{"value"=>"<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>"}