Yarborough, Lavinia Williams
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 659
7.75 linear feet (21 boxes)
Lavinia Williams was an African American dancer, teacher, and choreographer who played an influential role in the development of modern and folkloric dances in Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana, and the Bahamas. Organized into fifteen interrelated series,...
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Lavinia Williams was an African American dancer, teacher, and choreographer who played an influential role in the development of modern and folkloric dances in Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana, and the Bahamas. Organized into fifteen interrelated series, the collection documents Williams's career as a dance teacher and choreographer in Haiti from the mid-1950s to the end of her life.
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Van Scott, Glory
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 707
0.01 linear feet (1 folder)
The Glory Van Scott collection is comprised primarily of programs of performances that Van Scott either produced, directed, or wrote (including those dedicated to Katherine Dunham) at various venues in New York City. There are also a few reviews...
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The Glory Van Scott collection is comprised primarily of programs of performances that Van Scott either produced, directed, or wrote (including those dedicated to Katherine Dunham) at various venues in New York City. There are also a few reviews and news clippings.
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Strickland, William, 1937-
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 806
1.87 linear feet (5 boxes)
Bill Strickland is a scholar, activist, and professor emeritus of the Department of Afro-American Studies at University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst. A native of Boston, Strickland graduated from Boston Latin School and Harvard University....
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Bill Strickland is a scholar, activist, and professor emeritus of the Department of Afro-American Studies at University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst. A native of Boston, Strickland graduated from Boston Latin School and Harvard University. After serving in the Marine Corps, he became active in civil rights and Black liberation work, serving as Executive Director of the Northern Student Movement; working in Mississippi for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party; and serving as the Northern Coordinator of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party's Congressional Challenge. He was a founding member of Malcolm X's Organization of Afro-American Unity in 1964, and in 1969, he also was a founding member of the Institute of the Black World in Atlanta. Strickland was a key member of the faculty in Afro-American Studies at UMass Amherst, teaching history and politics, and serving as Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Papers. Strickland consulted on various documentaries including
Eyes on the Prize (1987), about the civil rights movement;
Malcolm X: Make It Plain (1994), for which he also wrote the companion book, also published in 1994; and
W. E. B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices (1996). He retired in 2013. This collection consists of the research files of William Strickland on various topics. These topics include the documentary
Eyes on the Prize, for which Strickland served as a consultant, and Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow/Push Coalition (now the National Rainbow Coalition); Strickland worked on Jackson's presidential campaign in 1988. Other topics include the Black Panther Party, Black Radical Congress, Arna Bontemps, H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture), Benjamin Chavis and the NAACP, civil rights leaders and movements, Katherine Dunham, Maulana Karanga, racism, and
Roots (television program). Most of the files include notes and some writing by Strickland, but the majority of the files consist of printed matter (clippings, articles, mailings, conference materials), correspondence, and writing by some of the previously mentioned individuals. Additionally, there is one folder of correspondence to and from Strickland, mostly unrelated to the research files.
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Johnson, Helen A.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 599
16.79 linear feet (46 boxes)
The Helen Armstead-Johnson miscellaneous theater collections (HAJMTC) were formed by over two hundred file-folder level collections (one-three file folders per personality or event). The collections contain information dating from the...
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The Helen Armstead-Johnson miscellaneous theater collections (HAJMTC) were formed by over two hundred file-folder level collections (one-three file folders per personality or event). The collections contain information dating from the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century, and they document early dramatic actors, minstrel shows, vaudeville, musical revues, Broadway productions, and protest dramas, among others. In addition to actors, playwrights, singers, musicians, and dancers and the productions in which they appeared, there are collections for poets and visual artists.
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Yarborough, Lavinia Williams
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 659
0.21 linear feet (1 box)
Lavinia Williams (1916-1989) was an African-American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. This collection contains materials such as dance instruction (class) notes, personal correspondence, and professional correspondence, the last of which...
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Lavinia Williams (1916-1989) was an African-American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. This collection contains materials such as dance instruction (class) notes, personal correspondence, and professional correspondence, the last of which pertains to Ballets d'Haiti performances and dance education. Included are two booklets written by Williams.
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Truesdale, Ernest Tad, 1926-1988
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 103
0.63 linear feet (2 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Ernest Truesdale, whose stage name was Tad Truesdale, was a dancer, choreographer, actor, writer, producer, and director. This collection primarily documents the performer's professional career and includes biographical information, playscripts,...
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Ernest Truesdale, whose stage name was Tad Truesdale, was a dancer, choreographer, actor, writer, producer, and director. This collection primarily documents the performer's professional career and includes biographical information, playscripts, news clippings, reviews, programs, correspondence, and financial records.
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McNeil, Claudia
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 564
.92 linear feet (3 boxes)
The Claudia McNeil Scrapbooks, donated by The Actors' Fund of America after McNeil's death, were created by the late performer during the course of her career and consist of twelve volumes spanning the years 1938 to 1981. The contents include...
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The Claudia McNeil Scrapbooks, donated by The Actors' Fund of America after McNeil's death, were created by the late performer during the course of her career and consist of twelve volumes spanning the years 1938 to 1981. The contents include newspaper and magazine feature articles, reviews, advertisements, programs, poems, telegrams, letters, photographs, greeting cards, and handwritten notes arranged chronologically by her engagements or performances, with the predominate amount of material documenting her arrival at the pinnacle of her career in A Raisin in the Sun.
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Sydnor, Earl, 1907-1989
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 382
.7 linear feet (1 archival box, 1 oversize)
Actor, Earl Sydnor appeared on and off-Broadway, on television, and in film. He began his acting career after performing with the New Jersey Federal Theatre Company. Throughout his career, he worked with Katherine Dunham, Ethel Waters, Henry...
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Actor, Earl Sydnor appeared on and off-Broadway, on television, and in film. He began his acting career after performing with the New Jersey Federal Theatre Company. Throughout his career, he worked with Katherine Dunham, Ethel Waters, Henry Fonda, James Earl Jones, and Lou Gossett, Jr. in various plays such as "Cabin in the Sky," "Kiss The Boys Goodbye," "First Monday in October" and the films, "The Emperor Jones" and "Take A Giant Step." As a young man Sydnor wrote poetry and several of his poems were published in black literary magazines. Sydnor died on July 9, 1989. Papers documenting the acting career of Earl Sydnor. The papers are divided in two series, Personal and Professional, which include correspondence, biographical material, newspaper articles and reviews, and playbills. Additionally, there are two scrapbooks dealing with his acting career and service in the Army Air Force in 1943. A third scrapbook relates to his appearance, with his wife Virginia, in "The American Home" magazine in 1945, which became a controversial issue because the magazine had never featured blacks before.
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Johnson, Hall, 1888-1970
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 811
0.01 linear feet (1 folder)
African-American composer, musician, and arranger, Hall Johnson is best known as a choral director and for his arrangements of spirituals. In 1925, Johnson formed the Hall Johnson Negro Choir, which performed spirituals in the traditional style....
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African-American composer, musician, and arranger, Hall Johnson is best known as a choral director and for his arrangements of spirituals. In 1925, Johnson formed the Hall Johnson Negro Choir, which performed spirituals in the traditional style. The Hall Johnson Choir, which he organized in 1928, performed on Broadway in Marc Connolly's play
Green Pastures (1930), for which Johnson was music director. Johnson was known for his compositions as well as the articles he authored that discussed the history of spirituals and their performance practice. The Hall Johnson Collection contains a miscellaneous assortment of material including correspondence and news clippings regarding a workshop Johnson held in East St. Louis, Missouri, in 1969; and a letter to Katherine Dunham explaining his need to give more time to the inexperienced chorus. There is a music book with some holographic music; a poem he authored "Changelessness" (1956); and a few notes. This collection also includes biographical notes and personal recollections written in 2001, by Madeline Preston, a friend and member of his choir, along with a letter Johnson wrote to her in 1956.
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Negro Actors Guild of America
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 259
18.83 linear feet (40 boxes)
The Negro Actors Guild (NAG) was formed in 1936 and began operation in 1937 in New York City as a welfare and benevolent organization for Black performers. The Negro Actors Guild (NAG) records document the functions and activities of this...
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The Negro Actors Guild (NAG) was formed in 1936 and began operation in 1937 in New York City as a welfare and benevolent organization for Black performers. The Negro Actors Guild (NAG) records document the functions and activities of this professional organization.
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Branner, Djola
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 868
1.25 linear feet (2 boxes)
The Djola Branner papers, 1983-2010, document his personal life and professional career as a writer, poet, dancer, choreographer, actor, and educator. The collection reflects how his identity and experiences as a gay Black man informed much of...
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The Djola Branner papers, 1983-2010, document his personal life and professional career as a writer, poet, dancer, choreographer, actor, and educator. The collection reflects how his identity and experiences as a gay Black man informed much of his creative work.
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Henderson, Luther
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 322
53.1 linear feet (193 boxes)
The Luther Henderson Papers encompass the wide range of Henderson's activities as a composer, pianist, arranger, orchestrator and conductor. They document his background and education, his early musical training and influences, interaction with...
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The Luther Henderson Papers encompass the wide range of Henderson's activities as a composer, pianist, arranger, orchestrator and conductor. They document his background and education, his early musical training and influences, interaction with family, friends and colleagues, and his professional achievements.
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Drake, St. Clair
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 309
44.79 linear feet (108 boxes)
The distinguished social scientist and activist St. Clair Drake only claimed the distinction of being one of the first eleven or twelve persons of color to secure graduate training in anthropology between 1900 and 1945. Divided into 18 series and...
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The distinguished social scientist and activist St. Clair Drake only claimed the distinction of being one of the first eleven or twelve persons of color to secure graduate training in anthropology between 1900 and 1945. Divided into 18 series and spanning the years 1935 to 1990, the collection documents Drake's career as an educator and social anthropologist in the United States, Liberia, Great Britain and Ghana, and consists for the most part of correspondence, writings, office files and research materials.
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Hansberry, Lorraine, 1930-1965
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 680
52.0 linear feet (109 boxes)
The Lorraine Hansberry Papers document Lorraine Hansberry's life as an award-winning playwright and activist, and chronicles her activities during the Civil Rights Movement. Virtually all of Hansberry's writings, autobiographical materials,...
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The Lorraine Hansberry Papers document Lorraine Hansberry's life as an award-winning playwright and activist, and chronicles her activities during the Civil Rights Movement. Virtually all of Hansberry's writings, autobiographical materials, journals, diaries, personal and professional correspondence are included here, as well as related materials generated by her late husband, Robert Nemiroff, and his third wife, Jewell Gresham-Nemiroff, as the executors of Hansberry's state. Significant correspondents include Daisy Bates, Louis Burnham, Julian Mayfield, Robert Nemiroff, and William Worthy.
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Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 928
54.21 linear feet (146 boxes)
The Schomburg Programs and Playbills collection consists of thousands of programs, playbills, and other ephemera, spanning the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries, documenting Black theatrical, musical, and dance performances, as well as events...
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The Schomburg Programs and Playbills collection consists of thousands of programs, playbills, and other ephemera, spanning the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries, documenting Black theatrical, musical, and dance performances, as well as events put on by Black academic, community, religious, and political organizations.
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Simms, Hilda, 1918-1994
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 539
27.86 linear feet (59 boxes, 4 volumes)
Hilda Simms (1920-1994) was an actress best known for playing the title role in the American Negro Theater production of
Anna Lucasta that moved successfully to Broadway in 1944. Her acting career also included film,...
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Hilda Simms (1920-1994) was an actress best known for playing the title role in the American Negro Theater production of
Anna Lucasta that moved successfully to Broadway in 1944. Her acting career also included film, television, and radio broadcasts. The Hilda Simms papers date from the 1930s to 1994 (bulk dates 1940s-1950s) and document her career as an actress; her work on creative arts and drug treatment programs in New York; and her personal life.
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Belafonte, Harry, 1927-
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 933
40.87 linear feet (113 boxes, 4 oversize folders, 4 tubes); 7.9 megabytes (124 computer files)
Harry Belafonte is a Jamaican-American musician, actor, and activist best known for popularizing calypso music with international audiences, and his involvement in the American Civil Rights movement. His collection contains project files,...
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Harry Belafonte is a Jamaican-American musician, actor, and activist best known for popularizing calypso music with international audiences, and his involvement in the American Civil Rights movement. His collection contains project files, correspondence, scrapbooks, press materials, scores, lyrics, and scripts that chronicle his career as a singer, songwriter, actor, public speaker, and advocate for political and humanitarian causes. Belafonte's papers reveal the business aspects of his performance projects, source material for his acting and singing career, and organizing efforts associated with the political causes he championed.
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Angelou, Maya
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 830
200.83 linear feet (408 boxes)
Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was one of the most renowned and celebrated voices in American literature. The Maya Angelou papers consist of original manuscripts, computer generated typescripts, galleys, and proofs of published work as well as...
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Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was one of the most renowned and celebrated voices in American literature. The Maya Angelou papers consist of original manuscripts, computer generated typescripts, galleys, and proofs of published work as well as manuscripts for unpublished work and dozens of poems. Additionally, there is personal and professional correspondence, teaching files, printed matter, and materials from public and academic appearances and engagements.
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Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 43
38.51 linear feet (97 boxes, 6 volumes, 1 oversize folder)
This collection consists of typescripts of novels, biographies, essays, and poems on historical, sociological, and educational issues, and conference papers. Some of the typescripts appear as final drafts, others as working drafts with author's...
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This collection consists of typescripts of novels, biographies, essays, and poems on historical, sociological, and educational issues, and conference papers. Some of the typescripts appear as final drafts, others as working drafts with author's annotations and corrections. Manuscripts included are "A Talk to Teachers: The Negro Child, His Self Image" by James Baldwin; "Slavery and Capitalism" by Eric Williams; "Life in a Haitian Valley" by Melville J. Herskovits; "American Dilemma" by Gunnar Myrdal; and poems by Waring Cuney, among others. Other authors represented are Arna Bontemps, Horace Mann Bond, Lloyd Brown, Helen Buckler, Henrietta Buckmaster, John H. Clark, Benjamin Davis, Ralph Ellison, Arthur Huff Fauset, and E. Franklin Frazier. Conference material includes Melville J. Herskovits and the Future of Africana Studies (Schomburg Center, May 1988); Marcus Garvey Centennial Conference (Jamaica, November 1987); and the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (Nigeria, 1977).
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Feelings, Tom
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 875
19.11 linear feet (42 boxes, 3 oversize folders)
Tom Feelings was an internationally known artist, children's book illustrator, educator, and activist. The Tom Feelings papers consist mostly of materials related to his art and writing, both published and unpublished.