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Creator
Collins, Kathleen, 1942-1988
Call number
Sc MG 938
Physical description
3.87 linear feet (11 boxes)
Language
English; The majority of the material is in English, but there is some correspondence in French.
Preferred Citation
[Item], Kathleen Collins papers, Sc MG 938, 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.

Kathleen Collins (1941-1988) was a playwright, filmmaker, director, novelist, short story writer, and professor of film history and production. Her papers include personal matter, correspondence, printed matter, and various drafts of her writing.

Biographical/historical information

Kathleen Collins (1941-1988) was a playwright, filmmaker, director, novelist, short story writer, and professor of film history and production. She was born on March 18, 1942, in Jersey City, New Jersey. She attended Skidmore College, where she was introduced to activism upon joining the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); as a member of SNCC, she worked on black southern voter registration. After receiving her bachelor's degree, she earned a master's degree in French literature and cinema at the Middlebury College program at Paris's Sorbonne. From 1967-1974, Collins worked as a film editor for various organizations, including the BBC, Craven Films, and William Greaves Productions, among others. She taught in the Theatre Arts Department of City College in New York City from 1974 until her death in 1988.

Collins was the first African American woman to write, direct, and produce a full-length feature film (The Cruz Brothers and Miss. Malloy, 1980, which was based on a Henry Roth novel). Her second feature film, Losing Ground (1982), which she directed and coproduced, was based on her original screenplay; it received international acclaim. Also a playwright, her 1982 play, The Brothers, was named one of the twelve outstanding plays of the season by the Theatre Communications Group. In 1982 and 1983, she was a finalist for the Susan Blackburn International Prize for Playwriting. Although only a small amount of her work was published before her death in 1988, she wrote six playscripts, over fifteen short stories, and five screenplays. Some of this material was published in two posthumous publications, her short story collection, Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? (2016), and Notes from a Black Woman's Diary: Selected Works of Kathleen Collins (2019). These publications not only exemplify the breadth of her talent but have introduced her work to a wider audience.

Scope and arrangement

The Kathleen Collins papers consist of personal and biographical material, correspondence, professional matter, and writing. The personal material includes diplomas, a sketch pad, and her parents' yearbooks, among others. The correspondence, which is all personal, contains letters to and from family and friends; additionally, there is some correspondence between her daughter, Nina Collins, and various family members and friends after Collins's death. The professional matter, which is the smallest series, is comprised of professional correspondence with editors and producers, contracts, and printed matter. The last series, writing, is the largest; it contains manuscripts, published and unpublished, of her various writing, including playscripts, short stories, screenplays, and a novel. This series also consists of writing by Collins's daughter, Nina Collins, who edited Notes from a Black Woman's Diary.

The Kathleen Collins papers are arranged in four series:

  • Personal
    1924-2013

    This series is divided into two subseries; the first subseries, Biographical, is comprised of material from and about Kathleen Collins, such as her high school and college diplomas, newspaper clippings from when she was a teenager, various resumes, divorce papers, and obituaries, among others. The second subseries, Family, mostly contains material from and about her parents, such as yearbooks, correspondence, and genealogical information. It is further divided into subgroups for each of her parents, Frank Conwell, her father; her mother, Mildred (Jones) Conwell, who died when Collins was a baby; and her stepmother, Lauretta (Anderson) Conwell, who raised Collins. There also is an extensive amount of documents about Mildred Conwell's ancestors, compiled by her cousin, Lois Miller Bryan, and her sister, Francine Conwell, around 2007.

  • Correspondence
    1962-2009

    Correspondence is divided into two subseries, one for Kathleen Collins, and one for her daughter, Nina Collins. Kathleen Collins's correspondence is personal, to and from family and friends. Nina Collins's correspondence is both personal and professional; the personal correspondence is to and from family and friends. Much of this correspondence includes condolence letters and sympathy cards for the death of her mother. Since Nina Collins is the executor of the Kathleen Collins's estate and edited Notes from a Black Woman's Diary, she also contacted family and friends for information on her mother, which comprises the rest of the correspondence. There is a small amount of professional and general correspondence for Nina Collins, some of which includes condolences.

  • Professional
    1975-2015

    This small series includes material related to Collins's career as a director, filmmaker, and writer. It consists of various contracts, such as an actor's contract for Losing Ground, a television license agreement for The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy, and an employment contract for Seret Scott; an equipment list for an unknown production; correspondence with Gail Papp, the leader of the Public Theater's literary department and wife of Joe Papp, the founder of the Public Theater, and Alice Walker, when she worked at Ms. Magazine; and printed matter, mostly theater programs and newspaper clippings about Collins's work and career.

  • Writing
    1971-2007

    The majority of this series, the largest, contains typescript drafts of Collins's various writing, including her playscripts, short stories, and screenplays, among others. Most of the drafts have handwritten edits, but many are photocopies.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchased from the Estate of Kathleen Conwell Prettyman in 2017.

Processing information

Processed by Lauren Stark in October 2019. Much of the collection was initially in binders; the material has been removed for preservation purposes.

Separated material

Transferred to the General Research and Reference Division: 1 book

Transferred to the Photographs and Print Division: one folder of photographs

Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division in 2017: moving image material. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.

Related Material

Kathleen Collins Scripts collection, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Bibliography

Andrews, W., Foster, F., and Harris, T. (Eds.). The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

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