{"value"=>"<p>The Negro Ensemble Company was founded in 1967 as the indirect result of an article written by playwright/actor Douglas Turner Ward at the request of the New York Times. In the August 1966 article entitled, \"American Theatre: for Whites Only? \" Ward called for theatre from the black point of view with black playwrights writing of their experience for primarily, though not exclusively, the black audience, as well as the establishment \"of a permanent black repertory company of at least off-Broadway size and dimension\", to decide, promote and oversee their own creative destiny. (At the time Ward was starring in the production of two of his own one-act plays, Happy Ending and Day of Absence, which was produced by actor Robert Hooks. Ward enjoyed a very successful 500-performance run at the St. Mark's Playhouse, in the East Village, New York City, where Gerald Krone, general manager of the playhouse, was the manager of the show.)</p> <p>After reading the article, an executive of the Ford Foundation contacted Ward to ask exactly what he had in mind. As the story goes, Ward sat down with friends and colleagues Robert Hooks and Gerald Krone to discuss the establishment of a repertory company that would produce work germane to black life, with a training company for both actors and technicians, thus promoting black professionals in front of and behind the scenes. As a result, the Negro Ensemble Company's mission statement declared as its purpose \"to provide a forum for the continuous, fully professional, theatrical exploration of themes relevant to Negro life in America through the presentation of mostly new plays, with an emphasis on those by Negro writers; and as a secondary mission to train Negroes in all areas of the theatrical profession. \"</p> <p>Based on the proposal that Ward, Hooks and Krone developed, on May 14, 1967 the Ford Foundation announced a grant to establish the Negro Ensemble Company with Ward as artistic director, Hooks as the executive director, and Krone as the administrative director. The grant for $434,000, paid over three years' time, was to be used to found and develop a black repertory company to present works on social themes, expand opportunities for experienced black theatre artists, and offer professional training to potential new talent with materials that emphasized black identity.</p> <p>The attempt in the early years of the company to fulfill this goal resulted in several productions billed as \"An Evening of Music and Dance\", but the principle interest, available skills, and majority of funds would go into theatre productions and training programs in all aspects of the theatre profession: acting, playwriting, directing, design and technical areas.</p> <p>The Training Program</p> <p>As one of the core goals of the Negro Ensemble Company the training program was the first unit to be established in the Fall of 1967. From the start it had several components: Young people between the ages of sixteen through mid-twenties were offered beginner classes. A similar workshop was offered for more advanced students and young professionals who were extending and developing their acting skills. Fifteen of the original young professionals came out of Robert Hooks' Group Theatre Workshop, which had been developed in New York City the summer of 1964. Classes for the resident company and a workshop to develop new playwrights and directors rounded off the program.</p> <p>Through these classes and workshops, which included acting, dance, speech and related disciplines, the NEC began grooming an apprentice company. Additionally, training in management and administrative areas of the theatre were offered in on-the-job training. Students were also trained in scenic and costume design. One of the company's ambitions was to dip into the talent trained in its own workshops, but realizing that it could never employ all of their own students, it was understood that the program was raising up a generation of black talent to go out into the larger theatre world. Instructors for the workshops included Paul Mann from Yale University, for the professional troupe; Lloyd Jones for the 38 young professionals; Ron Mack led the approximately 22 beginners; Christian Linkletter coached voice; Louis Johnson instructed students in dance; and Lonnie Elder, III coordinated the Playwrights' Workshop. Other instructors involved in the training program over time included Percival Borde, Chuck Vincent, Steven Carter, Michael A. Schultz, Gilbert Moses, Wilma Moses, Edward Burbridge, Lauren Jones, Otis Salled, Hal deWindt, Morse Donaldson, and Kris Keiser. Many of these people were known in the theatre world as professionals in their own right, and many became known because of their association with NEC.</p> <p>In 1971, with the end of the initial 3-year Ford grant to NEC and difficulty in developing additional funding sources, the resident troupe and training programs were cut back severely. Only the Playwrights' Workshop and on-the-job training were reinstituted after a short break. Ward would later state that over 3,000 students, at all levels, were trained in theatre arts over the life of the program - which was no small contribution to the field.</p> <p>The Resident Company</p> <p>NEC conducted a nationwide search for what would become the resident company. The first season's class included Norman Bush, Rosalind Cash, David Downing, Francis Foster, Arthur French, Moses Gunn, William Jay, Judyann Jonson, Denise Nicholas, Esther Rolle, Clarice Taylor, Hattie Winston, and Allie Woods. Edmund Cambridge served as production stage manager. Members were given alphabetical billing and received the same salaries. The season was twenty-six weeks long; productions ran five weeks, with one week of previews, and eight performances a week.</p> <p>In the 1968/69 season, Samuel Blue, Jr, Damon Brazwell, Mari Toussaint, Anita Wilson, Julius W. Harris, and stage manager James S. Lucas were added to the company when several of the members left to go on to other projects and successes. Those who remained became very familiar faces to the company's audiences, and would go on to national success in television and film in addition to the theatre. When financial woes forced the Negro Ensemble Company to discontinue the resident company, possibly in the mid-70s (records do not reflect the actual date), open casting for plays became the norm. The resident company was re-instituted for a short time during the 1978-1979 season, and consisted of Graham Brown, Aldoph Caesar, Laverne Scott Caldwell, Michele Shay, Olivia Williams, Francis Foster, Barbara Montgomery, Leon Morenzie, and Samm-Art Williams. Glenda Dickerson, Dean Irby, and Horacena J. Taylor were the resident staff directors. Wynn Thomas (scenery), Alvin Perry (costumes), and Larry Johnson (lighting) were the resident staff designers. However, the uncertain financial condition of the company never allowed the resident troupe to be sustained for long periods.</p> <p>The Playwrights' Workshop</p> <p>The Playwrights' Workshop was established to develop and encourage black writers. Playwrights submitted works-in-progress to the workshop where they were read and critiqued by professional playwrights at weekly meetings. Lonnie Elder, III was the first director of the workshop, but resigned in 1969 to move to Los Angeles to pursue his career there. The NEC produced several of Elder's highly praised plays including Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, which went on to become the first production of the company's \"Negro Classics\" series. It is not clear from the records who succeeded Elder as director of the workshop. Many new plays and playwrights emerged from the Playwrights' Workshop, among them Companions of the Fire by Ali Wadud, Daughters of the Mock by Judi-Ann Mason, and Nevis Mountain Dew by Steven Carter. In addition, several playwrights who became successful in the 1980s and 1990s participated in the workshops including Charles Fuller (Pulitzer Prize winner for A Soldier's Play), Samm-Art Williams (Home), Steven Carter (Eden, Nevis Mountain Dew), Paul Carter Harrison, Gus Edwards, Derek Walcott, and others (See the appendix for a list of playwrights and plays).</p> <p>In the 1979-1980 season a regular Monday night reading program was initiated. The Monday Night Readings Series became so successful at drawing an audience that it was expanded. Staged readings were added and the program was renamed \"Developmental Stages\". This program became a regular part of the seasons' productions, adding many new readings to each season as budgetary constraints forced the company to do fewer full productions with shorter runs.</p> <p>The Seasonal Plays: Broadway and Tours</p> <p>The company formally inaugurated its first season in 1967-1968, following a preparatory period of three months involving an intensive regimen of rehearsals. Ward's goal had been to develop a program that would have permanence in the theatre world. For that to happen, he believed the company would need diversified challenges, so he established a rigorous performance schedule. The season opened with Peter Weiss' Song of the Lusitanian Bogey, followed by Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler, Kongi's Harvest by Wole Soyinka, and Daddy Goodness by Richard Wright. While not deliberately choosing a theme for the season, these productions focused on the theme of the oppression and exploitation of black people.</p> <p>That first season NEC received high praise for both its acting and writing talent. Reviewers hailed the company's variety, strength, and sensitive direction, saying that the actors were clear and consistent, never missing a nuance of mood or a chance for comedy. Criticism, however, was voiced over the fact that two of the four playwrights, (Peter Weiss and Ray Lawler) were white, raising the question of whether or not the company was truly black-run, and pointing to the fact that one of it's three founders was white. Artistic director Doug Ward defended his choice of the Weiss and Lawler works on the grounds that the material held true to the black experience and the author's race was not critical. Nevertheless, from that point on Ward chose to stage scripts written only by black writers.</p> <p>During the first decade the company explored themes of the black man's (African) struggle by producing many works by African playwrights, such as Akakowe, Ododo, Kongi's Harvest, and The Imprisonment of Obatala, later called \"Plays from Africa\". The choice of African subject matter and theme enabled the company to show the connection between the black struggle in Africa and here in the United States.</p> <p>In the following seasons, as the Playwrights' Workshop began to produce an abundance of quality material that spoke from the experience of black peoples, there was more than enough work upon which the artistic director could draw. Productions such as Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, Colored People's Time, Nevis Mountain Dew, The Sty of the Blind Pig, The Great MacDaddy, Eden, and Home brought to the forefront common issues, situations, and struggles that faced black America. Additionally, historical dramas such as The Brownsville Raid, the \"We\" plays, and A Soldier's Story became favorites in the company's line up.</p> <p>Broadway</p> <p>While most of the Negro Ensemble Company's success was on the off-Broadway stage, they also enjoyed several Broadway runs, beginning with The River Niger in 1973-1974, which ran for 280 performances at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. It was nominated for and received two Tony awards: the 1974 Tony Award for Best Play, and a Tony award for Special Achievement in Theatre. A nomination for Douglas Turner Ward for \"Best Supporting Actor in a Play\" was also garnered, but Ward turned it down because he felt it was listed incorrectly, insisting his character was not merely a supporting role.</p> <p>The next show to move from the St. Mark's Playhouse to a Broadway locale was The First Breeze of Summer which opened in June, 1975. It ran for six weeks and received favorable reviews, \"Genuine, engaging, refreshing, and welcome\" from New York Magazine and WCBS-TV. It was also nominated for the 1976 Tony Award for Best Broadway Play. The third NEC production to move to a Broadway venue was Home, by Samm-Art Williams. It played 280 performances at the Cort Theatre in 1980 and was nominated for two 1980 Tony Awards, for \"Best Play\" and \"Outstanding Actor in a Play\" (for leading man, Charles Brown).</p> <p>Tours</p> <p>In 1969, NEC made its international debut as the result of an invitation to participate in the World Theatre Season at the Aldwych Theatre, London, England, and then at Italy's \"Premio Roma\" Festival. This would be an honor for any theatre company, but particularly so for NEC as it was only in its second season. At the festival, the company was awarded the \"Premio Roma Award for Artistic Excellence and Production\" for Song of the Lusitanian Bogey. The Negro Ensemble Company was a triumph at home and abroad!</p> <p>During the fall of 1971 the company launched its first national tour with The Sty of the Blind Pig. The next summer the troupe again traveled internationally, accepting invitations to perform at the Bermuda Theatre Festival followed by the 1972 Olympic Games Arts Festival which was held in conjunction with the Munich Olympic Games. The company presented both The Sty of the Blind Pig and The Dream on Monkey Mountain at both these festivals.</p> <p>Over the next twenty years the company took its cast and crew on tours across the country and around the world several times. Productions that went on national tours included The River Niger, 1974, Nevis Mountain Dew, 1979; Home 1980-1981 and 1982; Colored People's Time, 1983-1984; Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, 1985-1986, 1986, and 1987; Two Can Play, 1987-1988; From the Mississippi Delta 1988-89 and 1990; and various productions of the WE quartet of plays, separately or together between 1988 and 1991. International tours included The Great MacDaddy which visited the Virgin Islands in 1977; The Sty of the Blind Pig which toured the cities of Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide in Australia in 1976; and Home, which played London in the 1985 season and various cities in Asia in 1987.</p> <p>By far, A Soldier's Play was the longest running tour mounted by the Negro Ensemble Company. It began with a four-week engagement at the Empire Performing Arts Center in Albany, NY in February 1982, followed by another 4-week engagement at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in August 1982. Between 1982 and 1984 there followed several links in a chain of first class national tours, ending in a bus and truck production during the spring of 1985. In 1984 the company was once again invited to perform at an Olympic Arts Festival, this time in Los Angeles, where they performed A Soldier's Play, followed by an appearance at the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. This property was also made into a film titled A Soldier's Story in 1984, starring NEC regulars Adolph Caesar and Denzel Washington.</p> <p>In addition to the long-term engagements of A Soldier's Play, other NEC productions had similar arrangements. The Isle is Full of Noises was produced at the Hartford Stage during the 1981-82 season, Two Can Play entertained audiences in Cincinnati, OH for a six-week engagement in 1986, and Lifetime on the Streets was mounted at the SUNY Purchase campus in Purchase, NY in 1991. Television</p> <p>The Negro Ensemble Company was able to bring several of their productions to a broader audience by accepting the invitation to air their productions on television. In May 1974 PBS broadcast Philip Hayes Dean's Sty of the Blind Pig. The cast included Mary Alice, Maidie Norman, Scatman Crothers, and Richard Ware. Advance articles for the production called it a \"powerful\" and \"moving\" drama, and generally gave the production favorable reviews.</p> <p>The following year (January 1975) the NEC produced its own performance of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men on the ABC-TV series \"ABC Theatre Presents\", also to very favorable reviews which hailed the performance as \"well written; the direction, well done and the acting simply superb\". Other reviews and advance articles mentioned that the Negro Ensemble Company was an award-winning company with \"landmark\" performances that reflected Harlem (black) life. The cast included Douglas Turner Ward, Glynn Turman, Godfrey Cambridge, Rosalind Cash, J. Eric Bell and a special appearance by Robert Hooks as \"Blue Haven\"</p> <p>Similarly in January 1976, The First Breeze of Summer won critical praise when it was broadcast on PBS's \"Theatre in America\" series which showcased the country's outstanding regional and resident drama companies. Frances Foster, Moses Gunn, Barbara Montgomery, Ethel Ayler, and Reyno headed the original cast. Reviews hailed the performance as a \"Warm, touching portrait\", \"moving\", \"a compassionate domestic drama with relevance beyond the specific black experience detailed\", \"a naturalistic and deeply engaging work\", and a \"portrayal of real blacks\"</p> <p>Financial History</p> <p>Fund raising was the linchpin of the Negro Ensemble Company's existence. Throughout its existence and despite box office successes, contributions from foundations, government entities, benefits, and individuals provided the majority of the capital needed to run the company. During the early years, the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) were the sole funders. In time, Douglas Turner Ward and Gerald Krone succeeded in attracting other contributors, among them National Broadcast Company (NBC), Philip Morris Companies, Inc., Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Inc., Shubert Foundation, Inc., FEDAPT (Organizational Assistance for the Performing Arts), New York Department of Cultural Affairs (NYDCA), and New York State Council of the Arts (NYSCA). Although NEC experienced both financial and critical successes in the following decades, records do not indicate if the company's productions were financially successful during the first five years.</p> <p>The company's fiscal and corporate structure began to take shape in the 1970s. Toward this end, the institution of an \"active\" board of directors and the establishment of the Development Department were formalized. The company also instituted regular fiscal audits and computerized record keeping. This provided the structure needed to formalize the company's relationship to future funders and increase the amounts of the grants. Both the Ford Foundation and the NEA were critical to those efforts. At the start of the 1970s, the Ford Foundation required that NEC provide certified audits and seek other means of support in order to continue to be eligible for Ford Foundation grants. To meet these requirements, the company held a number of benefits, and sought and received grants from corporations such as Conde Nast Publishers, Inc., Nosutch Foundation, and Time, Inc., among others.</p> <p>The formation of an active board, which would actively participate in fund raising, occurred in the company's fourth year. Community and business leaders were invited to serve. But, as with many arts organizations, the board never fully succeeded in raising enough financial support to sustain the company.</p> <p>Managing Director Gerald Krone was responsible for fiscal matters and worked closely with Fund Raising Director Frederick Garrett, who also held the title of administrative director in late 1960s and early 1970s. Together with Douglas Turner Ward, they handled fund raising responsibilities. A formal development component was not established until fiscal year æ79, as the result of a special NEA grant. Alternately called the Development Unit, the Development Office and/or Department, its function as outlined in a 1978 grant proposal was to aid the company in achieving permanent institutional stability. Before the establishment of this department, NEC's efforts to broaden its financial base without a development staff or plan had been inconsistent.</p> <p>Despite the steps taken by the NEC to improve its financial base, by the end of the 1970s, the financial situation had deteriorated significantly. The company was refused a $20,000 Rockefeller grant on the grounds that it \"had no five year plan, no broad-based members and questionable administrative policy\". NEC also had a severe deficit, and in order to stabilize the company, the staff went unpaid for three months.</p> <p>In the 1980s, NEC underwent major changes. The company received grants that aided in the institution of marketing, subscriptions and group sales departments. The phenomenal success of A Soldier's Play in 1983 bolstered the company's reputation, and it was during this time that the company moved uptown to the Broadway theatre district with the expectation that the move would lead to increased ticket sales. Financial problems, however, continued to plague the company and forced them to cancel their entire 20th anniversary season in 1987 and significantly reduce their operations.</p> <p>At the beginning of the 1979-1980 season, NEC had started out on an encouraging note. The company was awarded an NEA 4-year Institutional Advancement Grant. This grant enabled the company to work towards improving the range and production of each play; acquire a 500-seat theatre as a permanent home; reduce cash flow crisis syndromes; and improve the overall financial management of the company. That year, the company hired its first comptroller, John Berrera, in a continued effort to solidify their corporate structure. NEC also struggled to maintain and upgrade it operations and increased salaries (last raises had been in 1972).</p> <p>Concurrently, the Developmental Unit had been funded by the NEA as well, under a special NEA grant called the \"Development grant, \" which commenced in 1979. Initially the Unit was dependent upon NEA as its sole funder. Under the grant guidelines it was understood by both the granting agency and NEC that the Unit would take two to three years to be completely effective and that NEA would maintain a major financial commitment to the Unit during that period. However, the fiscal year 1980 request for the Development Unit grant was refused because of changes in staff and grant panels that took place at the Endowment. Immediately, Managing Director Gerald Krone met with NEA staff, and in light of their original commitment the agency agreed to extend the original grant that covered production costs through November 1979.</p> <p>By 1981, other changes were looming. In September NEC moved its administrative and production staff to a new office, located at 165 West 46th Street and began using Theatre Four on 55th Street, which eventually served as the home theatre for its upcoming season. Krone resigned as managing director, staying on as a board member and consultant, and General Manager Leon Denmark took over his position. The position of Marketing Director was instituted and Tshaye Llorens was hired to fill the position. Under her direction, subscriptions were formalized for the first time.</p> <p>The company's financial situation nonetheless remained problematic. Although in the 1980-1981 season NEC received increased foundation, corporate, government and individual support (Ford Foundation's contributions to the company totaled $2. 6 million at the time), and had held two successful benefits \"Salute to Negro Dance Classics\" and \"Salute to Negro Music Classics\", financial problems persisted. NEC could not meet its production goals, budget or deadlines to pay off loan and business creditors. In October 1980, Krone informed the board that the financial crisis impeded the company's ability to mount productions that season. By December, the situation had not significantly improved. The company's credit was endangered, and it was forced to operate on a cash-only basis. Tours and expenses were severely cut and productions were delayed while the company waited for income from grants, some of which was used to pay off outstanding loans. At the same time, the company's annual budget continued to rise and by 1981, it was $1.4 million.</p> <p>Although NEC had moved to Theatre Four, which had a seating capacity of 299 seats, the company believed that the space was insufficient and that they needed a larger theatre to capitalize on popular productions. The company commissioned a feasibility study in February 1981, conducted by the Carl Shavers Company to assess whether NEC was \"in a position to raise sufficient funds needed to obtain a larger space\". At that point NEA support was uncertain, they had limited support from earned and contributed income, and renovation of a theatre would cost $1 to $3 million.</p> <p>The suggested strategy by Shavers representative Walter Reeves was tripartite: step up annual fund raising geared around a 3-year plan to encourage key leaders in the community to lend their support; actively develop the board of directors; and enlarge the company's subscription program. Although it is not entirely clear from the records how the company responded to the recommendations, in 1983 the subscription program became formalized, and members of the artistic and political communities often lent their names to fund raising efforts in the years to follow. NEC remained at Theatre Four until 1991, as their funding situation did not substantially improve to allow them to move into a larger theatre.</p> <p>In fiscal year 1982, the company continued to operate in the red, primarily due to a large working capital deficit left from the previous fiscal year. The company sought to reduce outstanding bills by canvassing the board for donations, hosting benefits and negotiating with creditors to reduce outstanding balances throughout 1982. Concurrently, the company experienced an increase in membership (which rose to 1,500) and increased box office sales due to the phenomenal success of A Soldier's Play (ASP), their biggest box office success. Profits from the production helped the company stabilize and replenish their cash on hand. The company was able to end fiscal year 1983 without a large deficit due to the play's success. Additionally, they received a significant amount of money from the sale of the movie rights of ASP to Columbia Pictures in 1983.</p> <p>Despite this success however, fiscal year 1983 had begun with a $25,000 deficit. Contributing to the company's financial woes was the cancellation of Colored People's Time, another box office success in the 1981-1982 season, due to playwright Leslie Lee's withdrawal of his permission to mount the play, and a concomitant loss of potential profits from the tour which would have been used to reduce the deficit. To cut back on expenses, the company laid the staff off for three weeks, which was followed by more cuts later that year.</p> <p>By February 1983, the actual deficit had increased to $179,570 due mainly to a substantial reduction in box office revenue projected for the entire subscription season; a small profit originally projected for an extension of ASP; and a reduction of unearned income. As a result, administrative staff was laid off for another month. Board member William Aiken lent NEC an accountant from his company, Main Hurden, on a volunteer basis to bring the company's finances up-to-date. To save further on expenses, the company used the same set structure from previous productions for that season's productions. Only three plays, rather than the usual four, with fewer actors, and a six week run for each play, were produced for the 1982-1983 season.</p> <p>At the onset of the 1983-1984 season, financial matters improved greatly due to the ASP tour. Profits from the production underwrote the expenses for the local season. By mid-season, the company's budget was balanced due to the production's higher-than-forecast grosses. The company produced a benefit to send the cast and crew of ASP to the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival in California, hosted by Patti LaBelle. Subscriptions also benefitted from ASP. The Subscription Department, which was created in 1983, was most active during the 1983-1986 seasons and targeted their audience by developing a Discount Voucher Program for schools, organizations, and employees of corporate donors, along with taking advantage of conventions, holidays, and anniversary celebrations by offering discounts to productions. The most profitable season for subscriptions was 1983-1984 during the successful run of A Soldier's Play.</p> <p>About this time, board minutes reveal that ASP's success highlighted tensions within the company, particularly between the board and artistic director Douglas Turner Ward. The board stressed that it was important to capitalize on the success of ASP by maintaining the quality of their productions, and that Ward's micro-management of the ASP tour impeded planning for a dynamic local season due, in part, to the inability of the staff to get an approved season of plays in a timely manner. Board members expressed concerns that seasons should be announced in advance and that there be an assurance of an able production staff to carry out the company's artistic vision. There was a call by the board to restructure the company, and specifically for the artistic director to share the responsibilities for planning the seasons, as well as for the addition of a \"second stage\" for new writers.</p> <p>Ward responded to the board by pointing out that looking at box office revenue to reduce the deficit was incorrect, and that the board should focus instead on increasing contributions. Although it was recommended that the company host a \"blockbuster season\" to raise money to reduce the deficit, Ward refused on the grounds that he would not select plays merely for their commercial value. Records do not reflect whether the schism between Ward and the board was ever resolved.</p> <p>During the following seasons, some of NEC's funding sources expressed their dissatisfaction with the company's financial management. In the 1983-1984 season, the Ford Foundation had demanded that NEC have no deficit at the end of their seasons, and to provide a three-year plan explaining their artistic goals. Later in that same season, it was reported at a board meeting that the foundation had serious reservations about the financial stability of the organization, and was watching NEC very closely. Nevertheless, the foundation continued to help the company by instituting a cash reserve fund in order for it to remain afloat during financially stressful times. At the same time, steps were taken within the company to monitor its financial status. Comptroller Jay Spach instituted an improved accounting system that enabled management to view current financial figures and, if needed, take immediate action to make the necessary adjustments in spending and other areas.</p> <p>Even while they were suffering from the loss of confidence from long time supporters, Managing Director Leon Denmark reported at a board meeting that despite the weak financial status of the company, there were numerous successes during the 1984-1985 season. Two tours, A Soldier's Play and Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, had been successfully completed and the revival of Two Can Play was also successful. NEC also made two international appearances, in London and Edinburg. The 4-play subscription had been completed, and the subscription base and income had doubled.</p> <p>Nevertheless, at the start of the 1985-1986 season, financial problems continued to plague the company. The 1986 fiscal budget projected a $250,000 deficit. Denmark sought to reduce this deficit by raising the amount of corporate and benefit contributions, and applying for a grant from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The NEA informed the company that they were cutting a grant for NEC's 1985-1986 production season by $50,000 due to the \"fallen\" quality of acting and directing over the years. Though the company challenged this decision, the grant was only partially reinstated.</p> <p>From 1986 to 1992, records reflect that there was an extreme drop off in activity for NEC beginning with the 1986-1987 season. Though the company hosted the very successful \"The Adolph Caesar Performing Arts Award Benefit\" in April 1987, the entire season was suspended due to severe financial problems resulting from the deficit that had been accumulating since 1983. Although the Negro Ensemble Company continues to operate into the year 2001, their presence in the theatrical community has been severely reduced. Since 1992, NEC attempts to produce at least two plays a year, along with playwright workshop readings.</p> <p>To date, the Negro Ensemble Company was the most successful black theatrical company in the United States. It was the recipient of over 40 major theatre awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, thirteen Obie Awards and the NAACP Image Award. Their most substantial contribution to the theatrical field was helping to train or launch the careers of dozens of actors, playwrights, directors and other theatrical professionals, many of whom achieved stardom, such as Denzel Washington and Samuel Jackson. From 1967 to 1992, the NEC produced over 200 productions, which includes full-length and one-act plays, and workshops - a tremendous contribution to the theatrical field.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>The records of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC), 1967-1993 document the work of the most successful African-American theatrical company in the United States to date. In addition to information about the productions, the records also document the growth of the company through the development of its administrative structure and of the funding base that keeps a theatrical company alive.</p> <p>The collection is divided into three series, thirteen subseries, and eighteen sub-subseries. The titles and dates are as follows:</p> <p>Types of materials found in the Administrative and Production series include: advertisements, art boards, audio and video tapes, box office statements, budgets, by-laws, certificate of incorporation, contact sheets, contracts, correspondence, costume plots, flyers, grant applications, handbills, handbooks, index cards, insurance materials, invoices, itineraries, light set-ups, lighting plots, light board hook-ups, meeting minutes, membership lists, memoranda, mock-ups, newspaper clippings, notes, theater tickets, personnel materials, photographs, posters, press kits, programs, prop plots, proposals, reports, resumes, royalty statements, a scrapbook, scripts, scripts log, set designs and drawings, stage manager's daily [performance] reports, teaching materials, and telegrams.</p> <p>During processing many items were removed from the collection for one or more reasons including duplicate items; information not pertinent to the Negro Ensemble Company, or, in some cases, African-American theater in general; materials of little or no research value; private information on members of the company; or information that is available in another series or complied format. Examples of such materials are: regular payroll, pension and welfare payments, personnel materials such as vacation requests, Workman's Compensation claims and related medical bills, W-2 forms, house seat logs, and annual reports from other companies. These materials have been permanently removed from the collection. Posters, audio and videotapes, and photographs have also been separated and transferred to the appropriate divisions within the Schomburg Center. A separation record for each transfer is a part of this finding aid. Other materials have been separated, but not permanently removed and have been restricted due to privacy issues. These materials include contracts or any materials with a person's Social Security number on it and personnel records. Permission of the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division curator is required to view these items.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Negro Ensemble Company records are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20880#c1286059'>Administrative Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1967-1992</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>9.2 linear feet</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series was developed after several conversations with key figures (Gerald Krone, Leon Denmark and Debbie McGhee) from the Negro Ensemble Company and examination of the records. Judging from the small volume of records for each department, it would appear that much material is missing. The bulk of the records date from the 1980's, after the Development and Marketing Departments were formally established and the Marketing Director position was instituted.</p> <p>Some materials date from the 1970's, particularly in the Production series, but the Administrative and Financial series document the Negro Ensemble Company more strongly during the 1980's. Of the three founders of the company, Douglas Turner Ward, Robert Hooks, and Gerald Krone, no substantial office records were found for Artistic Director Ward or Executive Director Hooks. Hooks is reported to have left the day to day participation in the company to pursue other career interests after the expiration of the original three-year Ford Foundation grant in 1970. Some materials for Ward can be found under the \"Artistic Director\" subseries. As the Artistic Director, founder, and the spokesperson for the NEC, Ward's correspondence is scattered throughout the Administrative files. Robert Hooks, however, is completely absent from all of these records in any administrative capacity.</p> <p>At its founding, Gerald Krone held the position of administrative director as well as secretary/treasurer of the company's board of directors. In 1971 he stepped down from day to day management of the company as administrative director, but retained his position on the board of directors. Krone remained involved with the NEC on a consultant basis throughout the 1970's, under the title \"Director of Special Projects. \" Files from his tenure in that position can be found in the Special Projects subseries. These records include documentation for the television broadcast of two NEC productions: Ceremonies in Dark Old Men and The First Breeze of Summer, along with a proposal for creating a weekly series for the latter; the film A Soldier's Story; and other projects. The tour files for Nevis Mountain Dew were also among the Krone files, which may indicate his management of that tour production. For the sake of consistency they have been transferred to the Tour subseries in the Production records. Krone returned to the NEC full time as managing director in 1978, staying until 1981. These files are found under the Managing Director subseries.</p> <p>The administrative director who followed Krone in 1971, Frederick Garrett, is not well represented in these records, nor is the general manager directly, other than in the production files for the off-Broadway venues (see \"Season Files\").</p> <p>Although the founder and sole artistic director, Douglas Turner Ward's presence in these records is more \"flavor\" than substance. He determined the production schedule and casting for each season, thereby molding the character of the company, however the documentation for much of his creative and administrative contribution is missing from these records. The subseries, Artistic Director, 1965-1993, (10 lin. in), consists of materials pulled together from undesignated parts of the collection to represent Ward and his office and/or function. It includes, in particular, early correspondence congratulating Ward for the success of his pre-NEC productions, Happy Endings and Day of Absence (1965-66). The file entitled \"Scrapbook, 1965\" contains reviews, congratulatory telegrams and notes for these productions. The scrapbook was unbound and placed in a folder for preservation reasons. Other files contain letters to Ward, primarily regarding scripts submitted for production consideration.</p> <p>Of particular interest is the script log, which lists the scripts on file with the production office, and sometimes includes a brief outline of the play, noting characters and a brief summary of the plot. A related card file found in boxes 5 and 6 contains 4 x 6 index cards listing the plays by author and title of the play.</p> <p>The Board of Directors subseries, 1967-1991 (5 lin. ft.) serves to document the founding of the board and many of the major decisions made by the company and provides an overview of all that the NEC aspired to accomplish. These records often do not include the minutes for every board or sub-committee meeting, including only agendas and handouts. Lists of funding sources and amounts granted are often included, as are the by-laws and the certificate of incorporation, other financial information, board member lists, correspondence, and some clippings. The earlier years of the company are not as well documented as the later ones.</p> <p>The Managing Director's Files subseries, 1978-1991 (3 lin. ft) consist of two sub-subseries documenting Gerald Krone's tenure, (1979-1981), and that of Leon Denmark, (1981-1989). Two items of note regarding Denmark's records. Firstly, a large part of the managing director's job was fund raising and development, therefore grant proposals to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), New York State Council on the Arts, and foundations, in particular the NEA Advancement Grant and Four-year Work Plan were written by him. In order to keep all grant applications together, these and the early grant applications written by Treasurer Gerald Krone, have been moved to the Financial Records series (see: Development/Fund Raising section). Secondly, the McDonald's Literary Awards Contest created to support and encourage amateur authors, playwrights, and poets, was administered by Denmark, thus these records are included here. Note that only the playwright entries to the contest have been retained onsite. Poetry and fiction entries have been stored off-site in boxes 16-7.</p> <p>Other files of note in the Managing Director's records: the late Adolph Caesar tribute, the Bert Andrews Project, which was created to assist in rebuilding his photograph collection of theater stills which was destroyed in a fire, the Feasibility Study (1981) that examined a move to a larger theater, the NEC Needs Assessment of 1988, and the Ford Foundation Report Summary from 1983.</p> <p>The Administrative Office Files, 1975, 1980-1989 (2 lin. ft.) subseries are made up of records which do not appear to have a clear departmental association, but are obviously administrative in nature, and, therefore are grouped under this general subseries title. They consist of five sub-subseries. The Alphabetical File was found as a unit, but because it was unlabeled it was unclear who created the records. A possible candidate is William Edwards, who was the Administrative Assistant from approximately 1981 to 1983.</p> <p>The second sub-subseries, the General Files, also appeared to be unaffiliated with a particular office or creator, though some files may have belonged to Managing Director Leon Denmark and some files may have been belonged to Debbie McGee, executive assistant to Douglas Turner Ward between 1978-1983 (see \"Interns\" files). Others who may have created files found here include comptroller John Barrera, Administrative Director Fred Garrett, and tour coordinators David Visser and Claude M. Johnson. Files of note in this series include house budgets for 1986-1991, the Ford Foundation Reports, 1979-1980 in the General Files sub-subseries, and the NEA Institutional Advancement Grant and Follow-up folder in the Alphabetical File.</p> <p>Files in the next two sub-subseries, the Development Department and the Marketing Department, were found with materials in the Administrative Office Files, thus the decision to keep them in the Administrative Files series. (For more information about each department, see the Financial Records Series.) The Development Department files, 1971-1988, arranged alphabetically, are largely composed of correspondence to corporations and black businesses soliciting support, in addition to information about benefits, budgets, and press releases. The bulk dates of the files, fiscal years 1983 and 1986, correspond both with the further development of the Development, Marketing and Subscription departments, and the effects of the success of A Soldier's Play.</p> <p>The small group of Marketing Department files, 1982-1988, provide a snapshot of the larger body of material found in the Marketing/Subscription sub-subseries in the Financial Records series. These files contain general correspondence, fund raising materials and events information.</p> <p>The Selected Personnel (Restricted Access) sub-subseries are comprised of files for notable company players, authors and administrative personnel including (but not limited to) Leon Denmark, Charles Fuller, Samuel Jackson, and Denzel Washington. Albeit many of the folders contain little information, the files are restricted primarily because all contain private information. Many of the folders contain personal data sheets, press releases, contracts, resumes, and clippings. Because some of these materials contain private information, these files are restricted. Permission of the curator is required to use the files.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20880#c1286688'>Production Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1966-1990</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>87.5 linear feet</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series documents the performance life of the Negro Ensemble Company. This series is made up of six subseries: Season Files, Broadway Files, Tour Files, Clippings, Play Scripts, Special Projects, and Restricted Files.</p> <p>The Season Files, 1965-1992 (14. 5 lin. ft.) document all the productions mounted in NEC's first home theater, The St. Mark's Playhouse in Greenwich Village, and later, Theater Four. (A list of all productions, by season, author, and title is included in Appendix A). Occasionally other New York City theaters were used for Negro Ensemble Company productions (e. g., the Lambs' Theater, The Cherry Lane Theater) and these are also included among the Season Files. The folders are arranged by theater season, with general and special events files for each season leading the list, followed by files for each play, usually in the order in which they were performed. This series' organization, for the most part, is in the same order created by the NEC, as are the folder titles, with very few exceptions. While the play titles fall in approximate chronological order of production, in some instances conflicting or missing information may have resulted in a few plays being misfiled.</p> <p>There is some confusion about the performance dates of several productions of Two Can Play mounted between the 1984-1985 and 1987-1988 theater seasons. The play was produced and had a highly successful run at Theater Four. It closed according to schedule in order to produce the next title in the series, but was quickly re-mounted at another theater, perhaps in hopes of reaping continued success and financial benefit. Two Can Play was then re-produced a third time, but it is unclear from the materials in which season it was re-produced, particularly as the files for all three of these productions came together in one bundle. Folders were placed in the 1984-85 season, (produced twice), and in the 1987-1988 season as could best be determined by the information found in the records themselves. However, the production list supplied by the NEC lists productions in 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons only.</p> <p>The Broadway Files, 1972-1990 (. 8 lin ft.) include production materials from three plays, First Breeze of Summer, Home, and The River Niger. The folders are arranged alphabetically, and contain various types of information including advertisements, contracts, correspondence, playbills, programs, and subject files. This small series does not contain every Broadway production mounted by the Negro Ensemble Company; most notably absent is their biggest success, A Soldier's Story.</p> <p>The Tour Files, 1972-1990, (6 lin. ft.) include materials similar to the Season files, with the addition of itineraries, or audition materials, and occasional freight and cargo information for some productions. Most of the tour materials contained detailed technical information about the performance venue itself. Since this type of information can be found in published form, it was removed from the collection. Ground plans and light plots with related hook-up instructions for each particular venue were also removed, since each plot or design plan is merely a duplicate set in a different stage size or shape per individual venue. If a particular item provides the only example of the ground plan or light plot for a play within all the production materials, whether it was from the Tour, Season, or Broadway materials, then that item was kept. A set of light plots and/or ground plans for the 1980-1981 production of Home were retained as a sample of the working materials created for the average production. This set was chosen because it is the most complete, even though there are plans missing for several venues. Lighting and set design materials were also kept for A Soldier's Play because the set was uniquely designed to allow the same set pieces to be arranged to fit into each of three different types of stage shapes; diagrams of the different set-ups are included in the records. Oversized items such as set designs in stapled multiple sheets, light plots, ground plans (sometimes called floor plans), and oversized materials in fragile condition have been filed in an oversized box (see box 67). A removal form was placed in the file where the item would logically be found.</p> <p>It is unclear whether the complete body of tour records was accessioned into the collection. There are large numbers of files for some of the productions, or multiple tours for an individual play (e. g., Home), on the one hand, but it appears that other productions merely had long-term engagements in one venue outside of New York City (e. g., The Isle is Full of Noises).</p> <p>Posters for the following productions can be found in box 56: Black Circles, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, Contribution, Daddy Goodness, Eden, Kongi's Harvest, Malcochon, The River Niger, A Soldier's Play, Song of the Lusitanian Bogey, String, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Two Can Play. There is also a poster for a benefit for the NEC featuring writer Nikki Giovanni. In addition, box 57 contains art boards and mock-up materials which were used to design posters and programs for several NEC productions. Some of the productions represented in these folders include Abercrombie Apocalypse, Black Body Blues, Brotherhood, The Brownsville Raid, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, Daughters of the Mock, Day of Absence, First Breeze of Summer, The Great MacDaddy, The Harangues, Man Better Man, The Michigan, Nevis Mountain Dew, Old Phantoms, A Soldier's Play, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll Two Can Play, and Zooman and the Sign. Though the majority of the productions can be found singularly (e. g., First Breeze of Summer), a few are listed two or more to a document (e. g., The Harangues/Day of Absence & Brotherhood). This box of materials also contains miscellaneous images of the NEC including photomechanical reproductions of the cast, scenes from plays or from programs.</p> <p>The Clippings File, 1968-1989 (1.4 lin. ft.) covers a variety of NEC productions, in a variety of venues (i. e., St. Mark's Playhouse, Broadway, tours and television). The productions are listed alphabetically and include Eden, The First Breeze of Summer, From the Mississippi Delta, God is a (Guess What) ?, The Great MacDaddy, Home, Livin Fat, Nevis Mountain Dew, Old Phantoms, Plays From Africa, The River Niger, A Soldier's Play, Song of the Lusitanian Bogey, The Sty of the Blind Pig, and Two Can Play. There are also files for founders Douglas Turner Ward and Robert Hooks, playwrights Charles Fuller, Joseph Walker, and Samm-Art Williams, and actors Francis Foster, Stephanie Mills, Roxie Roker, Esther Rolle, and Richard Roundtree. General information files also exist for the Negro Ensemble Company, the National Black Theater Festival and black theater in general.</p> <p>The Play Scripts sub-subseries (72. 8 lin. ft) includes solicited and unsolicited scripts received by the Negro Ensemble Company. Many are complete, final versions and many are not. The Play Scripts received by the company that were performed in a reading, a staged reading, or developed into a full production have been separated into three groups: production, on-site, and off-site (*Off-site storage play scripts can be retrieved within 48 hours. Please contact the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division for more information). play scripts. Production scripts are those that were produced by NEC; they are annotated and can be found in boxes 60 to 67. Scripts denoted by two asterisks are legal-sized and can be found in box 63. The Special Projects files contains production materials (scripts, correspondence, contracts, rehearsal schedules) for several NEC productions which were produced for television and film including Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, First Breeze of Summer, and A Soldier's Play.</p> <p>The on-site play scripts consist of scripts by playwrights who have more than one script either read or produced by the company (e. g., Charles Fuller, Steve Carter). These scripts may have been produced by the company, but are not annotated. On-site scripts are cataloged, and are accessible by playwright's name, title of play, or by the call number Sc MG 345, in the New York Public Library's catalog (CATNYP).</p> <p>The last group, off-site play scripts, consist of scripts that are distinguished from the other categories in three ways; 1) these play scripts were un-annotated, 2) it does not appear that the plays were read or produced, and 3) the authors of these plays have only one title in the entire collection. A listing of these plays by the author's name and title appears in Appendix B.</p> <p>The Restricted Files, 1967-1992, (2 lin. ft.) consist of contracts from 1967 to 1989 containing personal information. Permission from the curator is required to access these files.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20880#c1288029'>Financial Records</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1967-1991, 1982-1985</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>10.5 linear feet</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series partially documents the development and management of the company's funding base, its financial administrative structure, and its earned and unearned income. The types of documents which can be found here include balance sheets, box office tally sheets, brochures, budget flow sheets, campaign plans, cash disbursement journals, cash flow journals, cash receipt journals and logs, correspondence, cumulative logs, grant applications, invoices, ledgers, mailing lists, memorandum, operating statements, payroll registers, reports, strategic plans, telemarketing campaigns and scripts, and vouchers.</p> <p>All files are arranged alphabetically. Certain financial materials (e. g., Ford Foundation Reports, 1979-1980, located in the General Files subseries, and the NEA Institutional Advancement Grant and Follow-up files, located in the Alphabetical File), have been kept in the files where they were originally found. Other materials have been restricted due to privacy issues. These materials include personnel records, contracts or any materials with a person's Social Security number on it. Permission of the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division curator is required to view these items.</p> <p>The series is divided into three subseries: Fiscal Management, Marketing and Subscriptions and Development/Fund Raising. Each subseries contains records generated primarily by the following individuals and positions: Administrative Director/Director of Special Projects Gerald S. Krone; Managing Director Leon Denmark; General Manager/Director of Fund Raising Frederick Garrett; Director of Development Sidney Baker; Marketing Director/ Subscription Manager Porcia Howard; Marketing Director Tshaye Llorens; Ticket Service Manager Delphine Lester; and Director of Development/Special Events Diane Aubry. (Please note that multiple titles indicate that these individuals held more than one title during their tenure with the company).</p> <p>The Fiscal Management subseries, 1967-1992 (bulk dates 1982-1986) (4 lin. ft.) serves as a general source of fiscal information. Due to the condition of the collection upon arrival at the Schomburg Center, it appeared that several departments' records may have been kept separately originally, but were later assimilated into the general office files when key staff members left the company, or when the company moved. Judging from the scarcity of materials and information for certain dates, particularly the 1970s, it would appear that some materials are missing. The bulk of the records date from the early to the mid-1980's, after the Development and Marketing departments were formally established. Financial records, particularly audit and accounting materials, are scattered for the first decade. Absent from the collection are the Ford Foundation records from 1968 through 1980. The bulk of the records found here date from 1982-1986. This subseries is divided into three sub-subseries: Audits, Box Office, Budgets.</p> <p>The Accounting records consist of two folders: Accounting Department, 1982, which includes memoranda generated by Comptroller John Berrera; and Accounts Payable, 1987-1993, which contains a sampling of invoices and statements that provide a glimpse of the company's financial status in the late eighties and early nineties (see also: Box Office sub-subseries for cash receipts journal, 1988-1990). The Audit files, 1973-1993 contain auditors' reports, copies of business verification letters, charts of accounts, correspondence, and spreadsheets and ledgers created by the accounting firm, Lutz and Carr, and Certified Public Accountant Warren L. Frazier. These reports detail the company's assets and liabilities and include accounts payable, box office revenue, certificates of deposit, grants and contributions, insurance, office supplies, physical production costs, royalties, salaries, taxes, and travel. These reports also indicate restricted and unrestricted grants, and how this capital was used throughout the fiscal year.</p> <p>The Box Office sub-subseries, 1973-1990, contains summaries of earned income from various NEC home theater, Broadway and tour productions. The Budgets sub-subseries, 1977-1991, primarily consists of budget forecasts, statements and a cash flow journal, and a cash receipts journal. The NEC's financial status in the early years can be found in Financial Reports, 1967-1984, which contain quarterly reports that predate the run of the Auditor's Reports, 1973-1990. There are also monthly balance sheets for fiscal years 1980-1985, which are unaudited tallies of the company's assets, liabilities, income and expenses, salaries, rents, investments and payroll. The bulk of these reports are incomplete; many have missing months or pages. Most reports are annotated and further detail the company's financial status per month.</p> <p>The bulk of the Marketing and Subscriptions files, 1975-1990 (bulk dates, 1983-1986) (2 lin. ft.) subseries coincides with the NEC's most successful years. The subseries is divided into three sub-subseries: General, Advertising, and Campaign. The General, 1978-1985, sub-subseries is arranged by fiscal year and contains general information about several productions, and may contain duplicate information found in other sub-subseries (e. g., a small amount of Advertising materials is also found here).</p> <p>Tally sheets for flyers, group sales, information pertaining to the development of the theater parties, mailing lists, marketing questionnaires, and correspondence generated by Marketing Director Tshaye Llorens, Ticket Service Manager Delphine Lester, Subscriptions Coordinator Porcia Howard, and Director of Development/Special Events Diane Aubry can also be found in these files. In addition, there are general subscription logs containing information on people who subscribed to the 2, 3 or 4-play subscriptions. These logs contain private information. *.</p> <p>The Advertising, 1973-1985 sub-subseries is organized by production and consists of advertisements, related data, and invoices primarily generated by Krone-Olim Advertising, Inc.</p> <p>The Campaign files, 1981-1986 reveal a rich source of information about the company's audience development strategies and include subscribers logs, mailing lists, and telemarketing initiatives. Contained within this sub-subseries are the Brochure files for 1985 that contain logs* of subscribers who registered as members through the brochure's coupon. In addition, there are letters to potential subscribers, newsletters, reports on audience development, schedules, program analysis sheets, and timelines. The Cumulative logs, 1985 include subscriber's name, amount of pledge and other pertinent information. * Group Sales, 1983-1986 files contain contracts, correspondence, employee worksheets, memoranda, projected sales reports, sales orders, rate lists, theater party information, and notes.</p> <p>There is also specific group sales information for the season productions of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, A District Line, Henrietta, Manhattan Made Me, A Soldier's Story, and Two Can Play, and a touring production of A Soldier's Play. In addition, there are also contracts and correspondence with ticket service agencies such as Anderson Associates, Broadway Tix, Inc., and Caryl Goldsmith. The Mailing Lists files, 1977-1979* include contact information for individuals who subscribed to the company, some prior to the establishment of the Development and Marketing departments.</p> <p>The Telemarketing files, 1982-1985, 1986, contain information on telemarketing strategies, renewal subscriptions, information for a proposed telethon on a local radio station, subscribers, and information for the telephone campaign for the production Abercrombie Apocalypse. Additionally, there is a file with training information for the campaign, telephone sales progress reports, tally sheets for tickets sales, and notes about the success of telephone campaigns to stimulate sales for future productions.</p> <p>Also included is a file for the Discount Voucher Program, 1984-1985 that was designed to encourage schools, organizations, and employees of corporate sponsors to attend NEC productions. Although limited, the information found here consists of logs and a program description.</p> <p>Dating to the founding of the Negro Ensemble Company, the Development/Fund Raising, 1967-1991 (5 linear ft.) subseries contains ample information about the strategies that the company employed to raise funds. Gerald S. Krone, Leon Denmark and Frederick Garrett created many of the Development/Fund Raising records found here, before and after the inception of NEC's Development Office in 1978.</p> <p>The Development/Fund Raising subseries is divided into the following five sub-subseries; Benefits, Corporate, Foundations, Government, and Individual Contributors, each reflecting the different sources from which funds were solicited. With the exception of the Bert Andrews Benefit, which was held to assist the legendary photographer rebuild his collection after it was destroyed in a fire in 1985, the Benefits files, 1981-1988 document several fund raising events. Materials found in these files describe the planning and execution of various special events projects.</p> <p>Much of the information contained therein includes correspondence with potential sponsors and entertainment notables (e. g., Phylicia Ayers-Allen, Bill Cosby). There are also logs, mailing lists, programs, clippings, and reports. Included are files for a program that the Nzinga Society, a New York City-based organization for black women in communications, held for NEC. Other files include \"A Salute to Black Classics of Dance and Music\", in 1981; the Adolph Caesar Performing Arts Awards, in 1987; and \"A Salute to the Black Music Industry\", in 1988.</p> <p>The Corporate, 1971-1990, Foundations, 1971-1993, and Government, 1967-1991 sub-subseries contains grant information including correspondence, proposals, reports to and contracts with potential and actual donors, spreadsheets and budget reports. Although the 1967 Ford Foundation files for the grant that helped launch the Negro Ensemble Company are not found here, an annual report to the Ford Foundation for fiscal year 1968 is available, and can be found in the Administrative Files.</p> <p>The Corporate and Foundation files for major donors and longtime supporters include the Shubert Foundation, National Broadcast Company (NBC), Philip Morris Companies, Inc., and the New York Times Company Foundation, Inc. In the Government Files, there are files for the Foundation for the Extension and Development of the American Professional Theatre (FEDAPT), New York Department of Cultural Affairs, and New York State Council on the Arts.</p> <p>There are also files for the National Endowment for the Arts, whose 4-year Advancement Grant (1980) helped the NEC strategize to develop a stronger subscription base, broaden their audience and erase their ever-growing deficit. (See also the Alphabetical File in the Administrative Office Files for additional NEA Advancement grant files).</p> <p>Individual contributors files, 1971-1990 consists essentially of donor's correspondence, and are arranged by the last name of the donor or potential donor, followed by the year. Also included are logs that contain name, address and phone number. * A small group of files pertaining to Matching Gifts and Membership can also be found here. The Matching Gifts file, 1981-1982 contains letters from corporations that have matching gifts funding programs for cultural institutions, and a log of those contributors. The Membership files, 1980-1986 contain membership drive information such as solicitation letters to corporation heads, check logs, pledges, and correspondence to and from members about membership concerns. Boxes 95-96 contain index cards comprised of contact information for corporate, foundation, government, and individuals. It is not clear whether these cards are for prospective or actual donors. *.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}