- unitid
-
{"value"=>"186596", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc Photo Jayne Cortez collection", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b23446966", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1940s-2004", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1940/2004"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Jayne Cortez photographs"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1 box", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"0.42 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Jayne Cortez (1934-2012) was a poet, performance artist, activist, small press publisher, and teacher. A prominent figure of the Black Arts Movement, Cortez was known for performing her poetry accompanied by jazz music. The photographs in this collection depict Cortez's childhood and family life, aspects of her creative work as a spoken word poet, and some of her academic activities."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Cortez, Jayne", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Jayne Cortez was a poet, performance artist, activist, small press publisher, and teacher who was prominent in the Black Arts Movement. Cortez performed and recorded her poems, often accompanied by jazz music. Her work is noted for its vivid and surrealistic imagery, visceral sound, and political stances, which frequently addressed racism, sexism, and class.</p> <p>Sally Jayne Richardson was born on an army base in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in 1934. Her father served in the United States Army in both world wars and her mother was a secretary. As a child, Cortez moved with her family from Arizona to the mostly Black working-class neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles, California, where she developed an appreciation for jazz and Latin music through listening to her parents' record collection. Initially more interested in acting and theatre, Cortez studied music, drama, and art at Manual Arts High School. She attended classes at Compton Junior College and studied drama at the Ebony Showcase in Los Angeles, before shifting her focus to writing. Early on in her artistic career, she adopted Cortez, the maiden name of her Filipino maternal grandmother, as her own surname.</p> <p>Cortez was married to jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman from 1954 until 1964. The two had a son, the jazz drummer Denardo Coleman. During her marriage to Coleman, Cortez supported their family by working as a waitress, in several factories, and as an office assistant. In 1963 and 1964 Cortez participated in the civil rights movement by working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to register voters in Mississippi. In 1964 she founded the Watts Repertory Theater Company, where she gave her first public poetry reading, and went on to serve as its artistic director for several years.</p> <p>Cortez moved to New York City in 1967 and began traveling widely, eventually performing around the world and throughout the United States with her band, the Firespitters. In 1972 Cortez established Bola Press, through which most of her twelve volumes of poetry were published. She also released many of her records on the label including, <span class=\"title\">Unsubmissive Blues</span> (1980), <span class=\"title\">There It Is</span> (1982), <span class=\"title\">Maintain Control</span> (1987), and <span class=\"title\">Cheerful and Optimistic</span> (1994). <span class=\"title\">Celebrations and Solitude</span> (1975) was released on Strata East Records and <span class=\"title\">Taking the Blues Back Home</span> (1996) was released on Harmolodic/Verve. Her poetry has been translated into numerous languages and included in many anthologies, journals, and magazines.</p> <p>In 1975 Cortez married visual artist Melvin Edwards, who illustrated many of Cortez's books and record covers. The couple kept residences in New York City and in Dakar, Senegal.</p> <p>Cortez taught at Rutgers University and other colleges around the United States. She was featured, alongside artists including Amiri Baraka, John Cage, and Allen Ginsberg, in the documentary film <span class=\"title\">Poetry in Motion</span> (1982). She was the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the American Book Award (1980), a National Endowment for the Arts grant (1987), the Fannie Lou Hamer Award (1994), and the Langston Hughes Medal (2001).</p> <p>In 1991, together with Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo, Cortez co-founded the Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA). Cortez served as the group's president for many years, and board members included Maya Angelou, Alexis De Veaux, and Rashidah Ismaili. OWWA held Yari Yari conferences and assisted with Slave Routes conferences from the 1990s to the 2000s.</p> <p>Cortez died of heart failure in 2012.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Jayne Cortez photographs, which date from the 1940s to 2004, include informal family snapshots from Cortez's childhood; posed studio headshots and informal portraits of Cortez; shots of Cortez performing with the Firespitters; and photographs taken at various conferences. Family snapshots are primarily small black-and-white prints taken in Los Angeles in 1940s and 1950s. The bulk of the other photographs in the collection are color photographic prints or color photocopies made from color slides or as enlargements of small prints.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Alphabetical by subject.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Purchased from Jayne Cortez in 2010.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photographs transferred from Jayne Cortez papers in Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books, Schomburg Center.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Heather Halliday</span> in <span class=\"date\">2024</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1940
- keydate
-
1940
- date_end
-
2004
- date_inclusive_start
-
1940
- date_inclusive_end
-
2004
- extent_statement
-
0.42 linear feet (1 box)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Jayne Cortez photographs, Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library"}