- unitid
-
{"value"=>"Sc Micro R-5916", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"20541", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1968-1980", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1968/1980"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1968
- date_inclusive_end
-
1980
- keydate
-
1968
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Black Academy of Arts and Letters records"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"14 boxes"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture</span>"}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Black Academy of Arts and Letters", "type"=>"corpname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Black Academy of Arts and Letters was established to “define, preserve, promote, cultivate, foster and develop the arts and letters of black people,” as stated by Dr. C. Eric Lincoln in his founding address. Notable contributions by blacks to black America were to be recognized by the Academy members who, themselves, represented some of the finest achievements in arts and letters.</p> <p>The Black Academy was founded March 29, 1969 in Boston, and was incorporated on June 12 in the state of New York as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. The Twentieth Century Fund financed initial operating expenses, providing $50,000 in each of the first three years. With this money Academy officials hired a staff and in March 1970 opened a temporary headquarters at 475 Riverside Drive.</p> <p>The founding committee was chaired by Dr. C. Eric Lincoln and initial membership was limited to fifty, with provisions to admit new fellows each year. The first board of directors consisted of Dr. Lincoln (President), John O. Killens (Vice President), Alvin F. Poussaint (Treasurer), Doris Saunders (Secretary), Dr. Charles V. Hamilton, Dr. Vincent Harding, Robert Hooks, Charles White and John A. Williams.</p> <p>The first annual meeting of the Black Academy was held in September 1970. The meeting included workshops and an awards banquet. At the first awards banquet the Academy elected the late W.E.B. DuBois into the Hall of Fame. This resulted in the removal of longstanding visa restrictions by the State Department on Mrs. Shirley Graham DuBois to enable her to attend the ceremony. The painter, Henry Ossawa Tanner and historian, Carter G. Woodson were also enrolled. Other honorees that year included Lena Horne, C.L.R. James, Diana Sands, Amiri Baraka and Paul Robeson for longstanding contributions to arts and letters. Annual meetings were held in September 1971 and October 1972.</p> <p>In addition, the Academy established an Annual Letters competition for black authors. Among the first recipients were Mari Evans for poetry, Franklin W. Knight for scholastic work, William Melvin Kelly for fiction and George Jackson for non-fiction.</p> <p>The Black Academy of Arts and Letters received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Johnson Publishing Company in 1972 to conduct a conference in Chicago to assess the state of black art in the United States. The purpose of the conference was to establish a resource bank in preparation for compiling a directory of cultural activities in the black community.</p> <p>In 1972 in an effort to economize, all staff positions at the Academy were eliminated and an office manager was hired to tend to the day-to-day operations of the Academy. The BAAL records indicate that the Board of Directors and committees functioned through 1973, although there were no further annual meetings. The official date of the dissolution of the Academy is not known.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The records of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters (1968-1980) have been divided into three series; Board of Directors; Administrative Records, and Annual Meetings. Each series has been arranged chronologically.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Black Academy of Arts and Letters records are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20541#c643884'>BOARD OF DIRECTORS FILES</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The files of the BOARD OF DIRECTORS (1969-1973) contain related correspondence, agendas and minutes of meetings, as well as the records of the three board committees.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20541#c643925'>ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS (1968-1980) include materials on the founding of BAAL and those related to the day-to-day operation of the Academy. Daily correspondence, memoranda, financial papers and mailing lists are included.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/20541#c644016'>Annual Meeting</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>THe ANNUAL MEETING materials (1970-1972) encompass the planning and programming of the 1970, 1971, and 1972 meetings. The meetings covered two to three days of activities. Including workshops, cocktail parties, auctions and awards banquets. These files include correspondence, programs, transcripts of meetings and financial records.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Record group was acquired in 1972, following the closing of the Academy's offices. One box of materials was the gift of Joe Nash, 1984.</p> <p>SCM77-1, SCM77-25 and SCM77-70, SCM84-36.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>The following items were removed from:</p> <p><span class=\"emph\">Name of Collection/Papers</span>Black Academy of Arts and Letters</p> <p><span class=\"emph\">Accession Number</span>SCM77-1, SCM77-25, SCM77-70, SCM84-36</p> <p><span class=\"emph\">Donor:</span>Black Academy of Arts and Letters, Joe Nash</p> <p>The item(s) listed below have been sent to the division indicated, either to be retained or disposed of there. Any items that should receive special dispostion are clearly marked.</p> <p>Schomburg Prints and Photograph Division:</p> <p>One box of photographs</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"Collection organized into three series: I Board of Directors; II Administrative Records; and III Annual Meetings", "supress_display"=>true}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Researchers are restricted to microfilm copy.</p>"}
- altformavail
-
{"value"=>"<p>Collection available on microfilm; Micrographic Preservation Service; call number Sc Micro R-5916 (MN *ZZ-30662)</p>"}
- note
-
{"value"=>"<p>Sc MG 58</p>", "encodinganalog"=>"500"}
{"value"=>"<p>Photographs have been separated to Photographs and Prints Division</p>", "encodinganalog"=>"500"}
{"value"=>"<p>Microfilm can be purchased from Scholarly Resources Inc</p>", "encodinganalog"=>"500"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Files of the Board of Directors containing correspondence, agendas, minutes, and records of three board committees; administrative records including materials on the founding of the Academy, nominations for awards, and records relating to daily operations; and annual meeting files which encompass planning and programing for annual meetings, 1970-1972."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Black Academy of Arts and Letters records, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Debra Carter; Machine-readable finding aid created by Apex Data Services; revised by Terry Catapano.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1968
- date_end
-
1980