- unitid
-
{"value"=>"Sc MG 805", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"23308", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"b21117605", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1970-2016", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1970/2016"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Reginald Harris papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"13.65 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"34 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"307.5 kb (9 computer files)"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"id"=>"SCM", "value"=>"Schomburg Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Reginald Harris (1960-) is an African American poet, author, editor, and library administrator. Harris's experience as a gay man is a frequent subject of his writing. His papers date from 1970 to 2016 and document Harris's creative work, professional career and personal life through journals, correspondence, and files of his writing and public poetry readings."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Reginald Harris papers, Sc MG 805, Schomburg Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Harris, Reginald, 1960-", "type"=>"persname", "role"=>"creator"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Reginald M. Harris was born in Annapolis, Maryland in 1960 and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. Harris graduated from Randolph-Macon College with a bachelor's degree in political science in 1982. He served in the United States Coast Guard from 1983 to 1987. After being honorably discharged from the Coast Guard, Harris received a library and information science graduate degree from Catholic University of America in Virginia. He then joined the staff of the Enoch Pratt Free Library of Baltimore, where he held various positions throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In 2010, Harris accepted a position at Poets House in New York City and currently (2016) serves there as director of Library and Outreach Services.</p> <p>Harris's experience as an African American gay man is the primary focus of his poems and fiction. He has published two volumes of poetry, <span class=\"title\">10 Tongues</span> (2002) and <span class=\"title\">Autogeography</span> (2013), the latter of which won the Cave Canem Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize. His poems have also appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals. He served as an editor of periodicals including <span class=\"title\">Kuumba</span>, which showcased the work of African American gay and lesbian poets, and <span class=\"title\">The Lambda Book Report</span>, where his literary criticism is also frequently published. Harris's influence upon both African American gay and lesbian poets and the broader poetry community is felt through his support of other authors' work, his frequent performances at poetry readings, and his service as a judge on juried poetry competitions.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection reflects the personal, creative, and professional life and career of Reginald Harris through journals; diaries; drafts and manuscripts of his written work; correspondence; and files on public poetry readings where Harris performed or which he organized.</p> <p>Personal files include several boxes of journals and diaries dating from 1977 through the 2010s. Content and frequency of diary and journal entries vary. Most journal volumes are functional notebooks, focusing on routine matters and recording daily observations, while the diaries tend to describe intimate personal circumstances and emotions in more depth and also include notes for his writing. Evidence of Harris's involvement in the Black gay leather fetish community, especially with the group ONYX, is found in this section. Files on Black Pride celebrations and comic zines with African American gay themes are also present. Incoming personal correspondence, in the form of letters and cards from family and friends, as well as printed email, is included. A file titled \"obituaries,\" dated 1988 to 2007, intersperses funeral and memorial service programs of older family members together with those of young friends who died of AIDS. Other personal files relate to Harris's military service and family reunions.</p> <p>Harris's creative work is reflected in the writing files, which encompass his published and unpublished poems, fiction, and journalistic essays; his literary criticism of others' work, including his reviews published in <span class=\"title\">Kuumba</span> and <span class=\"title\">The Lambda Book Report</span>; and his student work. Sex and sexuality are frequent themes throughout all genres of Harris's work. Files of erotica, which he often publishes under the pseudonym Marvin Richmond, are included. Journalism files include Harris's work for various gay and general interest publications in the Baltimore area from the 1980s through the 2000s. Evidence of Harris's creative process can be seen through numerous drafts of each poem, short story, or essay. Files also contain correspondence with publishers; manuscripts; and published versions of works.</p> <p>The professional files document Harris's activities as an author and his employment at Enoch Pratt Free Library of Baltimore and Poet's House. Files of public programs he organized at both institutions and elsewhere are found in this section, as are materials promoting Harris's published writings. Evidence of Harris's participation in several writers' groups, such as Cave Canem Foundation for African American Poets; Fire & Ink, an advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) writers of African descent; and Baltimore Writers' Alliance is present. Writers' group files include information on workshops, fellowships, and conferences organized by these groups. Awards files show prizes applied for and won, including a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in 2000 and the People's Poetry award in 2003, and awards competitions judged by Harris, including the Lambda Literary Awards and Act-So, a poetry competition for teenagers. Professional files on Harris's editing work for the literary journal <span class=\"title\">Kuumba</span> include both accepted and rejected submissions of poems written by other authors. Several boxes holding files on poetry readings demonstrate Harris's prolific performances of his own work, as well as his support and advocacy of other poets through the organizing of these events. Files on an African American Gay and Lesbian Literature class dating from 1987 to 1998, document a course Harris taught at the Baltimore Gay Center, and include syllabi and bibliographies. Professional correspondence files illustrate Harris's interaction with publishers and fellow authors, notably Lisa C. Moore of Redbone Press and author John R. Keene.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Reginald Harris papers are divided into the following categories: Personal, Writing, and Professional.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Reginald Harris in 2015.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"type"=>"processing", "value"=>"<p>Compiled by <span class=\"name\">Heather Halliday</span>, <span class=\"date\">2016</span>.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>All reproduction requests subject to limitations noted in divisional policies.</p>"}
- dsc_type
-
combined
- date_start
-
1970
- keydate
-
1970
- date_end
-
2016
- date_inclusive_start
-
1970
- date_inclusive_end
-
2016
- extent_statement
-
13.65 linear feet (34 boxes); 307.5 kb (9 computer files)