Found 68 collections related to African American authors

C. L. R. James was a West Indian scholar, political activist, and writer. Born in Trinidad in 1901, James began his career as a writer and sports journalist. He migrated to Great Britain in 1932, where he published his first major work, The Black Jacobins, in 1938. He became acquainted with Marxism and Trotskyism in 1934, meeting with Leon Trotsky in Mexico in 1938. In New York during the 1940s, he led a small faction of left-wing Communists opposed to the policies of the Communist Party-USA, as well as to some of the main tenets of Marxism-Leninism and Trotskyism. Following his expulsion from the United States in 1953, during the Cold War, James relocated to London, residing at times in Trinidad, where he launched an opposition party against the government of Eric Williams, and in the United States, where he lectured periodically. James died in 1989. The C. L. R. James letters consist mainly of letters written by James to his former wife and political associate, Constance Webb. James's letters discuss a wide variety of subjects including love, politics (especially Marxism), art, history, sports, literature, and popular culture. Also included are miscellaneous letters and organizational materials documenting James's political activities in the United States, 1938-1953; and letters written to Webb, regarding her writings on Richard Wright, from Arna Bontemps, Lawrence Reddick, and Ellen Wright. Numerous letters also discuss the Johnson-Forest Tendency, a faction led by C. L. R. James, under the pseudonym of J. R. Johnson, and Raya Dunayevskaya (also known as Freddie Forest) within the Socialist Workers Party, which later evolved into the group Facing Reality. The letters are voluminous, averaging 20 pages on loose leaf paper; handwritten; undated; and either signed with a majuscule N (first letter of his nickname and political pseudonym Nello) or unsigned. They were transcribed and annotated by Webb. 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

The collection contains poems recited in the film, contracts, newspaper ad layouts, advertisements, press releases, a press kit, foreign correspondence regarding theater inquiries, national and international reviews of the film, articles about the cast members and legal documents relating to the suit brought by Hassan, et al. less

Personal and professional papers, writings, office files and printed matter documenting Preston Wilcox's dual career as an educator and community organizer. Included are biographical and autobiographical narratives; some correspondence and organization files; an extensive writings series; proposals, minutes, reports and other documents dating from 1958 to 1965 pertaining to the East Harlem Project, the East Harlem Summer Festival, and the Massive Economic Neighborhood Development (MEND); confidential files from the 1964 Princeton Summer Studies Program, the pilot project for the pre-college Upward Bound program; compilations of material on public schools, decentralization and community control; and Afram's surviving records. Some of the main themes explored in the writings are: decentralization and parental decision-making, community organization and economic development, Black Power versus integration, social policy and white racism, empowering the poor, and black studies and black schools. The Afram files comprise the following subseries: Administrative, Publications, Parent Participation in Follow Through, Malcolm X Lovers Network and Vertical Files. The latter two categories are compilations of articles and other printed matter, with editorial notes by Wilcox, on Malcolm X, and on selected topics and personalities, including education, community control, reparations, Harlem, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., Kwame Toure (Stokely Carmichael) and Leonard Jeffries. less

Jeremy Randolph was an African American actor, poet, playwright, and founder of two independent publishing houses, Rannick Playwrights Company and Amuru Press. The Jeremy Randolph papers primarily document the activities of Randolph's small, independent black publishing company, Amuru Press, during the brief period from 1972 to 1974. less

The Alice Childress papers document Alice Childress's career as a writer and actress, and her activities in the theatre for five decades in New York City. The Personal Papers series includes correspondence, an oral history conducted by Ann Shockley, Childress's FBI file, diaries, calendars, interviews, educational materials, family letters, files for her two husbands, and biographical information about Childress. Significant correspondents include writers Kay Bourne, Harold (Hal) Courlander and Susan Koppleman. less

The AMAS Musical Theatre production files consist of documentation for thirty-six plays produced by AMAS, including both original plays and well known plays such as "It's so nice to be civilized," "Bojangles," "Jam," "Juba," "Blackberries," and "The buck stops here." Revivals have included "Bye Bye Birdie," "Carousel," and "My Fair Lady." A variety of material can be found in the files; however not every kind of material will be available for each production. The following list provides a sampling of files: attendance sheets; audition sheets, budgets, cast lists/contact sheets; casting lists and notices; contracts; costume inventories; cue sheets; equity contracts; flyers and programs; memoranda and correspondence; music and lyrics; performance reports; production schedules; rehearsal logs, schedules and reports; reviews; scene breakdown sheets; scripts-blocking/production/master/music; set design and illustrations/lighting/props; sound; stage manager's notes; and VIP lists. Additionally, the collection includes background information about AMAS and Rosetta LeNoire, AMAS's Eubie Blake Youth Theatre, programs and flyers for productions not represented in the files, and certificates awarded to AMAS. less

The Edward Boatner papers reflect his activities as composer, choral conductor, music professor and author of music textbooks. The music in the collection consists of scores for "Freedom Suite," his musical comedy "Julius Sees Her in Rome, Georgia," and his opera "Troubled in Mind." There are also scores for four gospel songs written by Boatner, and voice parts for selections from his musical play, "He Will Answer.". less

Myran E. Haley (My Haley) is the third wife of the well-known writer Alex Haley. They were married in 1977 although they were legally separated at the time of his death in 1992. Myran Haley claimed she assisted Alex Haley in finishing "Roots," published in 1976. She also stated in court documents that she was a collaborator on at least three of his unpublished works: "Queen," (the story of his Caucasian ancestry), "Madame C. J. Walker," and "Henning," a collection of stories about Haley's boyhood summers at his grandmother's home in western Tennessee. The Myran E. Haley Legal Documents relate to the suit filed by Myran Haley against George Haley (Alex Haley's brother), and the Haley Estate regarding ownership of three literary works Haley was working on at the time of his death: "Merging" aka "Queen," "Madam C. J. Walker," and "Henning." She claimed co-ownership of these works and the right to complete the manuscripts. A compromise judgment was rendered giving her partial (15%) ownership rights. Documents include photocopies of Mryan Haley's complaint, her affidavit, Alex Haley's will, their prenuptial agreement, and the partial compromise judgment. less

Composer; cornetist; bandleader and publisher, W.C. Handy's fame rests upon his work as a composer. Handy wrote and published more than 150 songs and arrangements of folksongs, mainly spirituals and blues. The popularity of Handy's songs helped to make black folk blues a permanent part of America's popular music. Collection of documents relating to W. C. Handy and the Handy Brothers Music Company. Included is correspondence from Handy and his friends, programs, broadsides and invitations related to affairs honoring Handy. Also, printed material advertising publications by Handy's music and publishing companies, and a 28 page bio-bibliography, "Negro Authors and Composers of the United States" by Handy. less

Ted Poston was the first full-time African-American reporter for the New York Post, where he worked from 1936 covering many major black-oriented news stories, until his retirement in 1972. The Ted Poston Research Collection consists of biographical information about Poston and a transcript of an interview that Professor Luther P. Jackson did with Ted Poston on "interracial reporting" in October 1968. Most of the collection consists of typescripts of articles and columns written by Poston (1927-1971) collected and prepared by the donor, Kathleen Hauke. less

George Rich Metcalf (born Feb. 5, 1914 in Auburn) was a white American N.Y. State Senator; president of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing; an activist; businessman; journalist; author; and philanthropist. In 1948, he became chairman of the Auburn Housing Authority before being elected to the New York State Senate in 1950. He authored many bills regarding fair housing, civil rights, and public health. In 1965, he left the Senate to write about racial injustice. He authored four books, including two books on Black history. During the 1970s, he taught Black history at Auburn Community College. He died on May 30, 2002. The George R. Metcalf research files are comprised of research material for Metcalf's two books, Black Profiles (13 biographies of prominent African Americans living and deceased), and Up from Within: Today's Black Leaders (a biographical sequence of emerging Black personalities and their contributions to the "Black revolution" in America). Material consists of clippings, correspondence, typescripts, transcribed interviews, notes, and miscellaneous printed material. The material covers notable figures including Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Roy Wilkins, Shirley Chisolm, W.E.B. Du Bois, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, Medgar Evers, Jackie Robinson, Eldridge Cleaver, Whitney Young, Jr., Harriet Tubman, Edward Brooke, Julian Bond, James H. Meredith, and Andrew Brimmer, among others. less

The bulk of the Charles Gordone Collection pertains to the author's Pulitzer-prize winning play "No Place to Be Somebody," which includes several versions of the play script, programs, letters, playbills, flyers, posters, production and showcase materials, press, and two files for awards Gordone received from the Pulitzer Prize and the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1970 and 1971, respectively. less

Writings and research files, along with personal papers, and corrrespondence documenting Davis' multifaceted career, 1923-1972. Includes material on the AMERICAN NEGRO REFERENCE BOOK, 1966, edited by Davis; papers relating to Frederick Douglass, including letters to Douglass from his sons, Lewis and Frederick; historical novel about a frontier family in Louisville, Kentucky; compilation of biographies of black athletes called "Jump High;" short stories and poetry; and manuscript about Liberia entitled "Bitter Canaan," by Charles S. Johnson. Correspondents include Mary M. Bethune, Ralph J. Bunche, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. less

An African American career soldier, Jesse J. Johnson authored eight books and several plays about the military service of black men and women. The Jesse J. Johnson military collection consists primarily of secondary sources and printed material, along with typescripts of his plays and one of his books. less

This collection consists of typescripts of novels, biographies, essays, and poems on historical, sociological, and educational issues, and conference papers. Some of the typescripts appear as final drafts, others as working drafts with author's annotations and corrections. Manuscripts included are "A Talk to Teachers: The Negro Child, His Self Image" by James Baldwin; "Slavery and Capitalism" by Eric Williams; "Life in a Haitian Valley" by Melville J. Herskovits; "American Dilemma" by Gunnar Myrdal; and poems by Waring Cuney, among others. Other authors represented are Arna Bontemps, Horace Mann Bond, Lloyd Brown, Helen Buckler, Henrietta Buckmaster, John H. Clark, Benjamin Davis, Ralph Ellison, Arthur Huff Fauset, and E. Franklin Frazier. Conference material includes Melville J. Herskovits and the Future of Africana Studies (Schomburg Center, May 1988); Marcus Garvey Centennial Conference (Jamaica, November 1987); and the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (Nigeria, 1977). less

The Nella Larsen Letters consist of two letters written by this author to Edward Wasserman and deal with the most spectacular African American social event of the decade, the 1928 wedding of Countee Cullen and W.E.B. DuBois' daughter, Yolande. The incompatible couple was divorced in 1930. less

Clergyman, author and educator. Steward became a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1861 and served congregations in Macon, Georgia, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware, Washington, D. C., and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was also the chaplain for the 25th Infantry where he served in the Philippine Islands and Cuba. In 1907 he joined the faculty of Wilberforce University, with which he was associated until his death, serving as vice-president, chaplain and professor of history, French and logic. Correspondence, writings, deeds, documents related to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and journals. The journals constitute the largest section of the papers and cover his early years in the ministry in Georgia (1868-71), Haiti (1873), where he established a church in Port-au-Prince, and Philadelphia (1880s); his chaplaincy in Ft. Missoula and the Philippine Islands (1890s); and his years at Wilberforce University (1907-24). The journals contain a variety of items and are not arranged chronologically: drafts of sermons, essays, speeches; accounting notes; lecture notes and course notes. Two journals record marriages, baptisms and funerals performed by him in the Philippines. The correspondence includes letters to Steward from his children, Frank, Charles, Theophilus Bolden, Gustavus, his brother William and a letter from John W. Cromwell. less

Author. Born and raised in New York City, Wylie was educated at Boston University where he studied comparative literature. Corrected manuscripts of the novels THE HOMESTEAD GRAYS (New York: G.P. Putnam, 1977), THE SIGN OF THE DAWN (New York: Viking Press, 1981), THE LOST REBELLION (New York: Trident Press, 1971), and THE RED EARTH. less

The Charles D. Walker Papers consist of personal papers, correspondence, writings, printed material, certificates, a scrapbook, photographs and audiotapes documenting the life and church and civic career of Rev. Walker, primarily in Milford, Connecticut. Correspondence concerns some of his activities as a minister and civic leader, as well as many letters and cards expressing appreciation, 1958-1987. Writings consist of an unfinished novel "Unknown Journey," written in the 1930's; manuscripts for three short stories, 1932; poetry; four essays, two of them written in the 1940's; and texts of sermons and speeches, 1963-1968. Printed material consists of programs pertaining to events in Connecticut, 1965-1969, newsclippings regarding racism, 1969-1979; and additional newsclippings about Walker, 1923, 1967-1980. There are also certificates of appreciation and a copy of Walker's ordination certificate. The scrapbook contains letters, newsclippings; programs and certificates, 1923, 1933-1935, 1959-1965, and 1978, and provides information concerning Walker's years in the real estate business, and later as a community leader and minister of the First Baptist Church in Milford, Conn. less

Writings consisting of manuscripts for his book, GARVEY: THE STORY OF A PIONEER BLACK NATIONALIST; miscellaneous typescript essays and printed articles, 1946-1974; numerous examples of Fax's art such as magazine illustrations and book jackets, 1936-1962; and photocopies of some correspondence. Also, programs, invitations, broadsides, book reviews, and news clippings concerning Fax's career. less

The T. Thomas Fortune Scrapbook consists primarily of clippings of Fortune's articles from the "New York Age," 1890-1898, in which he discussed events and issues affecting African Americans nationwide as well as overseas. There are also articles from other newspapers such as the "Evening Telegram, the "New York Sun," the "Texas Morning News, the "Galveston Daily" and the "Brooklyn Daily Eagle," some of which he authored, and articles written about him by fellow journalists, 1889-1904. less

The W.E.B Du Bois collection consists of a small body of speeches, articles, correspondence, and related material primarily authored by Du Bois. Of special interest is a typescript, with editorial comments, of the first two chapters of Du Bois's autobiography Dusk of Dawn: An Essay Toward an Autobiography of a Race Concept (1940-1942). The collection also includes a typescript of an article entitled "Miscegenation" (1935). There are thirteen speeches and a book review, ranging in subject matter from "The Talented Tenth", a tribute to Dr. Carter F. Woodson, race relations, labor issues, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Mahatma Gandhi. One of the speeches, "What the Negro Wants in 1948", was delivered at a meeting of the NAACP. 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

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

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