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Creator
Anderson, Martha Pryor
Call number
Sc MG 510
Physical description
2.08 linear feet (7 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Martha Pryor Anderson papers, Sc MG 510, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
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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.

Biographical/historical information

Born in Richmond, Virigina, in 1890, Martha Pryor Anderson was an African American woman poet and dramatic performer. She founded the Pryor's Dramatic Players in Richmond in the 1930s, but later moved to New York where she started the group anew. She made her debut at Carnegie Hall in the early 1940s. She travelled extensively, appearing in churches, local schools, and colleges. Her repertoire included some of her own poems and dramatic works. She died in Harlem in 1993.

Scope and arrangement

This collection consists of correspondence, notebooks, programs, printed matter, and scrapbooks documenting Martha Pryor Anderson's activities as a poet and diseuse, and her membership in the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York. There are also writing samples, mainly poems, hymns, and her memoirs. The collection also includes materials documenting her 95th birthday trip to Richmond, where she was honored by the Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Governor's office (in the Abyssianian Baptist Church file).

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Salvaged, 1993.

Revision History

Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark. (2021 July 7)

Processing information

Accessioned by Andre Elizee, 1993.

Separated material

Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor