- unitid
-
{"value"=>"20586", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 110", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b11524019", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1919-1981", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1919/1981"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"J. R. Casimir papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"0.63 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"J. R. Casimir was a poet, editor, and founding member and secretary of the Roseau, Dominica Division of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The papers consist of correspondence, legal documents, and printed matter relating to Casimir's writing, and they deal with social and political issues affecting the island of Dominica."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Casimir, J. R. Ralph", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>J. R. Casimir was a poet; editor; founding member and secretary of the Roseau, Dominica Division of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); and organizer of the Dominica Taxpayers Reform Association. Casimir was born in St. Joseph, Dominica, West Indies, on September 26, 1898. He taught school for several years before resigning to pursue other interests. In 1919, he helped found a Division of the UNIA in Roseau and travelled throughout the island to organize other branches; he served as secretary of the Roseau branch until its dissolution in 1923. Casimir also acted as the Dominican agent for the <span class=\"title\">Negro World</span>, the official organ of the UNIA, as well as for other Black periodicals published in the United States.</p> <p>Casimir's interest in politics continued long after his UNIA activities. He was the organizer and Assistant Secretary of the Dominica Taxpayers Reform Association and Assistant Secretary of the Dominica Conference of 1932, a forerunner of the Federation of the West Indies, which advocated democratization of the English-speaking colonies as a first step towards self-government. He was also active in politics at the local community level.</p> <p>His interest in writing, especially in poetry, resulted in the publication of several booklets of his verse and four anthologies of Dominican verse. Over the years, he contributed articles and poems to African, American, and Caribbean magazines and newspapers and was a correspondent for the <span class=\"title\">Pittsburgh Courier</span> (New York Edition) from 1950-1952. Casimir was also engaged in the bookbinding business.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>These papers consist of correspondence, legal documents, and printed matter relating to Casimir's writing. They focus on social and political issues affecting the island of Dominica, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and the Black nationalist movement worldwide, during the 1920s and 1930s. Significant correspondents include: Marcus Garvey, founder of the UNIA; Casely Hayford, <span class=\"title\">Gold Coast</span> (Ghana) editor and author of <span class=\"title\">Ethiopia Unbound</span>; Malaku Bayen, of the Ethiopian World Federation; Sylvia Pankhurst, editor of the <span class=\"title\">New Times</span> and <span class=\"title\">Ethiopia News</span>; John E. Bruce, African American journalist; Monroe Work, editor of the <span class=\"title\">Negro Year Book</span>; Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Du Bois, Roy Wilkins, and other staff of <span class=\"title\">Crisis</span> magazine; Thomas L. G. Oxley, editor of <span class=\"title\">The Poets' Journal</span>; Victor L. Gray of the <span class=\"title\">Chicago Bee</span>; and Cyril V. Briggs, founder of the African Blood Brotherhood. The dispute between the UNA, the African Blood Brotherhood, and <span class=\"title\">The Emancipator</span>\" magazine in 1920 are well documented in the correspondence between Cyril V. Briggs, Casimir, and Anthony Crawford, president of the Inter-Colonial Steamship and Trading Company of New York. Other correspondence files relate to Casimir's activities as an agent of the Black Star Line and the <span class=\"title\">Negro World</span>. Rare publications include <span class=\"title\">The Black Man</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Brownies' Book</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Challenge</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Comet</span>, as well as scattered issues of <span class=\"title\">The Messenger</span> and a complete run of <span class=\"title\">The Crusader</span>, September 1918 to August 1921. Also in the collection are the membership register and certificates of the Dominica Division of the UNIA. Casimir's writings span from 1919 to 1981 and consist of typewritten and published poems, as well as several holograph poems written on the verso of letters.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Purchased from J. R. Ralph Casimir, May 1988.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Accessioned by Victor Smythe, May 1988. Processed through the Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Universal Negro Improvement Association miscellaneous collection, Sc MG 442, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture</p>"}
- revisiondesc
-
{"value"=>"Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark.", "date"=>"2021 March 29"}
- date_start
-
1919
- keydate
-
1919
- date_end
-
1981
- date_inclusive_start
-
1919
- date_inclusive_end
-
1981
- extent_statement
-
0.63 linear feet (2 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], J. R. Casimir papers, Sc MG 110, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}