Found 53 collections related to African American entertainers

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

"Billy" Butler was a musical arranger, conductor, violinist, and travel editor of the Pittsburgh Courier. A graduate of Chicago Musical College, Butler worked with J. Rosamond Johnson, Eubie Blake, and other prominent African American musicians of the period. He also conducted several musical revues, including Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1939, Rhapsody in Black, and Sissle and Blake's Shuffle Along. In 1947, Butler started Travelguide, a directory of public accommodations in the United States which catered to people of African descent. The list was later expanded to include foreign countries. Butler was also co-owner of King Travel Organization, Inc., a New York City agency which specifically catered to travelers of African descent. The William H. Butler papers include correspondence and printed material relating to Butler's musical career; articles by Butler on African American music and musicians; a scrapbook containing reviews of the Lew Leslie musicals in which he appeared; orchestral parts for Blackbirds of 1939 and Rhapsody in Black; holograph scores by Butler; a folder of lyrics; and a playscript by Butler entitled "Let's Forget Papa". less

The Don Redman Papers consist principally of holograph and printed music of this jazz composer and arranger, as well as some personal and professional papers. Redman's music contains orchestral and vocal scores and parts for various instruments. There is also music and lyrics by other composers most notably Tadd Dameron's "For Europeans Only." A ledger (1931-1932) lists members of the Don Redman Orchestra a.k.a. Don Redman and His Orchestra, for that period together with salaries, scheduled appearances and copyright information. Two scrapbooks document the activities of the Orchestra and other groups which Redman assembled for European tours during the 1940's. The collection also includes biographical information, programs, newsclippings, and an autograph book signed by celebrities. Of interest are two letters written by Louis Armstrong (1939, 1945), one mentioning two songs for which he wants Redman to make dance arrangements. less

The Hillman family papers provide documentation on the performance careers of four members of this family. Included are a notebook containing George A. Hillman's monologues and news clippings discussing the vaudeville performances of George and his wife, Ethel Riddick Hillman, and scrapbooks of news clippings and programs illustrating the tap dancing careers of their sons, George I. and Christopher Hillman, known as the Hillman Brothers, (1930s-1940s). Another scrapbook provides information about George I. Hillman's performance in Curley McDimple (1968). less

William H. Glenn and Walter Jenkins (Glenn & Jenkins) were a popular comedy team who performed on the vaudeville circuit and toured the United States, Canada, and London during the 1920s and 1930s. They became renowned for their black face routines, "Working for the Railway" and "The Broom Dance.". The contents of the scrapbook includes reviews and advertisments of their comedy routines dating from 1922 to 1949 and 1962. The scrapbook also contains notes, flyers, photographs, telegrams, greeting cards, and copies of their pay stubs. less

Ernest Truesdale, whose stage name was Tad Truesdale, was a dancer, choreographer, actor, writer, producer, and director. This collection primarily documents the performer's professional career and includes biographical information, playscripts, news clippings, reviews, programs, correspondence, and financial records. less

Actor, Earl Sydnor appeared on and off-Broadway, on television, and in film. He began his acting career after performing with the New Jersey Federal Theatre Company. Throughout his career, he worked with Katherine Dunham, Ethel Waters, Henry Fonda, James Earl Jones, and Lou Gossett, Jr. in various plays such as "Cabin in the Sky," "Kiss The Boys Goodbye," "First Monday in October" and the films, "The Emperor Jones" and "Take A Giant Step." As a young man Sydnor wrote poetry and several of his poems were published in black literary magazines. Sydnor died on July 9, 1989. Papers documenting the acting career of Earl Sydnor. The papers are divided in two series, Personal and Professional, which include correspondence, biographical material, newspaper articles and reviews, and playbills. Additionally, there are two scrapbooks dealing with his acting career and service in the Army Air Force in 1943. A third scrapbook relates to his appearance, with his wife Virginia, in "The American Home" magazine in 1945, which became a controversial issue because the magazine had never featured blacks before. less

Correspondence, plays, poems, sketches, and song lyrics by Whipper and others, including a musical comedy by Whipper and Porter Grainger entitled "We's Risin': A Story of the Simple Life in the Souls of Black Folk." Majority of the correspondence is congratulatory. Also, photographs and scrapbook of highlights in Whipper's career and programs, autograph books, and contracts pertaining to his career. less

Collection consists predominantly of material relating to Lena Horne's one woman Broadway production and national and international tour of "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music" (1981-1984). Papers contain fan mail, a small amount of business, personal and family correspondence; press coverage (newspaper and magazine clippings and audio and video reviews); publicity and public relations material; programs; financial data and certificates (proclamations, awards and honors). less

The Kenn Freeman Papers, 1930-1988 document Freeman's life as an actor, singer/dancer, writer/director, and costume and set designer. The collection consists of three series; Personal Papers, Professional Papers, and Family Papers, and include correspondence, programs, flyers, contracts, writings, scripts, sheet music, scrapbooks, and autograph albums. Correspondence between Kenn and Bea Freeman forms an important part of both the Personal Papers and Family Papers series. The letters show the close personal and professional relationship between mother and son. The bulk of the correspondence covers the years, 1937 to 1950, and was written primarily during the years Kenn was in the United States Navy or in England or when either of them was on tour with a production. less

African-American arts aficionado Robert LaPrince was known primarily as the founder and president of the National Council for Culture and Art (NCCA), a non-profit, charitable, educational public service and artist support organization. NCCA's two touchstone programs, the Monarch Awards and Opening Night, honored and featured a variety of established upcoming people of color in the performing arts. Prior to founding NCCA, LaPrince obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh (1976) in sociology, and worked for the National Council of Negro Women. As an educator, he worked as an adjunct professor at Hunter College, Medgar Evers College, York College and the University of Pittsburgh in the 1970s and 1980s. LaPrince was also a social worker and teacher for the New York City Board of Education in the 1980s. The Robert LaPrince/National Council on Culture and Art (NCCA) Records are divided into two series, Personal and Professional. The bulk of the collection consists of the records of the NCCA and includes board agendas, minutes, reports and correspondence; planning files for the Monarch Awards and Opening Night programs, correspondence, contracts, financial records, fliers, grant proposals, artist information files, and news clippings. less

The Charles H. "Chiz" Schultz collection documents film and television projects, either created by or featuring black artists which Schultz produced or considered for production. The collection also documents Schultz's employment with Belafonte Enterprises Inc., as well as his own production companies: Chiz Schultz Inc. and Fireside Entertainment Corporations. less

Jay Richard Kennedy, author, composer, and publisher, was an entertainer and civil rights activist. He also was Harry Belafonte's manager and agent from 1955 to 1956. Born Samuel Richard Solomonick of Jewish immigrant parents in the Bronx in 1911, Kennedy was a union organizer and the circulation manager of the Communist Party's Daily Worker. He left the Communist Party after the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact, and started a new career as a writer, entertainer's agent, and stock broker. For a ten-year period beginning in 1956, he provided information and analysis to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Belafonte, the American Communist Party, and the Soviet Union. He died in 1991, in Los Angeles. Kennedy's Belafonte files are divided into Agent and Informant series. The Agent files include correspondence between Belafonte and his agents, Kennedy and Jack Rollins; contracts; legal briefs; financial reports; and a termination agreement between Kennedy and Belafonte, a dispute which lingered until 1960 over the control of Shari Music Publishing. Also included are original materials and several versions of the script for the musical drama Sing Man Sing, with lyrics and music by Kennedy and Belafonte. less

African-American soprano soloist, Berniece Hall made her Broadway debut in Finian's Rainbow (1953), and from 1956 to 1958 she performed in De Paur's Opera Gala. She also performed with Voices Inc. in Trumpets of the Lord (1963) at the French National Festival of the Arts in Paris in 1966. After the Festival, Hall remained in Italy and toured several other European countries, performing in a variety of venues. She lived in Italy for 4 years returning to live permanently in the United States in 1970. The Berniece Hall Papers document her professional career in North America and Europe. The Personal papers are comprised of biographical information, correspondence from friends and well-wishers, and financial records. The Professional papers contain correspondence pertaining to Hall's professional life, performance schedules for various events, some materials pertaining to Voices, Inc., scripts, song lists and lyrics, programs, posters and newspaper clippings. less

Joseph Attles (1903-1991) was a singer and dancer whose career spanned six decades. The bulk of his collection consists of playscripts for shows that Attles appeared in, including Bubbling Brown Sugar by Loften Mitchell, C & W, John Henry, Jericho-Jim Crow, Prodigal Son, Troupers, and Do Lord Remember Me by James de Jongh. The collection also includes: correspondence, both professional and personal; contracts and financial documents; programs of productions Attles appeared in; lyrics; and clippings related to both himself and other show business personalities. less

Collection consists of a few of William Spiller's personal papers, programs, and news clippings of William and Isabele Spiller's European and American tours, 1912-1942, and of the Spiller School of Music. Bulk of papers contain material pertaining to Isabelle Spiller's work as a music supervisor and orchestra conductor in New York City public schools. Of particular interest is her work as head of the Federal Music Project in New York. Also, a scrapbook containing her published articles. less

The records contain personal and professional papers comprised of biographical materials, letters, writings, programs, music, a scrapbook and miscellaneous items. The Personal Papers consist of various forms of identification, letters and an obituary, among other items. less

Allan W. McMillan, a longtime columnist for The Amsterdam News and the first Black syndicated columnist, made his reputation as an entertainment writer, Broadway columnist, and publicist. The Allan W. McMillan public relations files document the public relations work of McMillan on behalf of his clients. less

William Moore, an African American dance critic, dancer, and researcher, began his career in the 1960s. He later managed the dance companies of Eleo Pomare and Joan Miller, and participated in the creation of the Association of Black Choreographers in 1967. In 1975, he founded Dance Herald, a journal about Black dance. Moore also lectured on dance history and criticism at Lehman College and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. The William Moore papers consist primarily of appointment books (1966-1980) in which Moore noted his activities; some letters; writing and notes; a resume; and an annotated treatment for a documentary film by Kermit Frazier entitled The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance (1988). less

Sam Wooding was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and the accompanist-manager for his third wife, singer Rae Harrison. The Sam Wooding papers primarily document certain aspects of his career, with some files pertaining to his partnership with Rae Harrison and her early career. less

The three scrapbooks (ca. 1970s-1990s) in this collection document Adam Wade's career, including his directorial debut with Miss Everlasting Joy and his screenplay, The Dancer. The scrapbooks are comprised of printed matter on or about the singer/actor, reviews of plays, press releases, and photographs of family, friends, and fellow thespians. There are autographed photographs of Ernie Barnes, Anita Bryant, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr. Roberta Flack, Bill Maddock, Johnny Mathis, and Pat Morita, among others. less

The Stormé DeLarverié papers document DeLarverié's long career as a singer, male impersonator, and gay rights activist from the 1980s-2008. The bulk of the collection contains personal and professional correspondence, biographical information, passport, promotional material, death certificate, and funeral arrangements. less

Ruby Sheppard Davis was an actress, singer, poet, playwright, and the private secretary to actor Leigh Whipper. These scrapbooks include news clippings related to Ruby Sheppard Davis's career as a performer; they also include plays, fables, poems, jokes, and gags written by Davis. Additionally, there are photocopied musical compositions, 1948-1974, and a scrapbook about Leigh Whipper with news clippings and other printed material, 1978. less

Charles "Cookie" Cook, a vaudeville tap and acrobatic dancer and teacher for more than fifty years, began performing as a child with Garbage and the Two Cans and Sarah Venable and Her Picks. In 1930, he and Ernest (Brownie) Brown formed the headline dance and comedy team Cook and Brown. Their act, seen in such venues as New York's Cotton Club, combined tumbling, dance, and comedic patter. Cook was one of the members of The Copasetics, the fraternity of black entertainers that was influential in the revival of tap dancing in the late 1970s-1980s. Cook also performed in the film Cotton Club, at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and at a 1990 tap festival in New York He died at age 77 in 1991. The Charles "Cookie" Cook Collection is actually a scrapbook that has been dismantled. The material focuses primarily on Cookie's later years with few primary source documents. There are several letters, telegrams, and postcards expressing appreciation for his performances, but no letters written by Cook. The collection also includes programs for performances in which Cook appeared, especially with the tap dance group The Copasetics in New York City, and other venues in the United States and Rome (1980-1995), as well as flyers advertising for a variety of performances in which Cook was featured (1961-1979). There are also programs for shows where jazz musicians, singers, and other artists appeared, in addition to news clippings discussing Cook, other tap dancers, and entertainers. less