Found 91 collections related to Black author

The Gay Men of African Descent, Inc. records (1986 - 1998) document the development of the largest black, gay-run, educational, social and political organization in the United States. Records include board of directors materials, a fairly comprehensive collection of newsletters, and information on GMAD's funding sources. Documentation on the organization's earliest years are augmented by transcripts of oral history interviews with both early and active members. less

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was one of the most renowned and celebrated voices in American literature. The Maya Angelou papers consist of original manuscripts, computer generated typescripts, galleys, and proofs of published work as well as manuscripts for unpublished work and dozens of poems. Additionally, there is personal and professional correspondence, teaching files, printed matter, and materials from public and academic appearances and engagements. less

Born in Topeka, Kansas in 1898, Aaron Douglas became the most celebrated artist-illustrator to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance. He attended the University of Nebraska (F.B.A.), Columbia University Teachers College (M.A.) and l'Academie Scandinave in Paris. Douglas' career spanned sixty years of painting, drawing and illustrating. He created numerous murals, usually of allegorical scenes on the historical life or cultural background of African Americans. In 1937 Douglas became a professor of art and chairman of the Art Department at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained until 1966, when he retired as professor emeritus. Fisk University bestowed an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts upon him in 1973. Douglas died in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1979. The Aaron Douglas papers consist of personal correspondence, letters of introduction, invitations, programs, and printed material. Of particular interest are the eighty-three undated letters, which make up the bulk of the collection, that Douglas wrote to his future wife, Alta Sawyer. Most of the letters were written during an approximate two-year period while she was still married to her first husband and before she and Douglas were married in 1926. Douglas wrote Sawyer endearing letters that were also philosophical in tone and discussed his artwork, aspirations, and the social scene in Harlem. Included are two letters to Douglas from writer Arna Bontemps and an open letter from Douglas on the letterhead of the short-lived magazine "Fire!!.". less

The Black Consciousness Movement emerged as a political trend in South Africa in the late 1960s, in the decade after the banning of the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress by the South African regime. The collection documents a primarily youth-based radical critique of the apartheid system, of the ANC's Freedom Charter and its moderate leadership in negotiating a transition to white rule in South Africa. The South Africa Black Consciousness Movement Collection consists primarily of interviews, speeches, organizational materials and printed matter documenting the politics and activities of Black Consciousness organizations in and outside of South Africa from 1983 to 1991. It comprises interviews and speeches by BCM leaders Itumeleng J. Mosala, Ishmael Mkhabela and Lybon Mabasa; interviews with black South African exiles, and anti-apartheid activists within South Africa; leaflets, declarations and factsheets of the Azanian People's Organization and the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCM (A)); miscellaneous files on the New Unity Movement, the Pan Africanist Congress and other non BCM organizations; and subject files on churches, trade-unions, white organizations inside South Africa, and the State of Emergency declared by the South African government in 1985. An organization file for Indaba, a Durban-based experiment in power-sharing, and a collection of essays entitled "War Stories" by an independent American journalist, Michael Slate, are also included. less

The Harlem Writers Guild was established in 1950 and is the oldest organization of African-American writers in the United States. Originally founded as the Harlem Writers Club by John Henrik Clarke, Rosa Guy and John Oliver Killens, it was created as a forum for emerging African-American writers in New York City who felt alienated from the white literary mainstream. The Guild helped nurture African-American literary talent since its inception. Prominent members include Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Terry McMillan, and Louise Meriwether. The Harlem Writers Guild Press was established in 2000 as an imprint to publish the literary works of its members. The Harlem Writers Guild Records collection consists of the work of two Guild members, Grace F. Edwards and K.C. Washington. The collection contains nine manuscripts of published books and unpublished material, including three annotated manuscripts, spanning circa 1998 to 2009. Edwards is the author of the popular Mali Anderson Mystery series. The collection contains three annotated manuscripts: A Toast Before Dying (1998), Do or Die (2000), and The Viaduct (2003). It also includes the manuscript for No Time to Die (The Cereal/Serial Killer) (1999). The collection also includes a manuscript of Washington's debut novel Mourning Becomes Her, which was first published by Harlem Writers Guild Press in 2006, as well as two unpublished manuscripts: "Beauty" (2009) and "Mad River" (2000-2005). less

Lyonel C. Florant, an African American economist, was employed by the Carnegie Corporation's "Study of the Negro in America" project. Florant authored several documents for the project, and he, along with others, completed the report, "Negro Population Movements, 1860 to 1940: In Relation to Social and Economic Factors". The Lyonel C. Florant papers consist of reports and some research files Florant prepared and gathered primarily regarding African American migration and population studies across the country, mostly for the Negro in America study. less

Jean Blackwell Hutson (1914-1998) was a librarian who served as curator of the Schomburg Collection from 1948 to 1972, then chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture from 1972 to 1980. The Jean Blackwell Hutson papers include materials relating to Hutson's personal life and family, library career at the Schomburg Center and the University of Ghana, and teaching, writing, and other activities. less

Rhoda G. Freeman was a professor of African American history who specialized in the history of African Americans prior to the Civil War and taught at Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey, from 1965 to 1986. The Rhoda G. Freeman manuscript and research collection consists of manuscripts of writings by Freeman, course materials, and research materials collected by Freeman and used in her writings and teaching. A major portion of the collection consists of bibliographic and topical index card files. less

Collection consists of eighteen play scripts and one film script. With the exception of one play which was published in Paris, in French, all plays are unpublished. Titles for three act plays include: "Leedsville," 1951 (carbon copy, with minor corrections); two versions of "The end of the search" (one of the copies lacks the t.p., the date is unknown, and bears handwritten corrections, alterations, and additions. The second copy is dated 1953. Ultimately this play was rewritten as a novel); "A star for Bella," 1956; two copies of "Sounds in the alley," 1964 (the typewritten draft of the play with handwritten corrections, and its final typewritten version); two versions of "God takes the late train," 1964 (carbon copy draft with handwritten alterations, and its final typewritten version); "Not a single blade of grass," 1966 (carbon copy); "The blood of the starches," 1969. less

Zora Neale Hurston (1901?-1960) author of several novels, short stories, poetry and an autobiography, was a trained anthropologist who also wrote ethnographic studies. The Zora Neale Hurston collection consists of nine poems, a short story entitled "The Conversion of Sam," and correspondence with William Clifford and Lawrence Jordan. All material is photocopied. less

Louis R. Sharp, African-American singer and actor graduated from the University of Kansas, where he sang with the University quartet. Moving to California in 1926, he studied voice with Theodore Ricardo, and settled in Harlem in the 1930s. A tenor, Sharp performed in concerts and recitals, singing in six languages. In 1931 Hall Johnson hired Sharp as a choral member of The Green Pastures in which he also played Cain. He had a major role as Toussaint L'Ouverture in the 1938 Federal Theatre Project's production of Haiti opposite Canada Lee's Christophe. Sharp was also in the original Broadway cast of such productions as Conjur Man Dies, Mamba's Daughters, Cabin in the Sky, South Pacific, St. Louis Woman, Finian's Rainbow, and Set My People Free. The Louis Sharp scrapbooks are comprised of two volumes. The first (1926-1946) contains news clippings and programs regarding Sharp's career, initially as a tenor performing in concerts, later as a singer and actor in Finian's Rainbow and in Broadway's St. Louis Woman, and Haiti, among other productions. There are several congratulatory letters and telegrams, including from Cab Calloway. The second scrapbook (1942-1947) consists of news clippings about African-American sports figures such as boxer Joe Louis and baseball player Jackie Robinson. less

Grover C. "Buster" Miller was a sports reporter who worked for The New York Age and whose columns included "Sports Parade" and "Sports of the Age." In 1938, he was credited as a guest columnist and from 1939 onwards as the sports editor. Buster Miller Scrapbooks (5 volumes) contain mostly clippings about blacks in sports, particularly Negro National League (baseball), boxing, tennis, collegiate athletics and football, 1938-1942. Also included are ticket stubs, correspondence with college athletic departments regarding black student athletes, writings including several write-ups on Black jockeys and a compilation of important American racing stakes won by Black jockeys, and printed matter. less

Jill Nelson (1952-) is a journalist and writer. The Jill Nelson papers consist of notebooks kept by Nelson during her time as a journalist with The Village Voice, as well as material documenting her time as a press agent for C. Vernon Mason's campaign for Manhattan District Attorney. less

Morris Levitt served as a consultant for the Negro History Associates, founded by Middleton "Spike" Harris in 1963, whose purpose was to educate the public and school children about the role of African Americans in American history. Levitt was a co-author with Harris of The Black Book (1974), a survey of African-American history from the time of slavery through the 1940s, emphasizing contributions in many fields of endeavor. He also co-authored three articles about historic and sports figures. The Morris Levitt Research Collection consists principally of handwritten notes and photocopies of documents and articles Levitt compiled concerning African-American history, particularly the Revolutionary War period and sports. Nearly all of the notes have no attribution, i.e. no sources are given, and there are frequently no citations for photocopies of news clippings and images, other articles, and pages from books. In addition to the published articles Levitt co-authored, the collection contains typescripts (1970) concerning Fleet Walker (1856-1926), the first black major league baseball player; notes about Weeksville in Brooklyn, New York; and Levitt's research letters and photocopies of the writings of the Pennsylvania poet and painter, Edwin Garnet Riley. less

Joe Johnson (1940-2019) was a poet and writer who was a member of the Umbra Poets Workshop, a group of young Black writers who met on New York City's Lower East Side from 1962 to 1965 to conduct readings and discuss writing and politics. The Joe Johnson papers consist largely of writings—mostly poetry and fiction, with some drama and nonfiction—by Johnson, as well as notebooks, personal and professional files, and printed material. less

The Léon Gontran Damas Recorded Sound Collection consists primarily of noncommercial recordings of radio broadcasts made during his travels to Africa, France, and the United States etc.; as well as one commercial LP audio recording, "Poesie de la Negritude" by Leon G. Damas. The noncommercial material consists of interviews with Damas and others; poetry readings, and lectures by Damas and various other artists; drum music and traditional music from French Guinea and Sub-Saharan Africa. The collection includes the works of Guy Tirolien, Bernard Dadie, Jacques Rabemananjara, Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Bob Stokes, Eugene Miller, Jayne Cortez and others. less

Born in Sweet Home, Arkansas, in 1934, Henry Dumas was an African American poet and short story writer, and the editor and publisher of several magazines, including Anthologist, Untitled, Hiram Poetry Review and Collection. Dumas was shot and killed in the New York City subway in 1968, by a white policeman. His work was published posthumously and is represented in many anthologies, including Black Fire edited by Imamu Amiri Baraka (1968). One typed letter signed to LeRoi Jones (1966), accompanied by a photocopied typescript of a short story "Fon" and original typescripts of seven poems: "Cutting Down to Size," Hold on, I'm Comin!" "Knock on Wood," "Mosaic Harlem," "New Game," "Discus" and "Uplight.". less

The Frederick O'Neal Papers document the theatrical, labor, and civic activities of this actor and labor leader, mostly from the 1940s through the 1990s. The collection consists primarily of personal papers, correspondence, speeches and addresses, writing, and information about the theatrical productions in which he appeared. There are also research materials about the 19th century African-American actor, Ira Aldridge, and files pertaining to the many organizations with which O'Neal was associated. less

Personal papers, family and general correspondence, writings, field notes and research materials, working papers, office files and printed matter documenting Ralph Bunche's personal life and professional career, from his enrollment at the University of California to his retirement in 1971. less

William Haywood Burns was a civil rights activist, lawyer, educator and dean of the City University of New York Law School at Queens College. He is the author of The Voices of Negro Protest in America, published in 1963. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, Burns served as legal counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc., from 1967-1969. He was one of the founding members and became the first director (1970-1973) of the National Council of Black Lawyers (NCBL), an organization that helped to acquit Angela Davis of murder and kidnapping charges that also represented other black political activists, including Black Panther members and Vietnam War resisters. Highly recognized for his work with the Attica prison uprising in 1971, Burns spent much of his career working tirelessly to recruit more people of color into the legal field, and was committed to educating lawyers about the complexities of representing underserved communities for the public good. Also active in the anti-apartheid for a quarter of a decade, Burns was a member of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. During one of his trips to South Africa, he was killed by a speeding lorry. The Haywood Burns Papers is organized into seven series: Personal, Correspondence, Legal, Writings, City University of New York (CUNY), Subject Files and Organizations. The majority of the Papers represent Burns' legal work and the various organizations with which he was connected including the National Council of Black Lawyers, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Community Service Society of New York, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, National Lawyers Guild, ACLU's National Prison Project, New World Foundation, Twenty-First Century Foundation, and the Vera Institute of Justice. less

The Canada Lee Papers document two of the careers of this multi-talented man: his profession as an actor and his career as a boxer. The papers consist principally of personal and professional correspondence; speeches; and contracts, correspondence and other material generated during the production of a play or movie in which he performed. A significant part of the collection is newsclippings and other material housed in a series of scrapbooks. Also included are financial records, and a few artifacts. less

Claude McKay, born in Jamaica, is known as one of the major artists of the Harlem Renaissance, and authored several published and unpublished poems and novels. The Claude McKay collection (additions) consists of correspondence, manuscripts, a galley, and related printed material. less

This collection consists of ten letters from George Padmore (1903 - 1959) to his friend and confidant Cryil Ollivierre, MD, a fellow Trinidadian. The letters are informal and warm, summarizing some of the major events taking place in Padmore's life at that time. His views of the world and people are also expressed in his letters. The collection includes a booklet, The Voice of Coloured Labour: The Speeches and Reports of Colonial Delegates to the World Trade Union Conference, 1945. less

Born Yves Francois Lubin in Haiti in 1957, Assotto Saint was a New York-based gay activist, poet, and performance artist who edited two anthologies of black gay poets in the early 1990s. He founded a publishing house, Galiens Press, which published his book of poems Stations and the anthologies Here to Dare and The Road Before Us. In addition, Saint also wrote and produced several theater pieces, including Risin' to the Love We Need and New Love Song. Saint was the founder and artistic director of Metamorphosis Theater and the lead singer of the rock band Xotica. He died of HIV-related diseases in 1994. The Assotto Saint papers consist of correspondence and writings by Saint, manuscripts and letters from authors featured in his anthologies as well as other gay writers, printed matter, and some personal papers. less

Rietta Hines Herbert (1940-1969) (also Rietta May Herbert) was an African American social worker in New York City from 1935-1965. She spent most of her career as a social investigator and supervisor of child welfare in the Harlem offices of the Department of Welfare. less