Found 29 collections related to African Americans -- Societies, etc

Harry A. Williamson, a member of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York, was a prolific writer on the subject of Freemasonry. The Harry A. Williamson papers : additions consist of writings, reports, souvenir journals, newsletters, and court depositions. less

The collection primarily documents people, places and events in Harlem from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s. The collection consists of studio and candid portraits of mainly African American personalities, Harlem residents, and fashion models; views of various social and political events in Harlem; and coverage of sports events and other news stories, representing the Smiths' freelance photography work for the New York Amsterdam News, the New York Age, and other African-American newspapers. Images depicting the personal activities of the Smith brothers are limited. less

The African Academy of Arts and Research was a cultural organization established in the 1940s to facilitate cultural exchange between Africa and the United States. The collection includes a contract between dancer and musicisan Asadata Dafora (also known as Austin Dafora Horton) and the Academy and others to organize a production of Africa: A Tribal Operetta, financial report for the Academy, miscellaneous correspondence, and a certificate of appreciation to Ruth Foster. less

Interracial organization devoted to the discovery and promotion of talented black artists and educating people on the contributions of black artists to the performing arts. Constitution and bylaws, financial and legal documents, financial reports, correspondence to private individuals as well as government institutions, news clippings, and other printed material relating to the Society. Also, Aldridge family papers consisting of copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates, and correspondence to and from Ira Aldridge and other family members. less

Case files from the Louisiana Civil Rights Congress including pamphlets, legal transcripts and briefs, press releases, news clippings, and correspondence which documents the legal activities of the Congress, particularly its attempt to secure justice for Paul Washington and Ocie Jugger, both sentenced to death on rape charges. Material from Johnson's hearing before the House Un-American Activities Committee, 1957; and manuscripts and materials from his research for several writing projects, including "Marxism and the Negro," "Mask of Justice," and a "Glossary of Twenty-five Historic Civil Rights Cases." Also, notes, source materials, and manuscripts of his extensive writings on civil liberties and segregation, together with material concerning a trip through the South in 1957. less

The American Society of African Culture was an organization of African-American writers, artists, and scholars. It educated Americans on African culture through publications, lectures, and conferences. These records consist largely of printed material, a book and play, reviews, speeches, and conference programs concerning many aspects of African culture in transition; minutes of an annual meeting, 1961; correspondence with John A. Davis and Brooke Aronson, 1962-1966; and budgets. less

This collection contains letters, certificate of incorporation, dues cards, song lyrics, a contract and clippings. Letters from Marcus and Amy Jacques Garvey, UNIA and Garvey Club officers H. Holmes, B.J. Spencer Pitt, Cleophas T. Jacobs, James R. Stewart and Samuel A. Haynes to Harris concern the on-going development of both the Garvey Club and the UNIA. less

Printed material relating to the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM) including programs and playbills from NANM and other small groups; and annual breakfast, convention and conference materials, and other records of the New York and New Jersey chapters of NANM and the National Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History. Other material relating to concert performances by black artists consisting primarily of programs and playbills, scrapbooks, and news clippings. Also programs, playbills, news clippings, newsletters, and financial reports pertaining to the Thomas Music Study Club, founded by Blanche K. Thomas, which was affiliated with NANM since 1946. Papers of Glover and his wife, Martha Seabrook Glover, contain personal and professional correspondence, and documents concerning the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Free-Masonry, the Oddfellows, the Republicans and Democratic parties, church groups, the A. Philip Randolph Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship Fund, the Patriotic American Society, the Harlem Cultural Council, and news clippings about Glover. Also, personal papers of Martha Seabrook Glover relating to the Seabrook family. less

This collection consists largely of correspondence; included are letters from Joel E. Spingarn to Amy Spingarn written during the 1914-1915 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) speaking tour; letters to Amy Spingarn regarding researcher access to the Joel E. Spingarn collections at the Moorland Collection at Howard University and the James Weldon Johnson Collection at Yale University; and letters to W.E.B. Du Bois. Additional material includes information regarding the opening of Joel E. Spingarn High School in Washington, D.C.; a 1898 speech; NAACP printed material; articles by and about Arthur Spingarn, Joel's brother; a typescript by Jacques Roumain on Vodun (voodoo); and other printed material. less

The Edward S. Lewis Papers, 1918-1986 (bulk 1948-1986), consist primarily of printed material. In the General series there are: correspondence, with letters from Senator Walter Mondale and Robert C. Weaver; memoranda; minutes; travel itineraries and printed matter. Lewis' trips to East and West Africa, leading delegations of educators and peace advocates, are well documented in the collection. Also documented, are the anti-apartheid activities of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agency, Lewis' tenure on the New York State and the Presidential Consumer advisory councils; and the Manhattanville tenants and condominium owners' advocacy organization for which he was a board member. less

The National Association of University Women Records is comprised of a history of the organization, the charter and by-laws, minutes of meetings, officers' reports, and printed material consisting of programs of national conventions and the annual Founder's Day of the New York branch, directories, bulletins, newsletters, journals, and news clippings. less

A division of Union Settlement, an East Harlem settlement house, the Cultural Center, founded in 1917, incorporated music, art, drama, and literary activities into programs. Records primarily document the Center's administration and activities under the leadership of H. Blake Hobbs. less

International self-help organization founded in 1914 by Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) in Jamaica. After moving to New York City in 1916, Garvey began to organize divisions of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A.) throughout the United States. The Central Divison came into being in 1936, the result of the factionalization which developed following Garvey's imprisonment in 1926 and his subsequent deportation. Administrative records of the Central Division, including correspondence, minutes, membership lists, financial records, programs and leaflets, copies of two in-house organs, the CENTRALIST BULLETIN and the HARLEM SENTINEL, scrapbooks, and a subject file. Subject files concern consumer affairs, immigration and naturalization, politics, and welfare cases. Also, material regarding local programs of the division, and extensive news clippings on the Italo-Ethiopian Crisis of 1934-1935. Financial records, correspondence concerning the "Negro World," reports and other items, 1921-1936, from the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (the official name of the U.N.I.A.); and minutes and financial records, 1934-1936, from the New York Division, another faction which arose after 1926. Both the Central Division and New York Division were headed by Captain A. L. King. U.N.I.A. Affiliate Organization File series consists of various records relating to organizations under the umbrella of U.N.I.A. such as the U.N.I.A. City Council (New York), which appears to have been a loose federation of the New York City and Brooklyn Divisions, the Pan-African Community League No. 808, the Garvey Clubs, Inc., and the Brooklyn Divisions which cooperated with the Central Division, the Newark Division, and the City Council in a number of projects. less

The Universal Negro Improvement Association was an international self-help organization founded in 1914 by Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) in Jamaica. The Universal Negro Improvement Association - Philadelphia Division Records consist of one ledger, only partially filled in, containing membership lists, and a number of entries relating to embezzlement charges leveled against the President of the division, Fred A. Toote. There are two folders of letters, 1919-1920, containing 3 authorgraph letters signed from Hubert H. Harrison to Joseph St. Prix (who appears to have been the owner of this collection), one letter from Henry Dolphin to Anderson Joseph, St. Prix's partner in a shoe repair business, and the rest relate to UNIA business matters. Additionally, there are several flyers for a parade given by the Universal African Legion, 1920 in Camden New Jersey and for a UNIA mass meeting. less

Collection primarily relates to Pickens' work as NAACP Field Secretary and Director of Branches, and contains a great deal of correspondence with NAACP officials. Of interest is material chronicling Pickens' and the NAACP's involvement in the Scottsboro Case in Alabama. Correspondents relating to the NAACP include James Weldon Johnson, Walter Francis White, Mary White Ovington, Arthur B. Spingarn, Joel E. Spingarn, Roy Wilkins, Thurgood Marshall, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Other correspondence is between Pickens and friends, acquaintances, fellow scholars, and business associates. There is correspondence with many organizations with which Pickens was involved, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, League for Industrial Democracy, Socialist Party of America, National Council of the Young Men's and Women's Christian Association, American Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born, and the Council for Pan American Democracy. Correspondents include Claude A. Barnett and Percival L. Prattis of the Associated Negro Press, and other individuals in government, education, and church affairs, among them John Haynes Holmes of the Community Church of New York. Writings are primarily composed of typescripts (manuscripts and editorials), speeches, and mimeographed Associated Negro Press columns and newspaper clippings of articles and editorials written by Pickens. Subjects dealt with in these different formats cover a wide range and serve to reveal Pickens' broad interests and intellectual scope. less

George Weston papers consist of correspondence, writings, printed material, and clippings concerning his career, theology, and politics. One folder pertains to the Pro-Lad Paint company (Africa's Shadow Type Progressive Ladder Paint, Ltd.) and a paint to be made in Antigua especially for tropical climates. Biographical article on Weston by Lionel M. Yard, 1975, and sheet music and words by Weston for "Climbing Africa's Ladder." The Maudelle Weston series include programs and clippings pertaining to Mrs. Weston's career as a dancer during the 1940s-1960s. less

Civic leader of New York City and a major figure in local Democratic Party activities. Official correspondence, minute books, press releases, photographs, invitations, annual convention and activity programs, printed material, and news clippings, chiefly relating to Adams' participation in various social, political, and civic organizations in New York, including the Aeolian Ladies of Charity, Democratic Club, Friends of the Northside Center, a child guidance center for the prevention of delinquency and maladjustment, Harlem Cooperating Committee on Relief and Unemployment, Harlem Hospital Chaplaincy Committee, Nannie H. Burroughs Philanthropic Club, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, National Committee for the American Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Liberia, National Council of Negro Women, New York State Committee on Discrimination in Housing, New York Urban League, New York World's Fair Committee of Negro Women, and the Utopia Neighborhood Club, a nursery center for small children, as well as several local New York City organizations. Also included are personal papers and memorabilia. less

Personal papers including biographical statements, and correspondence with other scholars and African political leaders including E.U. Essien, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, and Nnamdi Azikiwe of Eastern Nigeria. Correspondence, court summonses and subpoenas, petitions, press releases, and printed matter related to Hunton's imprisonment for refusing to submit the records of the Civil Rights Bail Fund to the Dies Committee on Un-American Activities. Other papers concern his teaching activities. Hunton's work for the Encyclopedia Africana Project is represented by administrative files, personnel records, correspondence with Dr. J. Yanney-Wilson, Secretary of the Ghana Academy of Sciences, area editors, and Africanist scholars, and minutes, administrative reports and memoranda. Correspondence with Kwame Nkrumah, 1962-1970; and a clipping file on Nkrumah. Material pertaining to the National Negro Congress consisting mainly of press releases and printed matter relating to the Labor Committee of the Washington Branch of the National Negro Congress, and to the Dies Committee allegation that Hunton was a communist. Hunton's involvement with the Council on African Affairs is represented by correspondence, administrative and financial records, legal and financial documents, and printed matter. less

The records of the Schomburg Center document the activities of the six individuals who managed the library, dating to its establishment by Ernestine Rose. The records are divided into the following series: General Correspondence, Reference Correspondence, Memoranda, Subject Files and Visitors' Registers. The majority of the material consists of subject files containing a considerable amount of correspondence. less

Papers include letters written to Bruce from black politicians, journalists, intellectuals, and activists including John Wesley Cromwell, Alexander Crummell, Richard T. Greener, T. Thomas Fortune, and Arthur A. Schomburg, as well as manuscript and printed copies of Bruce's articles, editorials, short stories, poems, addresses, and other writings concerning national and local politics, race relations, historical black figures, Haiti, Prince Hall Masons, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Universal Negro Improvement Association, among other topics. less

Dr. Thomas W. Stringer was the founder of the first Black Order of the fraternal organization, Knights of Pythias, known as the "Supreme Lodge Knights of Pythias of North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa" (KPNSAEAA). This collection is primarily comprised of ledgers containing financial records, minutes, and annual reports for the various lodges. less

The Victor Daly Papers reflect Daly's efforts with the United States Employment Service to integrate previously segregated occupations as well as his activities as an officer of the American Bridge Association. In addition to biographical information about Daly, including published articles, the collection contains his novel Not Only War, published in 1932 as well as short stories. There are also journal and newspaper articles written by him regarding employment opportunities for minorities. Daly's many speeches about youth employment presented at high schools, universities, radio stations and organizations in the Washington, D. C. and Baltimore area can be found in the collection, beginning in 1941 through the 1960s. less

The formation of the American Bridge Association (ABA) in 1932 was due to racial prejudice; a group of African American players in the New York area conceived the idea of a national organization, leading to the ABA's formation at Buckroe Beach, Virginia. The American Bridge Association records (1933-2004) consist principally of printed matter, correspondence of the editor of the "Bulletin," and histories of the organization. less

The Organzations collection, assembled by staff of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, depicts primarly African American civic, social, fraternal, professional, civil rights, and other organizations, dating from the late 1890s to the mid-1980s. The collection contains photographic prints and photomechanical reproductions. less