Found 33 collections related to African American women entertainers

Bailey, Pearl
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 824
0.01 linear feet (1 folder)
Pearl Bailey (1918-1990) was an African American actress and singer. In films, she was known chiefly for two roles: Maria in Porgy and Bess(1959) and Frankie in Carmen Jones (1954). She was... more
Rahn, Muriel
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 848
0.71 linear feet (3 boxes)
Best known for her performance in the title role of the original 1943-1944 Broadway production of Carmen Jones, Muriel Rahn (1911-1961) developed a reputation as a performer who was equally talented as a singer and an... more
Carter, Nell
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 904
0.75 linear feet (3 boxes)
Nell Carter was an award-winning singer and actress who appeared in many popular theater, television, and film works from 1971 until her death in 2003. Born Nell Ruth Hardy in 1948, she made her Broadway debut in the short-lived 1971 musical more
Browne, Marie Joe, 1902-1999
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 685
1.25 linear feet (3 boxes)
Marie Joe Browne (1902-1999) was an African American dramatic artist, school secretary, and a community volunteer. This collection contains a diversity of materials which document Browne's personal and professional life.
Wooding, Sam, 1895-1985
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 390
2.08 linear feet (5 boxes, 1 tube)
Sam Wooding was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and the accompanist-manager for his third wife, singer Rae Harrison. The Sam Wooding papers primarily document certain aspects of his career, with some files pertaining to his partnership with... more
Williams, Mary Lou, 1910-1981
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | SC MG 922
1.04 linear feet (3 boxes)
The collection contains materials used to create the Mary Lou Williams documentary, Music on My Mind, directed by Joanne Burke. Music on My Mind focuses on Williams's enduring contribution to... more
Negro Actors Guild of America
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 259
18.83 linear feet (40 boxes)
The Negro Actors Guild (NAG) was formed in 1936 and began operation in 1937 in New York City as a welfare and benevolent organization for Black performers. The Negro Actors Guild (NAG) records document the functions and activities of this... more
Yuen, Lily, 1908-
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 643
.4 linear feet (1 flat box)
Lily Yuen was a singer and dancer, who also considered herself a comedienne, performer of novelty songs, parodies and specialty acts, as well as an emcee, during the 1920's and 1930's. She was a principal in the Brownskin Models, an annual touring... more
Anderson, Martha Pryor
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 510
2.08 linear feet (7 boxes)
Martha Pryor Anderson was an African American woman poet and dramatic performer. This collection consists of correspondence, notebooks, programs, printed matter, and scrapbooks documenting Anderson's activities as a poet and diseuse.
Murphy, Frederick D., 1940-1993
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 651
7.42 linear feet (8 boxes)
The Frederick D. Murphy papers consist principally of press kits and news clippings that Murphy collected on hundreds of recording artists of popular music (primarily rhythm and blues, soul, disco, rock and roll, and other genres) and executives... more
Mills, Florence, 1895-1927
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
.9 linear feet (2 boxes)
Florence Mills (1886-1927), world renowned entertainer during the 1920s. She starred in Lew Leslie's Plantation Revue and Blackbirds after a successful run as the lead in more
McMillan, Allan W., 1900-1991
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 206
4.88 linear feet (7 boxes)
Allan W. McMillan, a longtime columnist for The Amsterdam News and the first Black syndicated columnist, made his reputation as an entertainment writer, Broadway columnist, and publicist. The Allan W. McMillan public... more
Davis, Ruby S. (Ruby Sheppard), 1916-
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 517
0.21 linear feet (1 box)
Ruby Sheppard Davis was an actress, singer, poet, playwright, and the private secretary to actor Leigh Whipper. These scrapbooks include news clippings related to Ruby Sheppard Davis's career as a performer; they also include plays, fables, poems,... more
Brown, Helen
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 520
0.25 linear feet (1 box)
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... more
Mercer, Mabel, 1900-1984
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 536
0.33 linear feet (2 boxes)
Mabel Mercer (1900-1984) was a singer, song stylist, and night club entertainer. Born in England in 1900 to a Black musician father, Benjamin Mercer, and a white English vaudevillian mother, Emily Wadham Stonehouse, Mercer started her show... more
Sullivan, Maxine, 1911-1987
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 473
10.34 linear feet (27 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
The Maxine Sullivan Papers document her career as a jazz performer. The papers contain correspondence from both professional and personal contacts, legal contracts, newspaper clippings, performance flyers, posters, and programs, sheet music, and... more
Hunter, Alberta
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 329
8.67 linear feet (24 boxes)
Alberta Hunter was a blues singer who toured the world and sang leading roles on Broadway. The Alberta Hunter papers consist of personal and professional papers documenting Hunter's singing and nursing careers.
Buckley, Gail Lumet, 1937-
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 327
2.04 linear feet (4 boxes)
This collection consists of original documents and correspondence related to the Horne family, assembled by Gail Lumet Buckley during the research and writing of her book The Hornes: An American Family (New York: Alfred... more
Mercer, Mabel, 1900-1984
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 341
17.08 linear feet (43 boxes)
Mabel Mercer (1900-1984) was a singer, song stylist, and night club entertainer. The Mabel Mercer papers consist of personal and prpfessional papers related to her singing career.
Webb, Alyce Elizabeth, 1930-2000
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 694
1.25 linear feet (3 boxes)
African American singer and actress Alyce Webb performed in several Broadway, Off-Broadway, and dinner theater productions. The Alyce Webb papers document Webb's career in theater, film, and television.
Roley, Ida
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 723
0.25 linear feet (1 box)
Ida Roley was a coloratura soprano and actress whose performances include a role in the 1923 edition of Jimmie Cooper's Revue, a burlesque show comprised of approximately seventy cast members, both African American and white. The white owner,... more
Weekes, Daphne, 1913-2004
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 741
0.83 linear feet (2 boxes)
Trinidadian born Daphne Weekes was the first female calypso bandleader in the U.S. The Daphne Weekes collection consists primarily of printed material.
Baker, Josephine, 1906-1975
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 778
0.21 linear feet (1 box)
Born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, Josephine Baker, a dancer and singer, achieved fame in Paris in the 1920s. In the 1950s, she sought to promote racial equality by adopting twelve children of various races and nationalities to create what she... more
Sullivan, Maxine, 1911-1987
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 918
0.42 linear feet (1 box)
African American jazz soloist Maxine Sullivan was known for her cool and arresting "whispering voice," soothing style, gentle rhythmic phrasing, and intricate swing delivery. She became well known in the late 1930s for her swing performance of the... more
McClendon, Ernestine, 1913-1991
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 583
0.21 linear feet (1 box)
The Ernestine McClendon papers contain McClendon's scrapbook of responses from ad agencies to her 1960 letter campaign urging them to hire Black actors and actresses. Included in the collection are her resumes, articles and reviews, some letters,... more
Cole, Nat King, 1919-1965
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 695
28.75 linear feet (134 boxes)
This collection consists of personal and professional material of Nat King Cole, such as correspondence, programs, and advertisements. Additionally, there is printed matter, such as clippings and articles; scrapbooks; and scores, which is the... more
Haynes, Hilda, 1912-1986
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 626
2.79 linear feet (8 boxes)
Hilda Haynes (1912-1986) was a stage, screen, and television actress whose career spanned almost forty years. The Hilda Haynes papers consist of biographical material, speeches and other writings, scripts and reviews, and scrapbooks.
Negro Ensemble Company
Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture | Sc Photo Negro Ensemble Company Collection
919 items (3.0 linear feet, 3 boxes). 1 photographic print : silver gelatin, b&w ; 28 x 36 cm. 260 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 26 x 21 cm. and smaller. 136 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 21 x 26 cm. and smaller. 2 photographic prints : col ; 26 x 21 cm. and smaller. 24 photographic prints : col ; 13 x 9 cm. and smaller. 10 photographic prints : col ; 9 x 13 cm. and smaller. 45 contact sheets : silver gelatin, b&w ; 21 x 26 cm. and smaller. 371 slides : col ; 7 x7 cm. 41 negatives : b&w ; 25 x 20 cm. 1 photomechanical print : halftone, b&w ; 32 x 28 cm
The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) Photograph Collection depicts some of the Company's activities from 1967 through 1992. The collection consists of production scenes; individual and group portraits of actors, playwrights, and other theatrical... more
Johnson, Helen A.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 599
16.79 linear feet (46 boxes)
The Helen Armstead-Johnson miscellaneous theater collections (HAJMTC) were formed by over two hundred file-folder level collections (one-three file folders per personality or event). The collections contain information dating from the... more
Jarboro, Caterina
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division | Sc MG 208
0.02 linear feet (2 folders)
Caterina Jarboro (1898-1986) was the first Black female opera singer to perform with a major company. The Caterina Jarboro papers consist of letters, programs, news clippings, and other items relating to Jarboro's career.
Indicates that portions of this collection have been
digitized and are available online.