 In 1920, he was the first black American to receive The Drama League's annual award as one of the 10 people who had done the most that year for American theatre.Gilpin was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Peter Gilpin (a factory worker) and Caroline White (a nurse); he attended St. Francis RC School in that city.He started work as an apprentice in the "Richmond Planet" print shop before finding his career in theater.