Found 133 collections related to African Americans in the performing arts

A veteran theater artist of the 1960s and 1970s civil rights inspired Black theater movement, Henry Miller has directed a number of plays in the African American drama canon. Between 1962 and 1992, Miller founded three Black theater companies: the Joseph Patterson Players (1962-1965), the Afro-American Repertory Theatre Company (1971-1978) and the James Baldwin Writers' Workshop Theater (1992-2002). The Henry Miller Theater collection chronicles Miller's work in theater, film, and television as an artist and scholar and spans the period 1957-2005. less

African-American composer, musician, and arranger, Hall Johnson is best known as a choral director and for his arrangements of spirituals. In 1925, Johnson formed the Hall Johnson Negro Choir, which performed spirituals in the traditional style. The Hall Johnson Choir, which he organized in 1928, performed on Broadway in Marc Connolly's play Green Pastures (1930), for which Johnson was music director. Johnson was known for his compositions as well as the articles he authored that discussed the history of spirituals and their performance practice. The Hall Johnson Collection contains a miscellaneous assortment of material including correspondence and news clippings regarding a workshop Johnson held in East St. Louis, Missouri, in 1969; and a letter to Katherine Dunham explaining his need to give more time to the inexperienced chorus. There is a music book with some holographic music; a poem he authored "Changelessness" (1956); and a few notes. This collection also includes biographical notes and personal recollections written in 2001, by Madeline Preston, a friend and member of his choir, along with a letter Johnson wrote to her in 1956. less

The Grandassa Models Collection consists of printed material regarding the formation of fashion shows that featured these models and included African dancers and theatrical performances. Included are flyers, brochures, and posters that promoted the fashion shows and also featured the AJSASS Repertory Theatre and the Dinizulu African Dance Company. In the collection are two booklets published by AJASS, the "Naturally '63 Portfolio" and "Color Us Cullud! The Official American Negro Leadership Coloring Book" (late 1963) by Cecil Elombe Brath, which was critical of most of the civil rights leaders at that time. less

Pearl Bailey (1918-1990) was an African American actress and singer. In films, she was known chiefly for two roles: Maria in Porgy and Bess(1959) and Frankie in Carmen Jones (1954). She was also known for her starring role on Broadway in an all-Black cast version of Hello Dolly. During World War II, Bailey toured with the USO, performing for American troops. Beginning in 1946, she was a top attraction in nightclubs, variety houses, and television programs in the United States and Britain. At age 67, in 1985, she graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in theology. Between 1968 and 1989, she published six books on her life, cooking, and educational experiences. Bailey served as a special ambassador to the United Nations in 1975 and 1989, and in 1988, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Pearl Bailey letters (1943-1989) consist of correspondence between Bailey and her friend, Lillian Morrison, a published author, compiler, and editor of children's and young adult books as well as a librarian at the New York Public Library, 110th Street Branch. Most of the letters were written by Bailey, and refer to her various endeavors, including her USO work at Fort Huachucha in Arizona; recordings of the song "Tired", which was one of her hit songs; Disney's The Fox and the Hound, for which she provided one of the voices; and her service with the United Nations. As both women were published authors, several of the letters make reference to this fact and to their long friendship and shared birthday, March 29, 1918. The letters do not provide a great amount of detail about Bailey's show business career. less

Best known for her performance in the title role of the original 1943-1944 Broadway production of Carmen Jones, Muriel Rahn (1911-1961) developed a reputation as a performer who was equally talented as a singer and an actress. The Muriel Rahn papers contain materials related to her performing career. less

Pearl Primus (1919-1994) was an internationally recognized dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist. She is best known for presenting African dances, which she researched in Africa; studying their function and meaning; and performing before American audiences. She and her husband and partner, Percival Borde, conducted research in Africa from 1959 through the 1960s, and established a performing arts center in Liberia. However, Primus found her creative impetus in the cultural heritage of African Americans, exploring racism, as well as the dignity, beauty, and strength of Black people. Primus received an M.A. in education (1959) and a Ph.D. (1978) in dance education from New York University. In addition to teaching at such colleges as the five college consortium in Massachusetts, she founded several schools, one of which is the Pearl Primus Dance Language Institute, where her method of blending African American, Caribbean, and African influence with modern dance and ballet was taught. The Pearl Primus collection consists of two interviews conducted by Marcia Ethel Heard (1989) and James Briggs Murray (1992) with Pearl Primus, covering her dance career in the 1940s, the late 1980s, and the meaning of dance to her personally. There are a few programs, news clippings, and articles, as well as eight colored costume sketches for unidentified and undated dances. less

Samuel Carroll Buchanan received his Ph.D. from New York University in 1987 with a dissertation on Black quartets in the United States. He also sung with several groups, including the Charioteers, the Carr-Hill Singers, and the Gulf Coast Community Choir. Buchanan taught music in the New York City school system as well as at Five Towns College in Seaford, New York. Additionally, he worked as an administrator in the Peace Corps, serving in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. Buchanan died in December 2010. The Samuel Carroll Buchanan collection contains letters, sheet music, programs, and research materials related to quartet singers. There are two letters from Harry Douglass, a leader in the famous quartet the Deep River Boys, which began in 1936 at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) and a score by Douglass, "Come Rain or Shine". Additionally, there are two programs in the collection, the United in Group Harmony Association's "20th Anniversary Weekend Celebration" (1996) and the Blues and Rhythm Jubilee's "Whisky, Women, and ..." (1982). The research materials consist of photocopies of correspondence mainly from and to George F. Ketchum of Hampton Institute, detailing various opportunities involving the Hampton Quartette. less

Nanette Bearden (née Rohan) was a fashion model, dancer, and founder of the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre. The Nanette Bearden Papers document some aspects of Bearden's personal life and her careers as a fashion model and dancer/choreographer. less

The New Heritage Theatre Group records consists of playbills, broadsides, flyers, playscripts, correspondence and printed matter relating to the organization's productions and events from 1965-2015. Of particular note are original playscripts and production materials for the South African musical "Sarafina!" (1988-1991) and flyers and announcements for a play reading series entitled "Voices of Griots" (1991-1996). There is also a biographical file for Roger Furman. less

The Joan Jett Blakk/Lick Bush in '92 Archive, ca. 1991-1996, documents Terence Smith's drag persona Joan Jett Blakk as she campaigns in the 1991 Chicago mayoral election and the 1992 presidential election. The collection consists of news articles, academic essays, campaign speeches, promotional material, and ephemera related to Blakk's political campaigns, as well as clippings, reviews, and promotional material for the documentaries Drag in for Votes and Lick Bush in '92 by Gabriel Gomez and Elspeth kydd. There is also a miscellaneous folder for events attended by Blakk and a file for the playscript and programs of Womandingo, a play which featured Blakk. less

Nell Carter was an award-winning singer and actress who appeared in many popular theater, television, and film works from 1971 until her death in 2003. Born Nell Ruth Hardy in 1948, she made her Broadway debut in the short-lived 1971 musical Soon. Her breakthrough role was in the 1978 Broadway production of Ain't Misbehavin', a musical revue inspired by the jazz music of Fats Waller and the Harlem Renaissance. Carter won a Tony Award for her performance as well an Emmy Award for her reprisal in the 1982 NBC television broadcast of the show. In 1979, she appeared in the film adaption and soundtrack of the musical Hair. Carter starred in the NBC sitcom Gimme a Break! from 1981 until 1987, receiving multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her role as the housekeeper Nell Harper. Carter, who in some TV series also appeared as Nell Ruth Carter, was active in the theater and on television and film throughout the 1980s and 1990s; notable acting credits include roles in revivals of Hello Dolly! and Annie; the ABC sitcoms You Take the Kids and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper; and in the films Bebe's Kids and The Glass Harp. Carter was married twice and lived with her partner, Ann Kaser, after her second divorce until her death in 2003, from heart complications related to diabetes. She is survived by a daughter and two adopted sons. The Nell Carter scrapbooks collection features newspaper and magazine articles, and playbills that highlight both the professional and personal life of the award-winning singer and actress. The NBC sitcom Gimme a Break! (1981-1987), is represented in critical reviews of Carter and her show. Also featured in the collection are clippings related to the award-winning musical Ain't Misbehavin', for which Carter received a Tony Award in 1978. The scrapbook includes clippings from the televised special of Ain't Misbehavin', which aired in 1982, and the revival of the play on Broadway in 1988. In 1982, Carter received an Emmy for her performance in the televised version of the musical. less

The Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC) is a non-profit organization based in Brooklyn, New York, whose mission is supporting Black performers and providing community access to dance. The Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center records, which date from the 1920s to 2019, trace the institution's cultural significance through administrative records, performance video footage, photographs, promotional material, and awards files. less

Alma Lillie Hubbard was an African-American soprano who introduced Marc Connelly, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning play, The Green Pastures (1930), to the black churches of New Orleans. She also selected many of the spirituals that were sung in the production and performed in the chorus of the touring company in the 1930s. Hubbard studied music and voice at a number of institutions including Straight College where she also trained to be a Jubilee singer with two graduates of Fisk University who organized the first Jubilee clubs at that college, as well as Chicago's American Conservatory of Music, Columbia University in 1931 (Rosenwald scholarship), and the Juilliard School of Music where she received a master's degree. The Alma Lillie Hubbard papers consist of letters written to Hubbard from her first husband, Berry Hubbard, her mother and godmother, and from Gladys Mike of the Apollo Theater listing names of performers there for one week in February 1934. Other letters concern Hubbard's performances, education, and personal financial affairs. Hubbard authored one letter in the collection. Other material includes memo pads listing songs she performed, preparatory material for recitals and lessons she gave, and personal expenses. News clippings are primarily reviews of the touring performances of The Green Pastures in the South and Midwest in 1933-1934. less

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. less

This collection includes material gathered for an exhibition that would tell the story of the ANT and the achievements of its various performers. This material, sent by various alumni, includes such as updated resumes, programs, photographs, and press clippings. less

Flournoy Miller (1889-1971) was an actor, comedian, playwright, lyricist and producer. Collection contains personal papers that include biographical information and correspondence; professional papers, including contracts, memberships, writings and production files. less

The First World Festival of Negro Arts took place April 1-24, 1966, in Dakar, Senegal; it demonstrated the cultural ties between African nations and the rest of the world, and the impact of Black culture upon world culture. The records of the United States Committee for the First World Festival of Negro Arts Press agent's filess consist of administrative materials. less

The collection documents Julian Mayfield's career as a writer, educator and actor, and his activities as a political expatriate in West Africa and Guyana. Significant correspondents include fellow African-American expatriates and friends Maya Angelou, Herman Kofi Bailey, Sylvia Boone, William Branch, Tom Feelings, David DuBois, Preston King, Jim Lacy, Calvin and Elinor Sinnette, and Alice Windom. Other correspondents are John Henrik Clarke, Jules Dassin, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, James Forman, Richard Gibson, Gloria Joseph, Woodie King, Paul Mann, William Marshall, Truman Nelson, and Conor Cruise O'Brien. less

The American Place Theatre is a not-for-profit theater founded in 1963 in New York City to aid in the advancement of learning in all aspects of the dramatic arts, including the development and advancement in writing, direction, and production of plays. The American Place Theatre Company records document almost five decades of theatrical work produced by the American Place Theatre and the administrative activities of the theater. The bulk of the collection consists of production files that span from 1963 until the 2008-2009 season. The records also contain administrative files that represent the day-to-day operations of the American Place Theatre, minutes of the board of trustees, extensive correspondence of Director Wynn Handman, scripts, and posters. less

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. The collection is divided into three series, thirteen subseries, and eighteen sub-subseries. less

Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925-1990), a Black American singer, dancer, actor, musician, and comedian, was one of the most popular and versatile artists and entertainers of the 20th century. The Sammy Davis, Jr. arrangements (1953-1988) document the music Davis recorded for the Decca, Reprise, and other record labels, as well as the material he performed on a routine basis on tour and on television. The scores feature arrangements by Morton Stevens, George Rhodes, J.J. Johnson, Sy Oliver, Joe Lipman, Claus Ogerman, O.B. Masingill, and Marty Paich, among others. less