Scope and arrangement
The Etta Moten Barnett collection consists of 106 audio recordings created from circa 1935 to 1983. It is arranged in five series, all organized chronologically. Since the collection's original formats are open-reel and cassette tapes, many of the items contain two or more parts, one for each side of the reel or cassette.
Moten Barnett's radio programs, journalism, and interviews make up the majority of the collection. Some items also reflect her participation in and relationships with organizations such as the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Alpha Kappa Alpha, the National Council of Negro Women, and the World Council of Churches. For many guests and interviewees, identifying documentation is sparse or contradictory; in cases where the proper spelling is unclear, their names appear in square brackets.
The Etta Moten Barnett collection is arranged in five series:
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Fifty-nine sound recordings of episodes of Moten Barnett's program, I Remember When. Hosted by Moten Barnett and generally featuring accompaniment from the Art Van Damme Quintet, the program was broadcast on Chicago's WMAQ NBC three days per week from 1955 to 1960. The episodes in this collection span 1955 to 1957 and each runs for approximately fifteen minutes. Most of the recordings in this series comprise two episodes. The programs primarily feature Moten Barnett speaking conversationally about a particular subject with in-studio performances or recorded works. Subjects range from aspects of Moten's personal history, to profiles in her "Negro Hall of Fame," to occasional interviews with figures like Harry Belafonte; Ohio's first congresswoman, Frances Payne Bolton; and Sammy Davis, Jr.
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Six audio recordings of additional radio programs featuring or referring to Etta Moten Barnett. This series includes 1954 Etta Moten Show recordings that are likely tests with a producer for I Remember When; a 1957 religious program including Moten Barnett's interview with Dr. and Mrs. Russell Chandran, a Christian couple from Southern India; and Studs Terkel's This Train program, an audio documentary composed of interviews with travelers, including Etta Moten Barnett, en route from Chicago to the 1963 March on Washington. The series also includes the Gold Coast Radio interview with Claude Barnett that was later rebroadcast on an episode of I Remember When.
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Eight audio recordings of Etta Moten Barnett interviewing prominent political and cultural figures, often conducted in their home countries or sites of historic importance. Claude Barnett, Etta Moten's husband and the journalist-founder of the Associated Negro Press, often participates or is referenced in these interviews. Included here are Moten Barnett's interviews with Martin Luther King Jr. in Accra during Ghana's independence celebrations, Norman Manley in Jamaica, and Acting President Joseph Nemours Pierre-Louis in Haiti. The interviews are titled with the interviewees' names in the order that they appear in the recording, and those taking place outside of the U.S. include the country in the title.
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Nine audio recordings featuring or including Etta Moten Barnett at home, in studio, or at public events. This series includes Moten Barnett's address to the Music Executives Club at an unidentified college; home recordings of music and social gatherings; a recording of Moten Barnett accompanied by pianist Leigh Barron, and Fred McDonald's 1982 oral history interview with Moten Barnett.
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Thirty audio recordings collected by Etta Moten Barnett and produced by other parties. This series includes radio broadcasts focusing on people across the African diaspora, such as NBC's Freedom's People, which focused on African Americans, and a discussion of sports and segregation in apartheid South Africa. This series also includes speeches and panels facilitated by organizations such as the National Urban League, World Council of Churches, and Chicago Civil War Round Table; and recordings of West African music, likely created for events for the Contemporary African Arts Festival at Chicago's Stanley Field Museum. Moten Barnett co-chaired the festival's preview dinner as a member of the museum's women's board.