC Award.

Wilson writes “The Ground on Which I Stand,” his controversial essay on the need for black artists to maintain control over their cultural identity, and to establish permanent cultural institutions that celebrate the unique achievements of black theater.

1997

Wilson participates in a contentious and widely publicized debate with theater critic Robert Brustein on the funding of black theatre, color-blind casting and other topics.

Wilson’s daughter Azula Carmen Wilson is born to August and Constanza.

1998

Wilson teaches playwriting at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.


2000

Still photo of Jitney performance
Still photo of Jitney performance

Jitney is produced in New York. It is Wilson’s first play to be staged in an off-Broadway theatre. He is awarded his seventh NYDCC Award.


2001

King Hedley Playbill cover
King Hedley Playbill cover

King Hedley II opens on Broadway.

2002

Gem of the Ocean premieres in Chicago. London’s Olivier Award names Jitney the year’s best play.

2003

Whoopi Goldberg appears on Broadway in a revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.


2004

Gem of the Ocean Playbill cover
Gem of the Ocean Playbill cover

Gem of the Ocean opens on Broadway.
Watch a Gem of the Ocean scene performed by Phylicia Rashad.


2005

Radio Golf production photo
Radio Golf production photo

Radio Golf, Wilson’s last play in the Century Cycle, premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

In June, August Wilson is diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and dies Sunday, October 2, in a Seattle hospital. His funeral service is held at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, not far from his mother Daisy.

On October 16, the Virginia Theatre on Broadway is renamed the “August Wilson Theatre,” in his honor.


2022

August Wilson House opens in Wilson’s childhood home.