Found 19 collections related to American literature -- African American authors

The Melvin Dixon papers consist primarily of manuscripts, correspondence, notes, and journals reflecting his experiences as a black gay writer. Most of the collection is comprised of manuscript drafts of Dixon's published works "Trouble the Water," "Vanishing Rooms," "Ride Out the Wilderness," "Change of Territory," as well as drafts for incomplete novels and stories, the fiction he called "works in progress," and short stories, poetry and plays, both published and unpublished. In addition, there are drafts and other material for Dixon's translations of "The Collected Poetry by Leopold Sedar Senghor," Genevieve Fabre's "Drumbeats, Masks and Metaphors," and works by the Haitian writer Jacques Roumain. Some essays and academic papers he presented are also included in collection. 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 Joseph Beam Papers consist of correspondence, conference materials, prison letters, writings by Beam and other authors, files of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays and its organizational journal Black/Out, and printed matter. The Correspondence series is divided into five subgroups: Family, General, Individuals, Organizations and Prison Letters. Significant correspondents include Barbara Smith, Essex Hemphill, Daniel Garrett, Renee McCoy, Assoto Saint, Colin Robinson, Craig Harris, Isaac Julien. Beam's writings and correspondence dealt with issues of gay life and civil rights for blacks and other minorities, and with contemporary developments in Philadelphia, including the police bombing of the MOVE headquarters in 1985. Other writings in the collection were destined for publication in the two anthologies conceived by Beam and the journals Black/Out and Other Countries. Contributors included Audre Lorde, Pat Parker, Samuel Delany, Melvin Dixon, Gilberto Gerald, Michelle Parkerson, Michael J. Smith, and Alice Walker. Also included are minutes of board meetings, financial reports, correspondence, memoranda, conference papers, and printed matter of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays, and subject files on AIDS awareness and prevention, prisoners' support groups, gay and lesbian entertainers and South Africa. The collection also documents activities of Black and White Men Together, Blackheart Collective and other black gay organizations. less

Born in 1935 in Mexico of West Indian parents, André Emilé Begeleus lived much of his adult life in New York City and worked in education, including as an education assistant at IS 201 in Harlem. He also wrote poems, essays, short novels, and other literary works. In 1975, he published a book of poetry, We Are Betrayed and Other Poems. Begeleus died in 1978. The André Emilé Begeleus literary collection (1967-1974) consists of unedited handwritten and typescript drafts of poems, essays, short stories, and a short novel. His writings express his views about the survival of African Americans in the 1970s. Eight of his handwritten poems were published in his volume of poetry. less

Files of the Board of Directors containing correspondence, agendas, minutes, and records of three board committees; administrative records including materials on the founding of the Academy, nominations for awards, and records relating to daily operations; and annual meeting files which encompass planning and programing for annual meetings, 1970-1972. less

Composer, pianist, arranger. Brown worked as Paul Robeson's accompanist for thirty-eight years. The Lawrence Brown papers encompass correspondence reflecting Brown's wide-ranging travels, and his friendships (mostly letters written by his friends and business associates); personal papers; travel file consisting mostly of itineraries for tours; financial records comprised largely of royalty and earnings statements; programs for Brown and other artists; scrapbooks of news clippings and telegrams covering the Brown and Paul Robeson concert years (1928-1968); news clippings of concert reviews; and original scores and sheet music written by Brown and other composers. Papers relate to Brown's life and times, including World War I, Harlem Renaissance, World War II, spirituals, and his collaborator, Paul Robeson. Correspondents include Amanda Aldridge, Ethel Gardner Dingle, Jannett Hamlyn, Roland Hayes, Langston Hughes, Zaidee Jackson, William Lawrence, John Payne, Paul and Eslanda Robeson, Clara Rockmore, Robert Rockmore, Mrs. Corinne Sawyer (Brown's landlady), and Greta and I. W. Sequeira. 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

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 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

Author, poet. Born in Jamaica. Correspondence and manuscripts of McKay's works, both published and unpublished, including "Banjo," "Banana Bottom," "Harlem Glory," and "Romance in Marseilles." Included are letters with Max Eastman, from Louise Bryant, Arrack Johns, director of the Federal Writers' Project, and to Carl Van Vechten, 1941. less

The Umbra Poets Workshop was a group of young African-American writers who met on New York City's Lower East Side from 1962 to 1965 to conduct readings and discuss writing and politics. The Umbra Poets Workshop collection consists of oral history interviews with fourteen of the poets along with letters relating to the formation of Umbra and Calvin Hernton's activities. 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 Larry Neal papers document his role as a writer/editor and seminal figure in the Black Arts Movement, and consist principally of Neal's diverse forms of writings, including essays, scripts, screenplays, poems, short stories, and anthologies. Published copies of some of his writings are included in the collection, as are writings by colleagues and publishers. 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 feature-length 16mm documentary James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket, directed by Karen Thorsen in 1989, is an autobiographical portrait of writer and activist James Baldwin. Without using narration, the film allows Baldwin to tell his own story. It premiered on American Masters, a PBS show, in 1989. Since then, repeated PBS broadcasts have reached millions of people. The film received numerous awards and was honored at festivals in over two-dozen countries, including Sundance, London, Berlin, and Tokyo. Co-written and produced by Karen Thorsen and Douglas K. Dempsey, the film uses archival and original footage, including scenes from Baldwin's funeral service; explorations of his homes in France, Switzerland, Turkey, and Harlem; and on-camera interviews with close friends, colleagues, and critics including his brother David; biographer David Leeming; writers Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, William Styron, Ishmael Reed, and Yashar Kemal; painter Lucien Happersberger, and entertainer Bobby Short. This collection consists of material used to make the film including notebooks and binders prepared by the production crew documenting the resources acquired during film research; transcripts of interviews; research forms; stock footage research; book tour itineraries and promotional items; articles about Baldwin; FBI files on Baldwin; eulogies and memorials; and reviews. less