Found 79 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 There are also research materials which document several related but unpublished papers by Freeman: "Marcus Aurelaius Garvey: Story of a Dream," "The Pro-Slavery Defense in the Ante-Bellum South," "Black New Yorkers and the Cord of Caste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

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 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

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

Racial advocacy group that protested biases against Americans of African descent in the United States armed forces. Lobbying efforts consisted of direct appeals to government representatives, mass rallies and citizens' hearings with elected officials, civil rights leaders and retired army personnel. Affiliated organizations included the Committee to End Segregation in the Armed Forces, the League for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation and the Commission of Inquiry into the Effect of Segregation and Discrimination on the Morale and Development of the Negro Soldier. Grant Reynolds, a World War II veteran and former army captain, and A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Association, served as co-chairmen. Correspondence, telegrams, memoranda, transcripts of hearings and printed matter of the Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service and Training and affiliated organizations and individuals advocating equal treatment for Afro-Americans in the United States armed forces. less

Collection of assorted printed material gathered by photographer Robert E. "Bob" Fletcher concerning the civil rights movement between 1962 and 1967. Included is printed material for the March on Washington, 1963; Free Southern Theatre, 1967; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, 1963-64; Freedom Summer WATS Line Messages, 1964; Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, 1964; 3 issues of Broadside Topical Song Magazine, 1962, 1964 and other miscellaneous newspaper clippings. less

African-American abolitionist, orator, author, diplomat and public official, born in slavery circa 1817. Ten autograph letters signed by Frederick Douglass; typescript of "John Brown," an address delivered at Harpers Ferry and edited in Douglass's own hand; one pamphlet of an Anti-Fugitive Slave Law Meeting at which Douglass presided in 1851; obituaries of Douglass; miscellaneous printed matter; photocopies and research materials relating to Douglass. Substantive letters include an April 24 [1869?] A.L.S. to Downing [George Thomas?] on the appointment of Ebenezer Bassett as United States resident minister to Haiti, a post for which Douglass had been considered and which he would accept in 1889; and an 1894 letter to Rev. R.A. Armstrong written on behalf of Ida B. Wells, then traveling in Europe to speak against racial discrimination and lynchings of African-Americans in southern states. less

Ernest Truesdale, whose stage name was Tad Truesdale, was a dancer, choreographer, actor, writer, producer and director. He studied acting at the New School for Social Research, and dance with Charles Weidman and at the Katherine Dunham School. A versatile performer, Truesdale's career dealt mostly with African, calypso and African American aspects of theater. His work primarily was in New Jersey and New York City. As a dancer, he had two dance acts in the 1950's: Truesdale and Francine, and Truesdale and Theral, and also danced in Broadway musicals, including "St. Louis Woman" and "Carmen Jones," and toured Europe and Asia with a variety of shows including the Harlem Blackbirds. He was a student member of the American Negro Theatre Company and appeared in the Broadway production of "Anna Lucasta." Truesdale also performed in several Off-Broadway productions, television and made recordings. From 1975-1984 he worked with La Mama Experimental Theatre Club in New York City as playwright and director. He also was active with dramatics in the public schools. The Ernest "Tad" Truesdale Papers primarily document the performer's professional career and includes biographical information, playscripts, news clippings, reviews, programs, correspondence and financial records. There are contracts (1949-1953), a script, letters and news clippings related to the American Negro Theatre; programs and news clippings related to Truesdale's career as a dancer; letters and news clippings pertaining to the Harlem Blackbirds and their performances in Ceylon (1952); and news clippings about his performance in New York City's African Room with the Richie Havens Trio. Additionally, the collection includes information about the CAN DO festival held in New Jersey of which Truesdale was director (1966); and about his involvement with the La Mama Theatre. The many scripts contained in Truesdale's papers are ones which he either wrote or performed, including "Daddy! Daddy!" which he authored and was performed at La Mama, "The Godsong," a gospel rock revival of James Weldon Johnson's "God's Trombones" (1975), "The Journeychain Show" (1976), "Nine Days of Ilo" (1976), and "The Manhattan Paul Revue" (1984). Of interest is a portfolio entitled "Back to the ANT on the Hill" referring to Truesdale's theatrical origins with the American Negro Theatre. The portfolio consists of programs, news clippings, photographs, tickets and press releases (1945-1987). Several of Truesdale's high school papers and yearbooks complete this collection. less