- Creator
- Oliver, Bernadine, 1950-1993
- Call number
- Sc MG 540
- Physical description
- .6 linear feet (1 archival box, 1/2 archival box)
- Preferred Citation
- [Item], Bernadine Oliver papers, Sc MG 540, 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.
Bernadine Oliver wrote poetry of which a sampling and some essays were published in two volumes "It Begins Softly" (1980) and "Seeds of Ourselves" (1984) by Women for Racial and Economic Equality. Oliver was a founding member of the New York chapter of this organization. She was also published in an anthology, "Leaving the Bough: 50 American Poets of the 80s" (1982). Oliver studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1979 after she was stricken with multiple sclerosis in 1974 at the age of 24. The Bernadine Oliver Papers consist of handwritten, typed and published poems, prose, and sketches and drawings. Oliver's poems speak of life and its trials of personal and social injustices for working people, the unemployed and the young, as well as growth and change, and hope for the future. There are also a few letters, information regarding her memorial service, some biographical material, and notes.
Administrative information
Source of acquisition
Gift, Sally Chaffee, Oct. 26, 1995
Key terms
Names
Subjects
- African American authors -- New York (State) -- New York
- African American poets -- New York (State) -- New York
- African American women poets -- New York (State) -- New York
- American poetry -- African American authors
- Black author
- Poets -- New York (State) -- New York
Material types
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