- unitid
-
{"value"=>"20746", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 259", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b11868608", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1904-1982", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1904/1982"}
{"value"=>"1937-1982", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1937/1982"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Negro Actors Guild of America records"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"40 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"18.83 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"=>"The Negro Actors Guild (NAG) was formed in 1936 and began operation in 1937 in New York City as a welfare and benevolent organization for Black performers. The Negro Actors Guild (NAG) records document the functions and activities of this professional organization."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Negro Actors Guild of America", "type"=>"corpname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Negro Actors Guild (NAG) was formed in 1936 and began operation in 1937 in New York City as a welfare and benevolent organization for Black performers. It was established with the assistance of the Theatre Authority (The Theatre Authority is a non-profit organization administering and regulating the free appearances of performers for its member organizations; performances are presented to benefit a variety of health and other groups. The Theatre Authority receives a small percentage of box office receipts from benefits, and some of the monies are returned to the member guilds to be used by their welfare programs), which encouraged black performers to form the Guild in order to become eligible for funds it dispersed. Among the founding members of NAG were Fredi Washington, W. C. Handy, Paul Robeson and Ethel Waters. Bill \"Bojangles\" Robinson was named honorary president. Noble Sissle was the first elected president, 1937-1957; followed by Leigh Whipper, 1957-1960; Frederick O'Neal, 1960-1964; Charles \"Honi\" Coles, 1964-ca. 1980; and James Randolph, 1980-1981. The last current available membership list of the Guild (1983) lists 878 members, a staff of one, and Harold Leonard as executive secretary.</p> <p>The Guild was composed of six committees: finance, administrative, membership, entertainment, sick, and welfare. An executive board provided oversight for the activities of the committees. The finance committee's duties were to oversee all office procedures; the membership committee sponsored drives, and promoted goodwill among the members and was responsible for raising funds (yearly membership dues were only $5); and the entertainment committee organized and sponsored a wide variety of benefits and programs whose proceeds were used primarily to assist needy entertainers. Benefit performances included midnight shows, luncheons, moonlight boat rides, and a Gala Night of Super Stars - Tribute to Cab Calloway which was a prelude to the proposed annual Black International Arts Festival. A principal source of income was the revenue generated from advertisements published in the annual journals. NAG also sponsored annual memorial services to honor deceased members. Two other core committees were the sick committee which oversaw visitations of the sick in homes and hospitals, and the distribution of food baskets, and gifts at Christmas time; and the welfare committee which carried out the primary aim and purpose of the Guild: to give financial aid to entertainers. The welfare fund spent thousands of dollars annually on entertainers (a recipient of NAG financial support did not have to be a member or black, although the vast majority were).</p> <p>Typical services included payment toward the cost of burials, rent, food, and utility bills, in addition to providing assistance with medical bills, and providing carfare and warm coats, and sending flowers.</p> <p>NAG also published a quarterly journal, \"The Negro Actor\" from 1938-1940, which was superseded by a monthly newsletter. A significant function was performed by the actor Kenn Freeman, who served as the Guild's historian. He responded to inquiries from the public regarding the history of black entertainment and compiled an archive on the subject consisting of scripts, programs and playbills, and newsclippings and magazine articles, in addition to photographs, cassette and phonograph recordings, musical scores, orchestrations and other documents.</p> <p>NAG's operating funds came from donations, stipends from the Theatre Authority, membership dues, and proceeds from the various functions the Guild sponsored (e.g., benefit performances, sales of souvenir journals), however funds were limited until the 1970s when NAG received monies bequeathed to it by the Carl and Fania Van Vechten estates. According to one source, the Guild received two sums of monies from the Van Vechten estates. A portion of it became available in 1976, the 40th anniversary year of the Guild; it is not clear when the second portion of the money was received. Members were told about the gift at a membership meeting, where the Secretary, composer Valdo Freeman, informed them that the Guild would receive approximately $75,000 from the Van Vechten estate and that more funds would be forthcoming at a later date. With this infusion of money in late 1976, the treasury held approximately $107,000 in its combined welfare, entertainment and general accounts, the largest sum in its history. Nonetheless, within a few years the organization would become embroiled in factional infighting and legal battles which would lead to its dissolution in 1982.</p> <p>Contention from within had occurred at various times in the history of the Guild resulting in three administrative secretaries leaving the Guild under controversial circumstances.</p> <p>In 1949 Mabel Roane Subblett, wife of Bubbles Subblett of the famous Buck and Bubbles singing-dancing-comedy team, was indicted and found guilty of grand larceny and forgery involving thousands of dollars of NAG funds; Aileen Avery became involved in friction with Kenn Freeman and apparently hired a lawyer to protect herself from the Guild. The last incident involved Ernestine Allen, who was accused of mishandling large sums of Guild funds. It was the charges against Ms. Allen that led to the factional infighting and resulting court case instituted by one of the factions, which eventually led to the demise of the Guild.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Negro Actors Guild Records document the functions and activities of this professional organization. The collection encompasses the constitution and by-laws, reports of meetings and minutes of the executive board; general office files reflecting the significant issues in the early operation of NAG; membership records; and financial records including receipt books for paid membership dues, cancelled checks indicating purpose of welfare fund expenditures in addition to audits, statements and monthly reports. Entertainment committee records include programs, flyers and planning documents for the numerous benefits and programs sponsored by this committee; welfare fund records include reports and printed matter. Of special interest are the historical collections including typescripts, performers' historical file, programs and playbills and newsclippings pertaining to various aspects of the performing arts.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Negro Actors Guild of America records are arranged in six series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20746#c1281346'>Administrative Records</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20746#c1281516'>Membership</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1938-1981</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>4.5 linear feet</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Consists of membership cards with name, address and noting amount of dues paid each year; cards for deceased members were separated from living members by NAG administrative staff. Forms completed during two membership drives, one in 1973 and the other in 1979-1981 document the necessity to broaden support, especially during turbulent times. Other records consist of minutes and programs of annual meetings of the full membership, correspondence regarding the payment of annual dues and relating noteworthy news in the members' lives; and membership reports listing members annual renewal dates (1975-1980). A special questionnaire seeking information from members for the purpose of aiding the Guild office in providing assistance during sickness, death and other emergencies. Responses to questions regarding place and date of birth, name given at birth, and name of nearest relative, etc. for hundreds of members shed some personal information on these entertainers (1964-1975).</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20746#c1281552'>Financial Records</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1938-1982</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2.5 linear feet</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Consists of monthly cash receipts and disbursements for the general account and the welfare fund, receipt books for paid membership dues, Internal Revenue Service tax returns, audits, statements and monthly reports. Specifically for 1975 (during the time period of alleged improprieties that occurred when Ernestine Allen served as administrative secretary), the series includes lists of all expenditures. Of particular note are the unpaid bills submitted to NAG during 1979-1981 when routine business matters were ignored due to internal conflicts. While check stubs for the general account have not been saved by the Schomburg Center for the 1960s-early 1970s when routine bills were paid in a timely fashion, check stubs have been retained for the period 1974-1979 to enable researchers to investigate the possible causes or manifestations of NAG's financial difficulties during that period.</p> <p>Additional financial records include the check stub book for the promotion account (1970-1977) as well as receipt books for membership dues paid (1970-1980). The unique financial records in this series are the cancelled checks for the welfare fund listing name of recipient, the reason assistance was given and the amount (usually under $50), covering the period 1966-1978. Petty cash vouchers for the welfare fund (1966-1967) and receipts for assistance given (1980) represent these two periods.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20746#c1281609'>Committees</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20746#c1281666'>Printed Material</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1937-1980</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>.2 linear feet</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Includes the subseries Newsletters, Newsclippings and Journals, 1939-1982 (.8 lin. ft.) and encompasses The Negro Actor, the official organ of the Negro Actors Guild (1939) which was supplanted in 1940 with monthly newsletters and continued until 1978. The newsletters covered, such topics as lists of new and sick members, financial statements, information about special professional performances of members, as well as benefits and programs sponsored by NAG. There are two different issues for December 1975, a result of the factional infighting that occurred within the Guild. Newsclippings (1937-1982) in the New York press concern NAG events such as the fundraising activities it sponsored, in addition to the thefts, infighting, financial turmoil, and finally the dissolution of the Guild. The subseries also includes souvenir programs and journals that commemorate certain anniversaries. The subseries Certificates, Broadsides and Plaques encompasses certificates such as the certificate of incorporation, mayor's proclamation, and some certificates issued members, living and deceased. Posters advertise major events, and bronze plaques were either issued by or to the Negro Actors Guild.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20746#c1281691'>Historical Collections</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>4.2 linear feet</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series was gathered by NAG historian Kenn Freeman in the 1970s as a resource for information about black entertainment in the fields of acting, music, dance, theater, film and television, principally in the United States, but in England as well.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Collection organized into six series: I Administrative; II Membership; III Financial; IV Committees; V Printed Material; and VI Historical Collections</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of Charles L. Coles and Ernestine Allen, July 1986.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>The following items were transferred to:</p> <p>Schomburg Art and Artifacts Division:</p> <p>One plaster of Paris cast of Leigh Whipper</p> <p>Schomburg Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division:</p> <p>27 audiotapes.</p> <p>Schomburg Photographs and Print Division:</p> <p>Tphotographs.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>This inventory was prepared as part of an archival preservation project to arrange, describe and catalog resources essential for the study of the African American theater history. The necessary staff and supplies for the Blacks on Stage: African American Theater Arts Collection Project were made available through a combination of funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the City of New York.</p><p>Processed by Janice Quinter with the assistance of Octavia Inman. September 1999</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Welfare Fund records (box 24) and Welfare Committee (box 26) are closed until 2086. Researchers using executive board minutes must agree in writing not to publish names or other information identifying individual welfare fund applicants or recipients.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Additional manuscript material relating to the careers of Kenn and Bee Freeman can be found in the Kenn and Bee Freeman Papers in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1904
- keydate
-
1904
- date_end
-
1982
- date_inclusive_start
-
1904
- date_inclusive_end
-
1982
- date_bulk_start
-
1937
- date_bulk_end
-
1982
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], Negro Actors Guild of America records, Sc MG 259, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}