- unitid
-
{"value"=>"29990", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 933", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b22783213", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1872-2017", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1872/2017"}
{"value"=>"1946-2005", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1946/2005"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Harry Belafonte papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"113 boxes, 4 oversize folders, 4 tubes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"40.87 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"124 computer files", "unit"=>"computer_files"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"7.9 megabytes", "unit"=>"megabytes"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"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."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Belafonte, Harry, 1927-", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Harry Belafonte was born Harold George Bellanfanti, Jr. in 1927 in New York City. Belafonte's parents were Jamaican immigrants, and he spent much of his childhood in Jamaica. After attending George Washington High School in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, Belafonte enlisted in the United States Navy in 1944, and served in World War II.</p> <p>Upon returning from the War, Belafonte acted in productions for the American Negro Theatre in Harlem, and took acting lessons at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School. He began singing at clubs in order to pay for his classes, leading to a record contract with Roost Records in 1949, and RCA Victor in 1953. Between 1953 and 1954, Belafonte made his Broadway debut with John Murray Anderson's <span class=\"title\">Almanac</span>, a performance which earned him a Tony Award.</p> <p>Belafonte's 1956 album, <span class=\"title\">Calypso</span>, helped popularize the style of Caribbean folk music, and became the first record to sell over a million copies. It contained the hit song, \"Day-O (Banana Boat Song),\" which Belafonte would be closely associated with for the rest of his career. He also starred in several films during the 1950s, including <span class=\"title\">Carmen Jones</span> (1954), <span class=\"title\">Island in the Sun</span> (1957), <span class=\"title\">The World, the Flesh and the Devil</span> (1959), and <span class=\"title\">Odds Against Tomorrow</span> (1959).</p> <p>Belafonte has appeared in and produced numerous television series and specials. In 1959, he became the first Jamaican-American to win an Emmy for <span class=\"title\">Revlon Revue: Tonight with Belafonte</span>. He also produced the television movie <span class=\"title\">The Strollin' Twenties</span> (1966) and television special <span class=\"title\">A Time for Laughter</span> (1967); filled in for Johnny Carson on <span class=\"title\">The Tonight Show</span> in February 1968; and appeared on such programs as <span class=\"title\">The Ed Sullivan Show</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour</span>, and <span class=\"title\">The Flip Wilson Show</span>.</p> <p>Throughout the 1960s, Belafonte continued to record albums in various styles, such as pop, blues, gospel, folk, and show tunes. After releasing his final calypso album in 1971, Belafonte focused mainly on performing and toured internationally. He released five more albums in the 1970s and 1980s, including <span class=\"title\">Turn the World Around</span> (1977), whose title track he performed on <span class=\"title\">The Muppet Show</span> in 1978. In 1984, Belafonte scored and produced <span class=\"title\">Beat Street</span>, a film about New York City hip-hop culture. Other film credits include <span class=\"title\">The Angel Levine</span> (1970), <span class=\"title\">White Man's Burden</span> (1996), <span class=\"title\">Kansas City</span> (1996), and <span class=\"title\">Bobby</span> (2006).</p> <p>In addition to music and acting, Belafonte has been an advocate for humanitarian and political causes throughout his life. His political views were greatly influenced by his mentor, Paul Robeson, and led to Belafonte being blacklisted in Hollywood in 1950. A decade later, he appeared in a campaign ad for John F. Kennedy, performed at his inauguration, and was appointed as a cultural advisor to the Peace Corps by Kennedy.</p> <p>Belafonte was a key figure in the American Civil Rights movement, and became a close confidant of Martin Luther King, Jr., who he bailed out of jail during the 1963 Birmingham Campaign. Belafonte also provided funding for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCCC) and the 1961 Freedom Rides, participated in numerous rallies and protests, and helped organize the 1963 March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom. During this time, he began speaking out against apartheid in South Africa; his final studio album, <span class=\"title\">Paradise in Gazankulu</span> (1988), featured ten apartheid protest songs. Belafonte also helped facilitate \"We Are the World,\" a charity song for famine relief, and served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In the 1990s and 2000s, he supported the campaign against AIDS in South Africa and raised education awareness in Kenya.</p> <p>Belafonte has received dozens of awards for his music, acting, and activism. His awards include the Kennedy Center Honors (1989), National Medal of Arts (1994), Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2000), Domestic Human Rights Award (2004), BET Humanitarian Award (2006), and NAACP Spingarn Medal (2013). In 2011, <span class=\"title\">Sing Your Song</span>, a documentary about Belafonte's life and career, was released. His memoir, <span class=\"title\">My Song</span>, was published the same year.</p> <p>Belafonte has four children: two with his first wife, Marguerite Belafonte, and two with his second wife, Julie Belafonte. As of 2022, he resides in New York City with his third wife, Pamela Belafonte.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection dates from 1872 to 2017 (bulk 1946-2017), and details Belafonte's performing arts career and involvement with political and humanitarian causes. The collection is arranged into five series consisting of Project Files that comprise correspondence and business files associated with Belafonte's artistic career; Politics and Activism files; Press and Publicity materials that cover Belafonte's public persona; Scripts that span Belafonte's career as an actor and producer; and Lyrics and Notated Music from his music career. Belafonte's papers chronicle his decades-long professional life as an actor and musician, the business management involved in sustaining a successful artistic career, and the ways in which he incorporated political activism into his creative work.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Harry Belafonte papers are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/29990#c1676453'>Series I: Project Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1872-2017</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>11.79 linear feet (30 boxes); 7.9 megabytes (119 computer files)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains business and professional files related to Belafonte's career as a public figure, entertainer, actor, and musician. The Project Files are arranged into five subseries: Correspondence; Theater; Film and Television; Music; and Belafonte Enterprises, reflecting Belafonte's professional life in a variety of performing arts mediums. The series focus is primarily on the administrative aspects of Belafonte's creative work, including the logistics, planning, financials, and professional relationships that are involved in supporting a seven-decade long artistic career.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/29990#c1676623'>Series II: Politics and Activism</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1959-2016</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>6.5 linear feet (16 boxes); 160 kilobytes (5 computer files)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series II contains alphabetically arranged subject files pertaining to Belafonte's activism, humanitarian work, civil rights organizing, and political relationships. These files hold a mixture of correspondence with politicians, announcements, promotional materials, publications, and memoranda. Belafonte often utilized his profile as a performer to raise awareness for the causes he supported, so there are many files related to benefit performances and artists organizations such as MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy), PAND (Performers and Artists for Nuclear Disarmament), People's Music Network, Protest Music for Responsible Citizenship, USA for Africa, and \"We Are the World.\"</p> <p>Among the most comprehensive files in this series are those related to Martin Luther King, Jr. These files are held in the Martin Luther King, Jr. subject files, as well as in the chronological correspondence files, and The Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Freedom in the South files. The Martin Luther King, Jr. files in boxes 31 to 32 include correspondence between Belafonte and King, Bayard Rustin, Sidney Poitier, and Sammy Davis, Jr.; lists of names compiled by Belafonte for organizing efforts; meeting minutes and memoranda from the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King; an announcement for a civil rights workshop conducted by Poitier and Belafonte; a 1962 document addressed to President Kennedy arguing for an executive order prohibiting segregation in the United States; various programs and promotional materials; and condolence letters addressed to Belafonte after King's assassination. Also included among the correspondence with King is a series of telegrams sent from King to Belafonte on July 22, 1963 in which King requests that Belafonte attend the upcoming March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.</p> <p>There is additional correspondence regarding Belafonte's Civil Rights organizing and work with King, Poitier, and Rustin in the chronological correspondence files in box 27. The Committee to Defend Martin Luther King files includes notes of support from celebrities including Marian Anderson, Diahann Carroll, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ruby Dee, Oscar Hammerstein, Lorraine Hansberry, Langston Hughes, John Oliver Killens, Kim Stanley, Kenneth Tynan, and William Wyler.</p> <p>Belafonte was invited to numerous presidential inaugurations, and was a featured performer at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. The program for that event is held in the Inauguration Programs file, and includes handwritten inscriptions from fellow performers Milton Berle, Leonard Bernstein, Joey Bishop, Nat King Cole, Tony Curtis, Jimmy Durante, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Alan King, Janet Leigh, Frederic March, Laurence Olivier, Sidney Poitier, Keely Smith, Louis Prima, Juliet Prowse, Anthony Quinn, and Frank Sinatra.</p> <p>There are also many files related to South African politics and the efforts to end apartheid. The Nelson Mandela files hold materials relating to Mandela's 1990 visit to the United States, notes discussing Belafonte's proposed television series about Mandela, files from Artists Against Apartheid, texts of Mandela's speeches, papers from the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, and materials related to his 1994 election as President of South Africa. The South Africa files also include correspondence, an itinerary from Belafonte's 2001 visit to the country, and a program from the 1999 presidential inauguration of Thabo Mbeki.</p> <p>Belafonte's service as Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEF in the 1990s and 2000s is also well-represented in this series. This work is documented through files of memoranda, correspondence, reports and programs. These materials are held in both the UNICEF and United Nations files.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/29990#c1676755'>Series III: Press and Publicity</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1872-2014</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>17.12 linear feet (54 boxes, 4 oversize folders, 4 tubes)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Materials pertaining to Belafonte's public persona, the ways in which he was covered in the media, his numerous public appearances, and the awards and accolades he received throughout his career are found in Series III. The series is arranged into five subseries which includes Scrapbooks; Clippings; Programs; Posters and Fliers; and Awards. The series compiles decades of press coverage of Belafonte's career, some of which were arranged in thematic scrapbooks, subject files, or chronological files. These files present a nearly complete timeline of Belafonte's music, film, and theatrical career, and are the only part of the collection with extensive coverage of his early work.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/29990#c1676845'>Series IV: Scripts</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1940-2017</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>4.58 linear feet (11 boxes)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series IV contains scripts for films, novels, television programs, and theater pieces. The majority of scripts are for projects in which Belafonte was involved, usually as a performer or producer. Other scripts were given to Belafonte with the intention of securing funding, or as a courtesy from acquaintances. Multiple drafts are included for several film and television projects, which often contain annotations and corrections. Letters and notes accompany several scripts as well. The scripts are arranged alphabetically by title into the following groups: Film; Novels; Television; and Theater.</p> <p>Film scripts comprise the majority of this series. Included here are scripts from four films Belafonte acted in: <span class=\"title\">Odds Against Tomorrow</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Angel Levine</span>, <span class=\"title\">Buck and the Preacher</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Kansas City</span>. Additionally, there are scripts for unproduced films commissioned by Belafonte Enterprises, notably <span class=\"title\">The Murder of Hound Dog Bates</span> and <span class=\"title\">Stagolee</span>, both of which are represented by multiple drafts.</p> <p>Two novel manuscripts are included in this series: <span class=\"title\">Odds Against Tomorrow</span> by William P. McGivern, and <span class=\"title\">To Sir, With Love</span> by E.R. Braithwaite. The latter is the basis for the 1967 film starring Sidney Poitier.</p> <p>The series also holds scripts for films, specials, and episodes made for television. There are scripts for programs Belafonte produced, namely <span class=\"title\">One Hundred Years of Laughter</span> and <span class=\"title\">The Strollin' Twenties</span>. Of special interest are scripts for an unfilmed 1957 concert special, <span class=\"title\">An Evening with Belafonte</span>, as well as <span class=\"title\">Petula</span>. Some television scripts contain filming schedules, songs lists, and assorted production notes.</p> <p>Most of the theater scripts do not directly involve Belafonte. <span class=\"title\">Ballad for Bimshire</span>, <span class=\"title\">Fences</span>, and <span class=\"title\">To Be Young, Gifted and Black</span> are some of the plays featured here. There are also several photocopies of scripts related to entertainer and playwright Flournoy Miller, and a script for Ossie Davis' play, <span class=\"title\">The People of Clarendon County</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/29990#c1676889'>Series V: Lyrics and Notated Music</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1940s-1999</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>3.75 linear feet (11 boxes)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series V holds lyrics and notated music for songs primarily recorded and performed by Belafonte from the 1940s to the 1990s. Songs are chiefly represented by lyrics, but also include sheet music, full scores, and parts. In many cases, there is only one set of lyrics or sheet music for a song. The series is arranged into three sections: songs by title; songs by composer or artist; and subject files. Files in each section are arranged alphabetically. Songs whose titles begin with A and B are heavily represented in this series; these titles were originally grouped together with a note indicating that many C through Z titles were lost in a flood.</p> <p>The majority of songs documented in this series were recorded or performed in concert, on television, or on film by Belafonte. His signature song, \"Day-O (Banana Boat Song),\" is represented by printed lyrics and published sheet music. Other well-known songs are included, such as \"Island in the Sun,\" \"Jamaica Farewell,\" \"Man Smart, Woman Smarter,\" \"Matilda,\" and \"Turn the World Around.\" There is also a lead sheet for \"We Are the World.\" Often, there are multiple versions of lyrics and music for a given song that originate from different projects, usually recording sessions or tours.</p> <p>Additionally, the series contains lyrics and sheet music for songs performed by musicians in Belafonte's orbit, namely the Belafonte Folk Singers, Miriam Makeba, Letta Mbulu, Nana Mouskouri, and Floyd Westerman. Songwriters prominently featured in the series include Fitzroy Alexander, Irving Burgie, William Eaton, and Jake Holmes.</p> <p>Other highlights of Series V include conductor scores for \"Lean on Me'' and \"Recognition\" (Belafonte's debut single), as well as full scores for \"Betty 'n' Dupree,\" \"Cycles,\" \"How Long Have You Been Blind,\" and \"Try to Remember.\" There is also a set of lyrics and sheet music for <span class=\"title\">The Long Road to Freedom</span> project, which is located in the subject files.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Purchased from Harry Belafonte in 2019.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Audio and moving image materials have been transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound (MIRS) Division: audio and moving image materials. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.</p> <p>Photographs have been transferred to The Schomburg Center's Prints and Photographs division.</p> <p>Artwork and artifacts have been transferred to The Schomburg Center's Art and Artifacts division.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Heather Lember</span> and <span class=\"name\">Nathan Evans</span> in <span class=\"date\">2022</span>.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Harry Belafonte photograph collection, SCP 186084, Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, https://archives.nypl.org/scp/186084.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1872
- keydate
-
1872
- date_end
-
2017
- date_inclusive_start
-
1872
- date_inclusive_end
-
2017
- date_bulk_start
-
1946
- date_bulk_end
-
2005
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], Harry Belafonte papers, Sc MG 933, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}