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Creator
Oliver, Elizabeth Murphy
Call number
Sc MG 655
Physical description
18.54 linear feet (47 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Elizabeth Murphy Oliver papers, Sc MG 655, 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
Request an in-person research appointment.

Elizabeth Murphy Oliver was a Black American journalist and author best known for her work with the Baltimore-based newspaper, The Afro-American. The Elizabeth Murphy Oliver papers date from 1872 to 1997 and cover Oliver's career at The Afro-American, her children's book Black Mother Goose, and her time as commissioner of the Maryland Commission on Afro-American History and Culture. The collection is represented through drafts, clippings, correspondence, notebooks, and ephemera.

Biographical/historical information

Elizabeth Murphy Oliver was a Black American journalist known for her long career with the Baltimore-based newspaper The Afro-American. Oliver was born in Brazil, Indiana in 1914. Her father was a physician who was born enslaved, while on her mother's side, her grandfather John H. Murphy, Sr. founded The Afro-American in 1892; generations of the Murphy family would continue to run the newspaper into the 21st century. Oliver attended Fisk University, earning a bachelor's degree in Romance languages; she would later earn a master's degree in education from Indiana State University and a doctorate in journalism from Virginia Union University.

In 1941, Oliver joined the staff of The Afro-American. She would stay at the paper until her retirement in 1986, serving in various capacities as a reporter, librarian, city editor, and columnist. She continued to assist the paper as a consultant and sometimes writer through the early 1990s. During her forty-year career with the paper, Oliver covered various stories during the Civil Rights Movement. Oliver regularly covered stories about Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., including his assassination and funeral. In addition to her coverage of the Civil Rights Movement, Oliver covered a variety of local, state, national and foreign issues, including coverage of every Presidential administration from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan, a 1979 tour of the Middle East, and a 1947-1948 tour of the South Pacific.

Outside of her career as a journalist, Oliver served on the boards of a number of Baltimore organizations and civic groups, and in the 1980s served as the commissioner of the Maryland Commission on Afro-American History and Culture. Oliver is also known for compiling the children's book Black Mother Goose, first published in 1969 with illustrations by Aaron Sopher; a second edition with illustrations by Thomas A. Stockett was published in 1981.

Oliver died in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1999.

Scope and arrangement

The Elizabeth Murphy Oliver papers date from 1872 to 1997 (bulk dates 1941 to 1997), and cover Oliver's professional career with The Afro-American, her children's book Black Mother Goose, her time as commissioner of the Maryland Commission on Afro-American History and Culture, her personal life, and research interests. The collection is arranged into series that move through Oliver's professional, civic, and personal life, and is represented through drafts, clippings, notes, notebooks, correspondence, and ephemera. Some files may contain photocopies of separated photographs.

The Elizabeth Murphy Oliver papers are arranged in three series:

  • Series I: Professional Files
    1901-1994

    The Professional Files series covers Oliver's time with The Afro-American and other writing pursuits, including her book Black Mother Goose. These files are represented through drafts, clippings, notebooks, correspondence, and memoranda.

    The Afro-American Newspaper files cover stories and subjects from Oliver's tenure as a reporter and city editor, in addition to administrative files and the history of the paper. Items of note include: Afro anniversary issues and events; files on Black prophets and evangelists such as Charles Manuel "Daddy" Grace, Father Divine, and Prophet James Jones; notes and drafts on the boxers Sonny Liston, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard; notes and correspondence about Jimmy Carter's 1976 Presidential campaign and his term in office, including notes from a 1977 meeting with the President; drafts and notes about the University of Delaware's acquisition of the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar's papers; drafts, clippings, and notes from Oliver's column, For All We Know; drafts, clippings, and documents from Oliver's 1979 tour of the Middle East, including files on Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat; and research on the descendants of Harriet Tubman. Files are arranged alphabetically, with correspondence filed at the end.

    Other Writing covers Oliver's non-Afro-American writing. Held here are Oliver's Black Mother Goose files, which contains proposals, outlines, drafts, correspondence, prints, and contracts related to the first and second editions of the book. Also with the Black Mother Goose papers are files on the illustrators of the two editions, Aaron Sopher and Thomas Stockett.

    Also held with Other Writing are files on Baltimore Publishing Company, a publishing company started by Oliver; The Hare of the Big Thicket, a film treatment co-authored with Maxine Frank that was sold to RKO Pictures; and drafts for unrealized projects such as Sex and the Black Man and Dinah's Cookbook, a celebrity cookbook by the singer Dinah Washington.

  • Series II: Civic Files
    1872-1994

    The Civic Files series covers Oliver's work and research with cultural heritage organizations and civic groups.

    Maryland Commission on Afro-American History and Culture covers Oliver's involvement with the state commission. This includes administrative files, events, research on Maryland Black history, the Banneker-Douglass Museum, and publications by the commission. Also held here are files related to Oliver's involvement with the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History and the precursor to the commission, the Commission on Negro History and Culture.

    Events, Organizations, and Services contain files related to events, symposia, and memorial services attended by Oliver, and organizations and civic groups Oliver was active in.

    Research Files contain various research interests of Oliver related to Baltimore, Black history, Black churches, and Black schools.

  • Series III: Personal Files
    1892-1997

    The Personal Files series contains material related to Oliver's personal life, family history, hometown, and correspondence. Files held here include biographies, resumes, birth certificates, planners, and calendars. In addition there are legal and financial papers, education files, and awards and honors. There is also a file of signatures obtained by Oliver including Langston Hughes and Lionel Hampton.

    Family History and Hometown files detail Oliver's family history, focusing on prominent family members and research she conducted. This includes files on her daughter Marsha, her brother John J. Oliver Sr., uncle Carl Murphy, grandfather John H. Murphy Sr., and others. Also held here are files on her hometown, Brazil, Indiana. In the late 1980s Oliver compiled notes and drafts for an unrealized work on her family history. These files include drafts, notebooks, and notepads.

    Filed at the end is personal correspondence, both sent and received by Oliver. Files are arranged alphabetically, with files containing a mix of correspondence, notes, and memoranda arranged by date at the end. Correspondants of note include Joan Crawford, Alex Haley, Hubert H. Humphrey, Lyndon B. Johnson, Florynce Kennedy, Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and William Donald Schaefer.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The collection was donated by Oliver's daughter, Marsha Rose Joyner, in 2002.

Processing information

Processed by Christopher Arena in 2023.

Separated material

Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center.

Audio and moving image materials transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, Schomburg Center.

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