Christine Houston wrote Two Twenty Seven, a play about her childhood
growing up at 227 E. 48th Street, located in what is now known as
Bronzeville. She went on to win the ANTA West, the Lorraine Hansberry
and the Norman Lear Playwriting contests. The latter took her to Los
Angeles where she wrote a teleplay for the TV series The Jeffersons.
Marla Gibbs, one of the stars of The Jeffersons, performed the play at
her theater and received the NAACP Image award for best actress, while
Mrs. Houston received the NAACP Image award for playwriting. Mrs.
Houston went on to become a staff writer on the Punky Brewster TV
series, and in 1985, Two Twenty-Seven was adapted to television and
became NBC'S hit television series 227. Professor Houston continues to
write for stage and screen. Most recently, she finished her first novel
called Laughing Through the Tears and co-wrote a textbook with Christine
List entitled, The Screenwriter's Guidebook: Learning from African
American Film and Television Writers.