Found 87 collections related to Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project

The Rhoda G. Freeman Manuscript and Research Collection consists primarily of materials collected by Freeman and used in her writings, including her dissertation entitled, "The Free Negro in New York City in the Era Before the Civil War." There are four complete drafts of the dissertation as well as scattered pieces and chapter revisions. There are also research materials which document several related but unpublished papers by Freeman: "Marcus Aurelaius Garvey: Story of a Dream," "The Pro-Slavery Defense in the Ante-Bellum South," "Black New Yorkers and the Cord of Caste 1827-1861." and her thesis for George Washington University, "The American Negro and the Back-to-Africa Movement." The research materials include bibliographic and topical card files, photocopies of relevant articles and research papers by others, and secondary source materials consisting of news clippings and photocopies of nineteenth century correspondence relating to free African Americans in New York City dealing with history, abolition, census records, and African American-Jewish relations. Her files also include conference papers by others, lists and bibliographies of papers and microfilms, and her research papers. less

Ron Carter is a leading jazz bassist. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree at the Eastman School of Music in 1959 where he played in the Rochester Philharmonic and the Eastman Philharmonia. Carter received his Masters of Music Degree at the Manhattan School of Music in 1961. He taught in Missouri and New York City and played with many musicians such as Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. Carter toured widely in the United States, Europe and Japan and appeared on television shows, in concert halls and theaters, nightclubs, on college campuses, and at jazz festivals. He also published technical manuals, "Building a Jazz Line", in three volumes. The collection consists of correspondence, transcripts of grades, graduation programs and other printed material related to Carter's education at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and the Manhattan School of Music. Included are music programs from the Eastman Philharmonia conducted by Howard Hanson, in which Carter played. There are a few performance contracts and many programs of his performances, articles about him in international magazines and news clippings. Copies of Carter's publication as well as what appears to be the Japanese translation of "Building a Jazz Line" complete the collection. less

The Nella Larsen Letters consist of two letters written by this author to Edward Wasserman and deal with the most spectacular African American social event of the decade, the 1928 wedding of Countee Cullen and W.E.B. DuBois' daughter, Yolande. The incompatible couple was divorced in 1930. less

The Republic of New Africa (America) (RNA) Collection includes a photocopy of "Anti-Depression Program of the Republic of New Africa to end Poverty, Dependence, Cultural Malnutrition, and Crime among Black People in the United States and Promote Inter-Racial Peace. Presented for enactment to both Houses of the United States Congress, March 1972." The table of contents contains: "The Legislative Requests; Objectives and Methods of the Program; and Background of the Republic of New Africa. less

The Riverdale Children's Association was founded by a group of Quakers in 1836 as the Colored Orphan Asylum in New York City, the first institution in the United States dedicated to the care of African American children. The Asylum organized its own school, as there were no public school facilities for orphans, and at age 12, the children were indentured to learn a trade. Members of the Board of Trustees were Protestant. The Asylum's facilities moved several times, and its second home at 42 Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan was burned to the ground during the New York City Draft Riots in 1863. In 1918 children began to be placed in foster homes, and in 1944 the name was changed to Riverdale Children's Association when the majority of the children were not orphans but were neglected and dependent children. White children were also admitted at this time. The home is presently closed and the association now serves as a foster home placement agency. Records of the Riverdale Children's Association consist of registers listing names of children admitted, cause of admission, parents' names, name and address of individual who brought in the child, amount of payment person or city agreed to pay per week for board, tuition and clothing, and contagious diseases and immunization record. Some entries include whether the child was baptized, whether siblings were admitted, and discharge date and name of person taking responsibility for child. Registers cover the years 1889-1916, with discharge dates extending to 1925. Collection also contains admission and discharge registers which includes information on the disposition of the child, 1900-1914; scrapbooks containing news clippings, 1936-1957; and a centennial edition pamphlet of the history of the asylum, 1936. less

Military records documenting Melvin McCaw's career as a non-commissioned officer in the 9th Regiment of the U.S. Cavalry from 1896 to 1917, and the activities of this segregated African American regiment at West Point after 1907. The collection consists of McCaw's certificates of discharge and reenlistment, including his 1917 memorandum regarding his retirement; letters from military and civilian authorities commenting favorably on the behavior of troops at West Point and on their efficiency and good spirit; military reports; McCaw's certificates of marksmanship (1896) and of proficiency in Cavalry and Drill, Outpost Duty and Army Regulations (1905); and newspaper articles relating to activities of the Lincoln League of Colored Citizens in Newburgh, New York, in 1908. The collection includes both original and photocopies. less

Biographer of Ira Aldridge, the free born African-American actor who achieved fame in Europe for his interpretation of Shakespearean roles from the 1820s to his death in 1867. Mortimer began collecting materials on Aldridge after his migration to the United States in 1946, some of which were exhibited at the Chicago Public Library in 1954. His biography Speak of Me As I Am: the Story of Ira Aldridge was published in 1989. Owen Mortimer is a native of Australia. Exhibition and biographical materials relating to Ira Aldridge, and correspondence between his daughter Amanda Aldridge and biographer Owen Mortimer. less

Born on March 3, 1888 in Cleveland, Ohio, Owen Middleton was an African-American furniture draftsman and graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago who worked as a quick sketch artist for the Chicago Tribune. Middleton also worked as a syndicated columnist for several African-American newspapers and wrote a weekly newsletter on United Nations issues relating to blacks. Additionally, he served as a volunteer art teacher at a Congress of Industrial Organizations' Community Center in Brooklyn. Owen Middleton died in 1954. Three certificates from the New York City Board of Elections designating Owen Middleton as a Delegate to the 1952 New York State Convention of the American Labor Party, and nine letters of recommendation supporting his application to the title of director of interracial relations at an unnamed institution (1953). Correspondents include: Howard Willard; Arthur Schutzer, New York State Executive Secretary of the American Labor Party; Rev. William Melish, minister of the Church of Holy Trinity in Brooklyn; Marvel Cooke, director of the National Council of the Arts, Sciences and Professions; and others. less

The Owen Dodson Collection consists principally of printed matter describing Dodson's career as a poet, playwright and novelist. There are also programs, obituaries and a memorial, a few of his poems and an extensive bibliography. Additionally, the collection contains a handwritten poem (1940's), postcards he wrote to his friend Sol Gordon, court documents and correspondence regarding Dodson's estate and his will. less

Collection of papers and documents relating to John Louis Wilson, Jr's personal life and professional career as an architect in New York City for over fifty years. Included are professional correspondence, architectural plans, drawings and blueprints, certificates, awards, degrees, newspaper clippings, exhibition display panels and books. Also included is material concerning Wilson's efforts on behalf of minorities through the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Equal Opportunities Committee (1955-1976) and the Council for Advancement of the Negro in Architecture (CANA) 1960-1982. less

Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson, composer, arranger and saxophonist, was born in 1932 in Miami, Florida. He began studying the piano at age ten, then added the clarinet, and made his professional debut at age fourteen on the tenor saxophone with local bands. Jackson studied theory and harmony at Florida A & M University, and later worked and toured with Cootie Williams, Dinah Washington and Jackie Wilson, among others. He formed various groups including the Willis Jackson Organ Quartet and the Willis Jackson Orchestra and utilized a rhythm and blues sound as well as jazz. His invention, the Jackson's Gator Horn, is a saxophone used for ballads whose sound is a cross "between soprano and alto [saxophone] and French horn and clarinet." He died in 1987. The Willis Jackson Papers consist principally of holograph musical compositions, mainly instrumental parts, composed and arranged by Jackson and others. The compositions are arrangements of standard jazz classics, popular tunes and bossa nova pieces. Also included are performance contracts, songwriters' agreements, a small amount of personal and professional correspondence, and lists of compositions, recordings and group members. less

In 1963 Robert Stein, a member of the American Ethical Union (of the Ethical Culture Society) was made Field Manager for the Chicago Ethical Society's Commission on Race and Equality. As part of Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Commission worked to eliminate bigotry in the South by having African Americans and whites interact in social settings. The commission therefore sponsored "Creative Inter-Racial Recreational Programs" such as Inter-Racial Vacations (summer camps in the North for Southern African American children), tutorial programs and remedial classes for adult African Americans and whites. Begun in the summer of 1963, the programs continued until 1977, when loss of money and camp sites put an end to these activities. The Robert and Anita Stein Papers document the efforts of the American Ethical Union to further interracial harmony in the South through social interaction: seminars, tutorial programs and summer camps for African American children. The papers consist mainly of evaluations submitted by staff members for the summer projects in Mississippi and Alabama. Also included are camp yearbooks, staff and camper responses to the program, and an interview with Robert Stein after his 1963 fact-finding trip to Birmingham, Alabama. Additionally,there is correspondence and budgetary records as well as camp brochures, year-end reports, news clippings and curricula for the tutorial program and adult seminars. Included are newspapers such as the Alabama Council Newsletter published by the Alabama Council on Human Relations, the Birmingham News, the Tuskeegee News and New America. less

The St. Mark's United Methodist Church Collection consist principally of printed matter consisting of anniversary journals and programs. The collection focuses on the years when Reverend John Hicks was pastor, and contains church programs, and programs from services and special events, such as the Annual Debutante Cotillion, and the Business and Professional Club, and church anniversaries. less

Opera director, concert singer, teacher, conductor and impresario, Dawson was the founder, president and general manager of the National Negro Opera Company. Formed in 1941 due to Dawson's concern regarding the lack of opportunity for Afro-Americans in opera because of racial discrimination, for over 20 years the Company presented such productions as Verdi's Aida and La Traviata, and C.C. White's Ouanga. Among the featured opera singers were Minto Cato, Lillian Evanti, Muriel Rahn, Edward Boatner and Robert Mc Ferrin. Ms. Dawson also founded the Cardwell School of Music and the prize winning Cardwell-Dawson Chorus. At the time of Dawson's death in 1962, her proteges were appearing in the great opera houses of the world. Collection of documents relating to Dawson and the National Negro Opera Company. Collection includes a booklet describing the history and activities of the Company, biographical data on Dawson, and several certificates commending Dawson for her achivements and contributions to various organizations. less

Photocopies of correspondence, memoranda, annual reports and printed matter relating to Maurice Dartigue's career as Director of Rural Education and Minister of Education, Agriculture and Public Works, consecutively from 1931 to 1946, and as senior education specialist and project director of UNESCO sponsored educational programs in Africa from 1956 to 1970. Also includes microfiches of Dartigue's correspondence during the administration of Haitian President Elie Lescot (1940-1946), and his office files regarding United States investments and agricultural projects in Haiti. Correspondents include presidents Lescot and Paul Eugène Magloire (1950-1956). less

The Wilhelmina F. Adams Papers (Additions) consist principally of her files chronicling her work as a civic leader primarily with New York Democratic club activities, the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs (NANBPWC) and the National Council of Negro Women. These files contain correspondence, newsletters, programs, brochures, minutes of meetings, official memoranda, reports, invitations, and news clippings. Files of the NANBPWC also include membership records, directories of officers, handouts, annual conference programs, and the constitution. Scrapbooks of the NANBPWC document annual events such as contests, parties and conferences from 1968-1972, and contain programs, invitations, certificates, handmade illustrations, newsletters, correspondence, and news clippings. less

Dr. Alvin P. Hall was the first African American physician licensed to practice psychiatry in Ohio and served in the military for many years. Born in Ohio, he earned his Bachelor's degree from Ohio University at Athens and was awarded his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in 1935. Hall served as a physician in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Ohio Army Reserves, and during World War II was on active duty in Africa and Italy with the 366th Infantry Regiment, reaching the rank of Captain, Battalion Surgeon. He attended Case Western Reserve University where he completed his psychiatric training in 1951. Hall practiced neuro- and clinical psychiatry in Ohio until his death in 1973. The Alvin P. Hall Papers consist of documents relating to Dr. Hall's military career and contain Army course completion certificates, reassignment orders and correspondence relating to same, Army Reserve papers and handbills regarding the Allied victory in Italy. There are also news clippings and typed and printed copies of his editorial "What it Means to be an American" (1940), in addition to an article about venereal disease control during World War II, author unidentified. less

The Alberta Hunter Papers consist of personal and professional papers documenting Hunter's singing and nursing careers. Her personal papers consist of reminiscenses, family correspondence (1964-1985), personal correspondence (1924-1985), passports, financial records and address books. less

Angelo Herndon was a labor and Communist Party organizer who was convicted and sentenced to twenty years hard labor on charges of attempting to incite insurrection in Georgia in 1932. He had led a demonstration of unemployed African Americans and whites to protest cuts in relief rations, and was later arrested for possessing Communist literature and charged with insurrection. The latter charge was based on an 1861 anti-slavery insurrection law. Herndon's case was a cause celebre among leftist and civil rights circles. He was released from prison before serving the full term, through the efforts of these organizations, particularly the International Labor Defense. The Angelo Herndon collection consist of correspondence, several legal briefs from the Supreme Court of Georgia, a printed article concerning the legal case, and miscellaneous papers. less

The collection documents Alton Rison's administration at Junior High School 117 and the methods he used to improve teaching methods and increase accountability of student achievement levels in this inner city school in Brooklyn, New York in the 1970's-1980's. less

Amiri Baraka's Collection of Unpublished Poetry consists of over two hundred poems, which, according to Baraka, were written between 1959 and 1965. With the exception of three poems, all are unpublished. Most items bear holograph corrections, changes and deletions, and most are short poems of one page in length. Included in the collection is a four-page bibliography compiled by the author containing entries not noted in other publications. Additionally, there is a six-page manuscript entitled "Uncle Tom's Cabin: An Alternate Ending.". less

The Bob Howard Papers consist of numerous programs for dinner engagements, benefits and other performances, three scrapbooks of news clippings, and lyrics, musical scores and arrangements by Howard and his wife, Ruth Howard, and Ruth Joyner. Other material includes biographical information, correspondence, contracts and correspondence with his agent, broadsides, handouts and announcements, notices in guidebooks and magazines, feature stories in magazines and miscellaneous radio, television and performance material. less

The collection contains documentation relating to Tobias' involvement with the Phelps-Stokes Fund and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), as well as other items. Files for the Phelps-Stokes Fund consist of minutes of Trustees' meetings (1940-1944), and files from two Trustees' committees on which Tobias served: the Committee on Negro Americans in Defense Industries (1941-1942) and the Committee on Africa, the War and Peace Aims (1941-1943). Materials pertaining to the YMCA consist of three printed speeches Tobias delivered concerning the YMCA and African Americans in the workplace (1940-1946), and a publication about the contributions of African Americans to the YMCA. Other items in the collection are three letters Tobias wrote to W.E.B. DuBois. The collection also includes an autobiographical sketch in "Thirteen Americans: Their Spiritual Autobiographies" (1953), and some material related to Tobias following his death (1974). less

The Daisy George Papers reflect her numerous activities, particularly her efforts to aid women and children via the various administrative posts she held with many organizations. The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs (NANBPWC) material contains reports, correspondence, printed matter, newsletters, programs, news clippings, and related material she collected as the United Nations' NGO representative regarding coordination of programs. Included are files pertaining to the U.N. Decade for Women (1975-1985), the International Women's Year conference held in Mexico City in 1975 and her attendance to the world conference in Nairobi in July 1985. Other NANBPWC files include information about study tours to Africa and fund raising activities for projects in Africa. The collection also documents the role played by Mary E. Singletary, president of NANBPWC, in advancing women's rights. less

The C.P.T. White Papers include information about Baptist church activities, including a notebook of minutes of the 26th annual Sandy River Baptist Sunday School convention held in 1912. There is a handwritten account taken from the first issue of the first minutes of Gethsemane Baptist Church held at the Gethsemane Baptist Church in Chester, South Carolina in 1867. In addition, the collection includes a program from the Women's Baptist Missionary and Education Convention which met in 1921, and an appeal for funds from White for Friendship N.&I. College in Rock Hill, S.C. Also included are a poem written by White, a card with his photograph, and a copy of an open letter from Carter G. Woodson in the Journal of Negro History, 1927, with related cover letter. less

The Aubrey Howard Bowser Papers consist primarily of writings, academic and school related papers, and letters. Bower's writings include a manuscript entitled "Black Pilgrim: A Novel of Harlem's Early Life," a short story "Maryelle Rose," poetry, book reviews and critiques. There are also two full runs of the "Rainbow," a weekly literary magazine he edited, 1919-1920. less

Benjamin F. Seldon was State Supervisor of Negro Adult Education for the New Jersey Works Progress Administration from 1938 to 1941. He served in World War I, then completed his education in Europe where he studied the economic, social and political conditions of several countries. He also taught in France, and in 1928 at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. The Benjamin F. Seldon Papers consist of correspondence pertaining to various aspects of his career and personal life, and a scrapbook Seldon maintained containing news clippings relating primarily to African Americans in World War I. Many letters relate to Seldon's experiences as the State Supervisor of Negro Adult Education for the New Jersey Works Progress Administration in which he had 136 teachers under his supervision. Letters also pertain to the Civilian Conservation Corps. Additional correspondence is with religious, political, educational and social organizations, and several prominent people including Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., Bertha B. Randolph (wife of A. Philip Randolph) and L. Hollingsworth Wood. There is also personal correspondence with Seldon's family and friends. A few letters are written in French and Spanish. less

The Shelton Hale Bishop Collection consists of photocopies of sermons, letters and an address briefly touching on his career as rector of St. Philip's Church. The letters are from Reverand Bishop to his former congregation of St. Philip's following his retirement and relocation to Hawaii. The letters are lengthy and describe his activities and feelings about his experiences in Hawaii. There are seven sermons, three of them are for Advent Sunday in 1956 and one is his homecoming Sunday talk. Additionally, there is a printed address Bishop wrote for the radio program "New World A-Coming" in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt on the day of his burial. Note that the collection is not comprehensive and does not discuss the breadth of his activities at St. Philip's. less

The Canada Lee Foundation Records consist of organizational records including by-laws, minutes of the board of trustees, a draft of the organizational manual and brochures. Correspondence with Frances Lee and members of the board document the promotion of the objectives of the organization, especially the memorial album privately produced in Canada Lee's honor. There is also material regarding the presentation of awards and scholarships, and questionionnaires and correspondence used to encourage summer stock theaters and colleges to accept more African-American students. less