Ira Aldridge

CTL-E-6224 · Person · artist · 1807–1867

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07419 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6224.

Ira Frederick Aldridge, born July 24, 1807, in New York City to free Black parents, was the first African American actor to achieve success on the international stage. Educated at New York's African Free School, he joined the African Grove Theatre, the all-Black troupe founded in 1821, and apprenticed under James Hewlett, the first African American Shakespearean actor. Facing American hostility to Black performances of white-authored plays, he emigrated to Europe in 1824 and debuted in London in 1825 as Othello, a role he remained associated with for life. Critics' comparison to the Roman actor Roscius gave him the stage name he embraced, the African Roscius. He performed Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and The Merchant of Venice across Britain, freely adapting classical plays, and from 1852 toured continental Europe — Prussia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, and Poland — receiving honors including the Prussian Gold Medal for Arts and Sciences. He died August 7, 1867, on tour in Łódź, Poland, aged sixty. Memorial plaques honor him at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and in Łódź.

The record

• Also known as: Ira Frederick Aldridge, The African Roscius

Notes

Staged 2026-10-16 under CTL-GOV-006 (Scan Tail Wave 6 — 747 Program, Wave 13; sixth Scan Tail packet at the founder’s 40-record size). Gate A (2026-10-16): Gate A CLEAR (script + hand-checked 2026-10-16): no Ira Aldridge entity, alias, or variant in the live graph (3,910 entities). ID CTL-E-6224 free at staging. Supply: 747 Supply Ledger — scan string #2417 (corpus-gap-candidates-2026-10-15.json), banked in the Scan Tail Wave 5 reserve (Appendix E), re-screened CLEAR against the live graph at 3,910 entities by this wave. The supply supplied the name only; every fact is sourced under CTL-GOV-004. SCOPE GATE: Global record (born New York City; career in England and continental Europe); no Chicago angle in the opened sources and none claimed. Carried as a foundational Black performance figure. Vital status: Born July 24, 1807, New York City (BlackPast gives the full date; the SIU exhibit gives the year and city). Died August 7, 1867, on tour in Łódź, Poland, aged 60 (BlackPast; SIU gives year and place). Deceased — verified. STATISTICS — Dated facts from opened sources: African Grove Theatre founded 1821 (both); emigration 1824 (both); London debut as Othello 1825 (both); continental tours began 1852 (both). VENUE CONFLICT, shown not blended: BlackPast names the 1825 debut house as the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden; the SIU exhibit names no debut venue. Because the two opened sources do not agree on a venue, no debut venue is asserted in the description. BlackPast also prints the memorial town as 'Stafford-upon-Avon'; the SIU exhibit prints Stratford-upon-Avon, which the description follows. MEDIA: photo HELD (HELD — candidate: the portrait images carried on the opened SIU Morris Library Herbert Marshall Collection exhibit page for Ira Aldridge. No license claimed or verified; HELD under CTL-PHOTO-001 pending a file-level record.); chart FILLED (charts/chart-ctl-e-6224-ira-aldridge.svg); video HELD (Checked the CTL Shorts Link Map (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 entries) by name and title on 2026-10-16: no Ira Aldridge entry and no near-miss. Video HELD.); audio HELD (no rights-cleared matching-entity audio staged); map N/A. MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Person records carry no map slot; maps attach to places and institutions.) | visual_assets = HELD: | chart = FILLED (CTL-created chart (black / deep red / gold) built only from this record’s sourced statistics and timeline fact) | video = HELD (Checked the CTL Shorts Link Map (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 entries) by name and title on 2026-10-16) | audio = HELD (HELD: No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio exists at staging.)

Sources

• BlackPast.org, Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) (accessed 2026-10-16) — Born New York City, July 24, 1807, to free Black parents; African Free School; African Grove Theatre (founded 1821), apprenticed under James Hewlett; emigrated to Europe 1824; London debut 1825 as Othello; 'African Roscius' stage name; repertoire King Lear, Othello, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice; continental tours from 1852; Prussian Gold Medal for Arts and Sciences among honors; died August 7, 1867, on tour in Lodz, Poland, age 60 — https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/aldridge-ira-1807-1867/ (build store)
• Southern Illinois University Morris Library, SCRC Virtual Museum, Ira Aldridge (Herbert Marshall Collection exhibit) (accessed 2026-10-16) — First African American actor to gain international acclaim; born New York City 1807 to a minister; African Free School; African Grove Theatre, apprenticed under James Hewlett; immigrated to Europe 1824 after hostility in the U.S.; University of Glasgow study; London debut as Othello 1825; leading Shakespearean actor and tragedian of the 19th century; continental tours began 1852; died 1867 on tour in Lodz, Poland; memorial plaques at Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, and in Lodz — https://scrcexhibits.omeka.net/exhibits/show/theater-collections/ira-aldridge (primary source · build store)

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