Found 31 collections related to African American women authors

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 The collection contains nine manuscripts of published books and unpublished material, including three annotated manuscripts, spanning circa 1998 to 2009.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debut novel Mourning Becomes Her, which was first published by Harlem Writers Guild Press in 2006, as well as two unpublished manuscripts: "Beauty" (2009) and "Mad River" (2000-2005).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

The Rosa Guy papers contain material related to her personal life, her writing, and her professional career. The personal matter includes correspondence and biographical information. The material in the writing series includes drafts, notes, and proofs, among other documents, for Guy's published and unpublished writing. Professional papers consist of correspondence, grant applications, and materials related to professional organizations. 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original manuscripts, computer generated typescripts, galleys, and proofs of published work as well as manuscripts for unpublished work and dozens of poems.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

Ira L. Jeffries author, playwright and journalist, had a productive career in New York City's off-off Broadway Theater and African American communities. The Ira Jeffries papers consist of biographical material including correspondence, memoirs, notebooks, and journals. less

Marvel Cooke was a newspaper editor, publisher, magazine and journal editor, and print journalist. Born in April 1903, in Mankato, Minnesota, Cooke attended the University of Minnesota. She became an editorial assistant of the Crisis in New York (1925) and was the secretary to the women's editor at the Amsterdam News in 1928, where she also became the first female news reporter. In 1936, she joined the Communist Party and became the assistant managing editor of the People's Voice, a militant newspaper, in 1942. Cooke also was a reporter for the Daily Compass in New York (1950); the national legal defense secretary for the Angela Davis Defense Committee (1969); and the national vice chair of the National Council for American-Soviet Friendship (1980s). Cooke died in November 2000 in New York, New York. This collection includes an interview transcript with Marvel Cooke, conducted by Kathleen Currie, for the Washington Press Club Foundation project, "Women in Journalism". It was recorded in 1989. Additionally, there is correspondence between Cooke and the Foundation and a typescript draft of "Marvel Cooke: An African American Woman Journalist Who Agitated for Racial Reform" by Rodger Allan Streitmatter and Barbara Diggs-Brown for Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, #16 (July 1992). less

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor was born in Arima, Trinidad, and migrated to St. Albans Queens at the age of thirteen. Boyce-Taylor attended a Seventh Day Adventist high school in the Bronx, and completed undergraduate studies at City College of New York. Boyce-Taylor later completed an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Maine, Stonecast. She married Walt Taylor at the age of 19, and gave birth to her son, Malik Isaac, a year later. In the early 1970s, she formed the Boyce-Taylor Theatrical Company and began performing her poetry. She began taking her poetry more seriously after completing a course at Hunter College with Audre Lorde during this same time period. Boyce-Taylor has published several full-length poetry monographs including: As A Woman I Laugh and Cry: Poems, Birthsounds, Rhythms and Other Contractions, Convincing the Body, and Raw Air. Her work has been featured in magazines and journals such as Callaloo, in addition to her notable work with choreographer Ron K. Brown's Evidence Dance Company. The Cheryl Boyce-Taylor papers, 1982-2014, partially document the artistic and personal life of poet, visual and teaching artist, Cheryl Boyce-Taylor. The collection contains biographical material, such as correspondence and interview transcripts; writing material, such as manuscripts, drafts; and printed matter, such as programs, flyers, and clippings. less

Janet Arneda McDonald was an African American novelist, journalist, and lawyer. The Janet McDonald papers, 1960-2007, document her personal experiences as an African American lesbian throughout her education, legal career, and professional accomplishments as a writer and novelist. 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

Geraldyn "Gerri" Hodges Major was a journalist and editor for several African American publications including the New York Amsterdam News, Ebony Magazine, and Jet Magazine. The Gerri Major papers reflect some aspects of the career of this journalist and writer, but much of the collection consists of biographical information. less

Ethel Payne (1911-1991) was an award-winning journalist and syndicated columnist with extensive national and international reporting experience. The Ethel Payne papers mostly consist of materials related to her time as a reporter (both domestic and international); work with various organizations (such as Africare); participation in conferences and symposia; teaching appointments; and interest in civil rights issues, both domestic and international. less

The Ann Petry papers document the professional, social, and family life of writer Ann Petry (1908-1997). With the publication of her 1946 debut novel titled, The Street, Petry became the first US black woman author to sell over a million copies. The collection consists of personal and professional correspondence, manuscripts, clippings and printed matter, and personal memorabilia. less

The Helen Brown scrapbook contains programs and reviews of plays and concerts that took place in New York City between 1926 and 1941. Included are articles and reviews of musicians, singers, actors, writers, such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, and artists, such as Jacob Lawrence, Augusta Savage and James L. Allen. The programs represent a variety of performances, among them those by the Negro Opera Company and Hall Johnson's groups (the Hall Johnson Singers, Hall Johnson Jubilee Singers, and Hall Johnson Negro Choir). Also included are programs for Roland Hayes, Richard B. Harrison, Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, Hazel Harrison, Abbie Mitchell, Jules Beldsoe, and the Eva Jessye Choir. The lyrics to some songs can also be found in the scrapbook.. less

Eulalie Spence was born in Nevis, West Indies, on June 11, 1884. She and her family moved to New York in 1902. Spence was among the pioneer playwrights during the Harlem Renaissance and wrote fourteen plays, five of which were published, including Episode, Fool's Errand, Her, The Hunch, and Undertow. She wrote only one three-act play, "The Whipping", which was optioned by Paramount Studios, but never made into a film. Several of Spence's plays won awards; "Foreign Mail" placed second in the Crisis competition for playwriting. Spence was a contemporary of W. E. B. Du Bois and taught Joseph Papp. Spence died on March 7, 1994. The Eulalie Spence collection consists of correspondence, playbills, scripts, photographs, agreements, and newspaper clippings. Also included are materials related to her participation in The Dramatists' Guild and "The Lightouse Players. less

Jewelle Gomez is a self-identified "Black", "Native", lesbian feminist poet and playwright. She has published nine books, including three books of poetry, a novel, a play, an essay collection, and two books of collaboration. Gomez is best known for her double Lambda Award winning novel, The Gilda Stories, and its subsequent theater adaptation, Bones and Ash: A Gilda Story. Born in 1948, Gomez was raised in a poor, Black neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, by her great-grandmother Grace, to whom she dedicated her first book of poetry, The Lipstick Papers (1980). The Jewelle Gomez papers include manuscripts, interviews, reviews, articles, speeches, and essays. The collection contains a photocopy of the original self-published book of poetry The Lipstick Papers, and versions of her play, "Waiting for Giovanni", which is based on James Baldwin's life right before the publication of his second and controversial novel, Giovanni's Room" in 1956. less

Deborah Willis (b. 1948) is an African American photographer, curator, historian of photography, author, and educator. The Deborah Willis professional files date from 1944 to 2011 (bulk dates 1980s-1990s), and document her work on photographic publications and exhibitions. less

The Sharon Bridgforth papers, 1989-2015, document her personal life and her career as a writer, playwright, and performer. The bulk of the collection consists of her writing and materials related to productions of her plays and films, such as manuscripts and drafts, programs and promotional material, and clippings. less

An educator, lecturer, author and administrator, Olivia Pearl Stokes was an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches and was well known as a religious educator. Olivia Pearl Stokes papers (Additions) document aspects of Stokes' career, and include writings of others. less

Journalist, feminist scholar, and cultural critic Michele Wallace is best known for her first book, Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman, published in 1979. The collection consists of thirty-two audio recordings relating to her work as a cultural critic and journalist from 1970 to 1999. less

Akasha Gloria Hull (born 1944) is a writer, poet, and Black feminist scholar. The Akasha Hull papers, mostly dating from the 1970s to the 2000s, document Hull's writing projects, including poetry and scholarly works, her involvement in the Combahee River Collective, and her academic career as a professor of literature and women's studies, primarily at the University of Delaware and University of California, Santa Cruz. less

The Maya Angelou photographs, dating from the 1920s to 2009, document the life and legacy of Maya Angelou (1928-2014), poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, dancer, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. The collection mostly celebrates her literary accomplishments. There are some photographs that date to her childhood in rural Stamps, Arkansas. 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

Gertrude Hadley Jeannette (1914-2018) was a Black actor, playwright, director, and theatre producer. She began writing plays in 1950 and founded the Harlem-based HADLEY Players company in 1979. The collection dates from 1928 to 2018, and depicts her personal life and professional work through prints and negatives. less

Philip Watson was an African-American attorney who practiced law in Harlem and later served as an assistant attorney general for the State of New York. Watson was a member of the Alpha Chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and the Golden Fleece Lodge 7887 in Manhattan. The Philip Watson papers consists of letters (1929-1931), primarily from Elise Johnson prior to her marriage to Watson, and legal papers. Included is a completed questionnaire for Watson's admission to the New York State Bar in 1932 and several affidavits in support of the application. The questionnaire provides biographical information about Watson such as schools attended and his employment record. Of interest is a legal brief for a case Watson argued regarding the refusal of the owner of a bathhouse at Playland in Rye, New York to admit a Black person in 1935. The collection also contains an agreement settling a lawsuit between a local chapter and the national Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, with Watson as the attorney for one of the defendants, his membership certificate for the Alpha Chapter, and a handbook of the constitution and by-laws of the Golden Fleece Lodge. less

Bernadine Oliver wrote poetry of which a sampling and some essays were published in two volumes: It Begins Softly (1980) and Seeds of Ourselves (1984) by Women for Racial and Economic Equality. Oliver was a founding member of the New York chapter of this organization. She was also published in an anthology, Leaving the Bough: 50 American Poets of the 80s (1982). Oliver studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1979 after she was stricken with multiple sclerosis in 1974 at the age of twenty-four. The Bernadine Oliver papers consist of handwritten, typed and published poems, prose, and sketches and drawings. Oliver's poems speak of life and its trials of personal and social injustices for working people, the unemployed and the young, as well as growth and change, and hope for the future. There are also a few letters, information regarding her memorial service, some biographical material, and notes. less