- unitid
-
{"value"=>"20756", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 341", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b11868642", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1900-1984", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1900/1984"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Mabel Mercer papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"43 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"17.08 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"=>"Mabel Mercer (1900-1984) was a singer, song stylist, and night club entertainer. The Mabel Mercer papers consist of personal and prpfessional papers related to her singing career."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Mercer, Mabel, 1900-1984", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Mabel Mercer (1900-1984) was a singer, song stylist, and night club entertainer. Born in England in 1900 to a Black musician father, Benjamin Mercer, and a white English vaudevillian mother, Emily Wadham Stonehouse, Mercer started her show business career at the age of fourteen. She joined a song and dance act with her mother and aunt in Europe. Later, in the 1920s, she appeared in Lew Leslie's <span class=\"title\">Blackbirds</span> in London, as part of a vocal trio. Around this time, Mercer started studying singing, with aspirations of becoming a concert singer. In the 1920s and 1930s, she was a successful night club singer in Paris, appearing at Ada \"Bricktop\" Smith's Bricktop's. She made her first appearance in the U.S. in 1938 and settled here in 1941, after marrying singer Kelsey Pharr, a member of the Delta Rhythm Boys. Mercer became an American citizen in 1952, where she was known as one of the most popular supper club singers for many years.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Mabel Mercer papers consist of personal papers, such as naturalization and immigration documents; correspondence with her husband, Kelsey Pharr; family papers; and fan mail. Professional papers include contracts; maerial pertaining to nightclub performances and recordings; sheet music and manuscript music performed and collected by Mercer; music with correspondence attached from composers and lyricists requesting Mercer to include their works in her repertoire; honors and awards; performance programs; posters; clippings and reviews; and a scrapbook.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Mabel Mercer papers are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20756#c1661793'>Personal</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1900-1984</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20756#c1661809'>Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1939-1983</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20756#c1661829'>Honors, programs, and clippings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1940-1984</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20756#c1661869'>Professional</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1937-1970</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20756#c1661933'>Sheet music</a></div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Arranged into 5 series: I. Personal; II. Correspondence; III. Honors, programs, and clippings; IV. Professional; and V. Sheet music.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Purchased from the Mabel Mercer Estate, 1987. Some personal material and correspondence donated by Steven L. Jones, January 1988.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p> Transferred to the Art and Artifacts Division: artwork.</p> <p>Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division: audio and moving image materials. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.</p> <p>Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Accessioned by Berlena Robinson, 1988.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Mabel Mercer collection, Sc MG 536, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture</p>"}
- revisiondesc
-
{"value"=>"Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark.", "date"=>"2021 November 5"}
- date_start
-
1900
- keydate
-
1900
- date_end
-
1984
- date_inclusive_start
-
1900
- date_inclusive_end
-
1984
- extent_statement
-
17.08 linear feet (43 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], Mabel Mercer papers, Sc MG 341, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}