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Creator
Hewitt, Vivian D.
Call number
Sc MG 602
Physical description
25.95 linear feet (63 boxes)
Preferred Citation

[Item], Vivian Hewitt papers, Sc MG 602, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Vivian Hewitt is a former librarian and collector of Haitian and African American art. Her papers date from 1929 to 2015, and primarily document her social and family life, volunteer work, and art collection. Hewitt's papers also include materials concerning her career as a librarian.

Biographical/historical information

Vivian Ann Davidson Hewitt is a former librarian and collector of Haitian and African American art. Her professional affiliations included the Special Libraries Association (SLA) and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (ALA). She had been active in the social organization the Northeasterners; was a volunteer docent at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine; and is an honorary member of the art-appreciation group the Pierians.

Hewitt was born in 1920 in New Castle, Pennsylvania. She received her bachelor's degree from Geneva College in 1943, and her master's in library science from the Carnegie Library School in 1944. That same year, she became the first black librarian to work at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. In 1949, Hewitt accepted a position as an instructor-librarian at the library school of Atlanta University. In Atlanta, she met her husband, John H. Hewitt, then a professor at Morehouse College. The two met in 1949 and were married the same year. Their son, John Hamilton Hewitt III, was born in 1952.

The couple moved to New York City in 1953, where Vivian Hewitt worked first for the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company and then as a librarian for the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1963, Hewitt became the librarian for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a position she would hold until her retirement in 1983. She served as the first black president of SLA from 1978 to 1979.

Hewitt and her husband began to collect Haitian art around 1960; later, they focused their collecting on African American art – often the work of artists they knew personally. In 1998, the John and Vivian Hewitt Collection of African-American Art became part of the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts+Culture.

Hewitt has lectured widely on art and librarianship. Her autobiography, The One and Only: Vivian Ann Davidson Hewitt, based on oral history interviews with Annie Segan, was published in 2010.

Scope and arrangement

Vivian Hewitt is a former librarian and, with her husband John Hewitt, a collector of Haitian and African American art. Her papers date from 1929 to 2015, with the majority of materials dating from the 1990s onward. The papers largely document her social life and volunteer activities, and her and her husband's art collection.

Biographical and family files contain personal memorabilia, biographical notes, CVs, awards, and other papers related to Hewitt's life, her immediate and extended family, and her friends. These files include papers concerning the annual reunion of the "Roberts, Borders, Mauney, Howell, Briggs and Related Families." Papers related to Hewitt's autobiography, The One and Only: Vivian Ann Davidson Hewitt, include transcriptions of stories Hewitt told to Annie Segan.

The largest component of the collection is Hewitt's correspondence, which discusses her social activities, professional activities, travels, volunteer work, and art collection. Among Hewitt's correspondents are artists, medical professionals, social workers, librarians, and actors. Most correspondence is sorted by year only, with no further internal order, though Hewitt created a small number of files dedicated to specific correspondents, which are arranged by name. Correspondence also contains files of greeting cards, Christmas newsletters, and a volume of family letters that Hewitt created as a gift for her son. Hewitt's activities and relationships are further documented in her appointment books, guest books, and address books.

Vivian and John Hewitt's art collection is represented by research files; articles written by John Hewitt; photographs and lists of artwork they owned; records of purchases, sales, and donations; and programs, pamphlets, and clippings related to the exhibition of their art collection. Artists documented in the collection include Romare Bearden, Tom Feelings, Olivia Gatewood, J. Eugene Grigsby, Jr. (a relative of Vivian Hewitt), Yolene Legrand, Ann Tanksley, and Luce Turnier. Photographs of Feelings and Turnier are filed in the "Photographs" section of the collection. The collection also contains lists of the Hewitts' books and correspondence related to the sale of their book collection.

Librarianship files concern Vivian Hewitt's work with the Carnegie Endowment, the Special Libraries Association (SLA), and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (ALA). Hewitt's participation in other organizations is documented through correspondence, clippings, event programs, and records of charitable gifts.

Photographs depict Hewitt, her family, and friends; there are also photographs from a 1978 SLA conference in Hawaii and a 1979 trip to Trinidad and Tobago. Printed matter comprises programs, pamphlets, and clippings, including obituaries and memorial programs for Hewitt's friends, family, and colleagues. The collection also contains files related to Hewitt's travels. Writings consist of research and drafts for biographical articles that were published in the book Notable Black American Men.

Arrangement

The Vivian Hewitt papers are arranged in the following categories:

  • Biographical and Family Files
  • Correspondence
  • Appointment Books, Guest Books, and Address Books
  • Art Collection
  • Book Collection
  • Librarianship
  • Organizations
  • Photographs
  • Printed Matter
  • Travel
  • Writings

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Vivian Hewitt, in multiple donations between 1996 and 2016.

Processing information

Compiled by Kit Fluker, 2016.

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

Conditions Governing Use

Information on copyright available from repository.

Access restrictions

All reproduction requests subject to limitations noted in divisional policies.