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Creator
Browne, Marie Joe, 1902-1999
Call number
Sc MG 685
Physical description
1.25 linear feet (3 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Marie Joe Browne collection, Sc MG 685, 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.

Marie Joe Browne (1902-1999) was an African American dramatic artist, school secretary, and a community volunteer. This collection contains a diversity of materials which document Browne's personal and professional life.

Biographical/historical information

Marie Joe Browne (1902-1999) was an African American dramatic artist, school secretary, and community volunteer. Browne was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Joe and Lizz Browne. She lived most of her life in Boston, Massachusetts, and relocated to St. Mary's County, Maryland, in 1945, remaining there until her death.

Browne received her dramatic training from Boston's Helen Boll's Dramatic Studio. At age 24, she made her debut as a monologist and received a very favorable response. During her career she recited the works of established "New Negro" writers and poets, including Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, and Countee Cullen. Browne's training prepared her to eventually perform with the Boston Players, an all Black theatrical troupe supported by the Boston Urban League. She performed with the troupe for six years, and while with them, she had roles in Scarlet Sister Mary (1933-1934) by Julia Peterkin, and Abraham's Bosom (1930) by Paul Green, among other plays. During the mid-1930s and 1940s, Browne toured various historically Black colleges performing monologues.

In 1945, Browne moved to St. Mary's County, Maryland, to work with the USO teaching home economics during World War II. After the war ended, Jarboesville School, where she taught, hired her as the school secretary. In 1954, she was employed by the Spring Ridge Middle School. She retired from there in 1974, at age 72.

Scope and arrangement

This collection contains a diversity of materials which document Browne's personal and professional life. The Personal papers include biographical materials consisting of her birth certificate, last will and testament, and medical records, as well as letters from artistic friends Jester Hairston (actor), Langston Hughes (poet), James Weldon Johnson (educator and poet), and Lois Mailou Jones (visual artist). The Family papers include correspondence, military records (1916-1940), and death certificates. The documents making up her professional papers primaraly reflect her artistic career. Files include correspondence; writings such as poems, short stories, and plays in which she performed (many of which were sent to her by the artists); and printed materials such asprograms and clippings (mainly featuring the Boston Players and Marie Joe Browne's solo performances). There are also awards and certificates that principally document Browne's service to St. Mary's County school system.

The Marie Joe Browne collection is arranged in three series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Marie Joe Browne Estate, April 2000.

Processing information

Accessioned by L. J. Sewell-Williams, July 2001.

Separated material

Transferred to the General Research and Reference Division: books and periodicals

Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division: audio material. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.

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