Scope and arrangement
The P.J. Gibson papers (dating from 1968 to 2020) concern the varied career of the Black American playwright, poet, writer, and educator. These papers display her writing process, her academic career, and the promotional and business tasks that made up the life of a working writer.
Gibson's writing process, especially that of her plays, is a focal point of this collection. Gibson's career as a playwright started during her graduate studies, and this collection spans from those early plays to ones written for events at John Jay College towards the end of her life. This collection contains multiple drafts of several of her plays, often with her edits and notes, as well as related correspondence, programs and flyers, occasional sheet music, and agreements. Gibson's award-winning play Long Time Since Yesterday is well-represented in this collection, as are Masks, Circles: Healing the Pain and My Mark, My Name. Screen treatments she wrote or doctored can also be found in this collection, occasionally with production materials.
The poetry and prose included in this collection also exist in multiple drafts, with special weight given to Gibson's two unpublished novels Neidyana and S: The Warp. The earliest writing found in this collection is poetry, some of which dates to Gibson's teenage years. Flyers and other promotional materials for poetry readings are also included alongside drafts of her poems and poetry collections. Gibson's erotic short stories and romance novels that she wrote under the pseudonym Magenta Rise are also present, alongside related correspondence.
This collection contains a large amount of material relating to Gibson's career as an educator, mainly at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and her overlapping work as an instructor and writer is highlighted throughout. Her involvement in professional organizations and conferences, her connection with other writers and artists, and deep interest in topics such as Black history and female sexuality can be found across the collection, as can a small amount of personal material.
The P.J. Gibson papers are arranged in six series:
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1970-201015.42 linear feet (37 boxes)
Series I contains the scripts of Gibson's plays, as well as scripts either written or doctored by her and scripts for plays she directed but did not write. Many of the titles found in this series exist in multiple drafts representing various stages of development, often with Gibson's corrections and notes. Occasionally correspondence, schedules, sheet music, and other works by Gibson are included. Gibson's award-winning play Long Time Since Yesterday is the most represented work in this series.
This series begins with Gibson's earliest work, dating to her time as a graduate student in the 1970s, and extends into the 2010s. While the majority of the plays in this series have a known production history, a few of them appear to have never been staged or have only been presented as readings. A few isolated monologues written by Gibson are also included. Gibson's scripts were mostly for television, with some productions represented by multiple episodes. Screen treatments and other outlines are also included.
Gibson frequently titled sections of her works as "outs" and this title has been maintained. In this case, outs refers to her cut parts from the scripts.
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1968-20175.0 linear feet (12 boxes)
Series II contains Gibson's published and unpublished poetry and prose work, often in multiple draft stages with Gibson's notes and revisions.
Gibson's poetry dates from the late 1960s, or her teenage years, and stretches into the 2010s. Most of this work was organized by Gibson by year and some works do not have titles. There are some poems that were organized by title, though usually this is for collected works, such as Quiescent Streams and Troubled Waters (1999), or poems written for presentation at specific events. Also of note are materials relating to "Poetic Inflections," a series of poetry readings performed by Gibson. The poems that she kept in rotation for these readings are often included alongside related flyers and other promotional material.
Gibson's prose is represented by her unpublished novels, most notably Neidyana and S: The Warp, both of which are present in multiple drafts with revisions. There is a small amount of her short stories present, most of which were organized by Gibson by year.
Gibson also wrote erotic short stories and romance novels under the pen name Magenta Rise. These include the unpublished novel Converging Hearts, which was a reworking of her play Konvergence. The erotic and romance novels are often accompanied by outlines and cover letters.
Other writing done by Gibson that does not fall under the umbrella of scripts, poetry, or prose can also be found in this series. This mostly includes non-fiction essays, ideas for potential works, and unsorted and undefined drafts. Occasional correspondence has been interleaved throughout this series.
Gibson frequently titled sections of her works as "outs" and this title has been maintained. In this case, outs refers to her cut parts, mostly from her novels.
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1974-20102.5 linear feet (6 boxes)
Series III covers Gibson's career as a professor in higher education and workshop instructor. This career is represented through correspondence, hiring agreements, course syllabi, academic calendars, educational materials that she used in course development, faculty meeting agendas and minutes, evaluations of Gibson, and flyers for classes and campus events either taught or hosted by her. While some of these teaching positions were long-term professorships, others were one-off workshops or single courses. Gibson's teaching career overlapped with her writing both chronologically and thematically, but while her writing is referenced in this series the primary focus is on administrative documents.
The largest amount of material is from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where Gibson spent the majority of her teaching career. At that institution, Gibson would create and submit self-reports and evaluations reflecting on her own accomplishments during the previous academic year. This would include not only her work at the college, but also her publications, performances of her plays and poetry, and letters of support from colleagues.
Also included in this series are materials related to Gibson's job search for teaching positions, such as announcements and material from campus tours.
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1971-20202.92 linear feet (8 boxes)
Series IV contains the publicity and press materials for Gibson's work, mostly performances of her plays. These materials include flyers, programs, press clippings, and inserts (quotes taken from plays to be used in promotional materials). While most of these are in their final form, there are a small number of mock-ups, mostly of flyers. In addition to her plays, flyers for poetry readings by Gibson, speaking engagements, and publicity for plays she directed (but did not write) can be found here.
More generalized press and promotional materials, such as articles about Gibson, press contacts, and book releases can be found here. Of particular note is press from Gibson's tour of Africa in 1978, where her work was performed.
Gibson also maintained chronological files of her press clippings, not only covering specific works but her career in general, including awards. A small amount of correspondence has been interleaved.
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1970-20196.25 linear feet (15 boxes)
Series V consists of general professional materials relating to Gibson's dual career as a writer and educator. This series highlights the life of a working writer, with documents concerning Gibson's employment search, the production of her plays, conference speaking engagements, and relationships with professional organizations and other writers.
Broadly, this series includes applications for grants, contracts and agreements, research for applications to copyright her works, correspondence, Gibson's resumes, professional financial records, conference materials, and publications and correspondence from professional organizations. Also included in this series are works from other writers that were sent to Gibson, often with inscriptions to her. There is a small amount of personal materials mixed into this series, mainly found in the correspondence.
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1969-20194.58 linear feet (11 boxes)
Series VI encompasses all of the personal materials found in this collection, outside of the small amount of personal items that were interleaved with professional materials. The majority of this series concerns Gibson's own education and general topics that were of personal interest to her, which often were reflected in her writing.
Educational materials include her college and graduate school work, as well as newsletters, correspondence, commencement and alumni materials, and administrative documents, as well as a program from her high school reunion.
Topics that were of interest to her are listed as subject files. These subject files mainly consist of clippings and other research materials that Gibson collected, occasionally with her notes.
This series also contains programs from events attended by Gibson, her birthchart, and documents and press regarding travel, particularly two trips to Africa, one in support of her work in the 1970s and one centered around South African theater in the 1990s.