- Creator
- Spingarn, Joel Elias, 1875-1939
- Call number
- Sc MG 174
- Physical description
- 0.42 linear feet (1 box)
- Language
- English
- Preferred Citation
- [Item], Joel E. and Amy E. Spingarn papers, Sc MG 174, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
- Repository
- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
- Access to materials
- Request access to this collection.
This collection consists largely of correspondence; included are letters from Joel E. Spingarn to Amy Spingarn written during the 1914-1915 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) speaking tour; letters to Amy Spingarn regarding researcher access to the Joel E. Spingarn collections at the Moorland Collection at Howard University and the James Weldon Johnson Collection at Yale University; and letters to W.E.B. Du Bois. Additional material includes information regarding the opening of Joel E. Spingarn High School in Washington, D.C.; a 1898 speech; NAACP printed material; articles by and about Arthur Spingarn, Joel's brother; a typescript by Jacques Roumain on Vodun (voodoo); and other printed material.
Biographical/historical information
Joel and Amy Spingarn were white philanthropists, humanitarians, and patrons of the arts.
Joel Spingarn also was a writer, literary critic, educator, and civil rights activist. After teaching comparative literature at Columbia University, he became active in literary and public affairs with the founding of the publishing firm of Harcourt, Brace and Company in 1919. His literary work includes A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance (1899), Creative Criticism and Other Essays (1931), and several books of poems. Spingarn also helped to found the National Association for the Advancement (NAACP) for which he served as chairman of the Board of Directors (1913–1919), treasurer (1919–1930), and president (1930–1939). The Spingarn Medal, which he endowed in 1913, is a gold medal awarded annually by the NAACP.
Amy Einstein Spingarn (1883-1980), born in New York City, was a philanthropist, poet, and artist known especially for her paintings of prominent African American cultural figures. Upon the death of her husband in 1939, Amy Spingarn was elected to finish out his term on the NAACP Board of Directors. She continued as a board member for nearly forty years.
Administrative information
Source of acquisition
Gift of Honor Tranum, September 1980.
Revision History
Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark. (2021 May 10)
Processing information
Accessioned by Diana Lachatanere, 1980.
Separated material
Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.
Using the collection
Location
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor