{"value"=>"<p>The Binders are organized into eight subseries: Chronological; Correspondence; Local 1199; Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz; Productions; Publications, Speeches, and Other Writings; and Source Notebooks. A detailed list of the contents of the binders is available as an additional resource to this finding aid. The original titles of the binders, when present, and their categories, have been maintained.</p> <p>The Chronological binders date from 1932 to 2014, and chronicle the creative, activist, and professional activities of Davis and Dee through clippings, articles, programs, meeting minutes, flyers, letters, and telegrams. These materials, some of which were annotated by Davis and Dee, document the couple's many public appearances throughout the United States at universities, public schools, theaters, community centers, museums, and concert halls. Included are texts from dramatic readings and spoken word events; files of commencement speeches and graduation addresses; materials from memorials and tributes at which they spoke; and posthumous tributes to the couple. Davis and Dee's performances were often given for organizations and on behalf of causes geared towards social justice, civil rights, education, and community building. Some of the organizations and causes represented in the Chronological files include the National Organization for an American Revolution (City College), the NAACP, Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Day concerts, and their fundraising efforts for Sickle Cell Disease awareness.</p> <p>There is a small amount of correspondence interspersed throughout the Chronological binders. This includes a 1960 letter Dee penned to Columbia Pictures in which she outlined her political activities, and provided a statement on her position regarding Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. There is also a handwritten draft letter from Dee to Lena Horne, material documenting Davis and Dee's organization of the 1963 Christmas boycott, papers from a town hall forum on the subject of \"The Black Revolution and White Backlash\" from 1964, and some internal meeting minutes and statements from the Association of Artists for Freedom, of which Davis and Dee were founding members.</p> <p>The Correspondence binders contain letters, notes, postcards, and telegrams. These files include both personal letters between Davis and Dee, and letters from family and friends. The personal letters span from the early years of the couple's relationship in the late 1940s, to a poem written by Dee to her husband on her life without him in 2005. Their correspondence addresses plans for marriage, arrangements of family life, writing and acting work, and their thoughts and impressions on various topics both personal and political. Letters from family members date from 1942 to 1970, and are from Dee's immediate relatives, including her mother, Gladys Hightower. The Friends section dates from 1938 to 1970, and contains letters from a range of notable artists and activists in Davis and Dee's milieu including Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Paul Robeson, and Gwendolyn Brooks.</p> <p>The Local 1199 Union binder is comprised of correspondence, programs, flyers, clippings, scripts, and photographs dating from 1954 to 2001. This material includes letters to Moe Foner, \"Bread and Roses\" programs, union newsletters, and a script from one of Davis and Dee's performances. There are also photographs present which depict the couple at various Local 1199 events, as well as with such notable figures as Moe Foner, Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Philip Randolph, and Joan Mondale.</p> <p>The Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz binder includes postcards, letters, articles, clippings, programs, and some written works. There is a cache of letters and postcards from Malcolm X which he sent to Davis and Dee during his travels to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and a number of African cities. Many of the letters are long, and include an elucidation of his position concerning the struggle for black freedom and equal rights in the international context. There is also a draft of Malcolm X's funeral program procedure; an Islamic funeral program; and numerous clippings regarding Davis' eulogy, including the transcription which was published in the <span class=\"title\">New York Amsterdam News</span>. There are also notes from sixth grade students written to Davis regarding his eulogy, and a request from <span class=\"title\">Grump</span> publisher, Roger Price, for Davis to write a piece on the subject. Dee's participation in fundraising for Malcolm X's widow, Betty Shabazz and their children, is detailed in letters and meeting minutes.</p> <p>The Productions subseries trace Davis and Dee's output from their fledgling careers in their very first theater companies to Dee's stage, film, and television work in the 2000s. The files consist of material grouped into the categories of Stage; Film and Television; and Joint Productions, followed by material from <span class=\"title\">Anna Lucasta</span>, <span class=\"title\">A Raisin in the Sun</span>, <span class=\"title\">Purlie Victorious</span>, and Dee's one-woman show <span class=\"title\">My One Good Nerve</span>. There are also programs present for the 1946 production of <span class=\"title\">Jeb</span>, where Davis and Dee first met and collaborated. Clippings of reviews are also present and accompanied by programs, a small amount of correspondence, cast contact sheets, and some contracts. Of special interest is the program from Davis's first stage appearance with the Rose Mclendon Players in <span class=\"title\">Joy Exceeding Glory</span> (1939), and correspondence between Dee and Alice Childress detailing Dee's thoughts and concerns about her role in <span class=\"title\">The Wedding Band</span> (1966), both of which are found in binder 24. The Film and Television binders include material from Davis's films <span class=\"title\">Kongi's Harvest</span> and <span class=\"title\">Cotton Comes to Harlem</span>. This subseries also include a handwritten note from Spike Lee inviting the couple to appear in <span class=\"title\">Do the Right Thing</span>, along with some material from their appearance at the Cannes Film Festival to support the film's 1989 nomination. The files also contain a small amount of material from Lee's <span class=\"title\">Jungle Fever</span>.</p> <p>Publications, Speeches, and Other Writings binders date from 1972 to 1992, and hold files regarding the couple's published books; speeches, tributes, and eulogies delivered by Ossie Davis; essays and interviews, including an essay style journal entry handwritten by Davis in Cairo on US Army Red Cross letterhead in 1944 (binder 46); Ruby Dee's column for the <span class=\"title\">New York Amsterdam News</span>; and obituaries and tributes for friends and colleagues. This includes clippings, dust jackets, correspondence, and notes. There are also some interview transcripts present.</p> <p>Source Notebooks are a curated collection of copies, transcripts, and excerpts of works drawn from a variety of texts. The notebooks comprise some original prose and poetry by Davis and Dee, but mostly hold compositions by others, including excerpts from religious texts. Davis and Dee drew on these materials when creating presentations, dramatic readings, and recitals. Additionally, there are a number of programs, transcripts, and setlists present from these performances. There are several pieces in Notebook 8 by Langston Hughes which have been inscribed to Dee and Davis.</p>"}