Lena Horne, a "trailblazer" of the arts, becomes first Black woman with Broadway theater named after her
CBSN
Lena Horne became the first Black woman in U.S. history to have a Broadway theater named in her honor on Tuesday. Horne, called a "fearless agent for change" by New York's governor, was a Brooklyn-born singer and actress whose career spanned decades and broke barriers.
The venue now bearing her honor was built in 1926 as the Mansfield Theatre and got its first renaming in 1960 to pay tribute to New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson. On Nov. 1, it officially became the Lena Horne Theatre. "Six," a musical about the six wives of Henry VIII, is now being performed at the venue.
Horne's granddaughter, actress and producer Jenny Lumet, told CBS Mornings' Vladimir Duthiers that the renaming of the theater is a "celebration of the contributions of Black women to theater history."