Ida Anderson a prominent dancer and stage actress who was born in King William County, Virginia. At a very early age, she took up dancing after moving with her family to New York City.

In 1915, she was approached by Anita Bush of the Anita Bush Players and asked to audition for a dramatic play. Anderson later made her debut in a play entitled Barbara Fritchie.

By 1916, Anderson had joined the Lafayette Players Stock Company. She was averaging around $150 a week. The company was popular and successful in Harlem. Anderson went on the road with the company, performing in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Chicago.

After performing for a season with the company, Anderson left the group and took out a dramatic company of her own. After putting on a few plays, she returned to New York and again joined the Lafayette company, by the time she returned, the company was under the ownership of E.C. Brown. After the parent company temporarily disbanded, Anderson organized her own company of Lafayette Players and for the next eighteen months toured the East and Midwest.

Due to health issues, Anderson retired from the stage in the early 1920s. She later returned to New York after living in Californa to see if she could revive dramas in Harlem. She was then able to present the plays: The Scrubwoman, The Branding Iron, Kick In, and Why Wives Go Wrong.

source:

Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows by Henry T. Sampson