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Creator
X, Malcolm, 1925-1965
Call number
Sc MG 951
Physical description
1.37 linear feet (5 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Malcolm X manuscripts, Sc MG 951, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
The Malcolm X Manuscripts were acquired through the generosity of Katharine J. Rayner.
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Partial manuscript, fragments, and unpublished chapter of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Biographical/historical information

Chronology

  • 1925
    Malcolm X is born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska.
  • 1947
    Joins the Nation of Islam while serving an 8 to 10 year prison sentence in Massachusetts jails on charges of grand larceny and breaking and entering.
  • 1952
    Released on parole, travels to Detroit, where he works for a time as a furniture salesman and at the Ford Motor Company.
  • 1953
    Moves to Chicago and studies for the Nation of Islam ministry under Elijah Muhammad's guidance. A declassified FBI memorandum notes that he became the subject of a security investigation and of a Communist Card Index.
  • 1954
    Becomes Minister of Muhammad's Temple of Islam in Harlem. Is instrumental over the next several years in building the Nation of Islam into a mass organization. A November 10 FBI report notes that "Subject is single and travels a lot" between Chicago, Detroit, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia.
  • 1957
    Police beating of NOI member Hinton Johnson in New York. Gains notoriety for his deployment of a disciplined contingent of Black Muslims in front of the Harlem police precinct where the victim was detained.
  • 1958
    Marries Betty X Saunders.
  • 1959
    Television documentary "The Hate That Hate Produced" is aired, propelling the organization into the national limelight. Travels to the Middle East, West Africa and the Sudan, to lay the groundwork for Elijah Muhammad's Middle East tour later that year.
  • 1960
    Family moves to East Elmherst, Queens. Lectures on college campuses, speaks at Unity Rally in Harlem, debates Bayard Rustin on the radio. Meets with Fidel Castro at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem. Launches Muhammad Speaks newspaper in New York.
  • 1961
    As National Representative of Elijah Muhammad, travels to California and later to the Deep South. Lectures at Brown, Harvard and Howard Universities. Debates National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Secretary at Yale University. Leads protest march in front of the United Nations following assassination of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Substitutes for Elijah Muhammad in weekly radio broadcast, "Muhammad Speaks. "
  • 1962
    Debates Bayard Rustin and other civil rights personalities on "Integration vs. Separation". Returns to West Coast to lead NOI response in the police killing of L. A. Mosque Secretary Ronald Stokes. Assumes leadership of Philadelphia Mosque. Cancels all his college and university appearances in the fall on orders from Elijah Muhammad. Travels to Buffalo and Rochester, NY, to lead in legal defense of Muslim inmates denied the right to practice their faith, and to organize against police brutality.
  • 1963
    Leads Black Muslim demonstration in Times Square. Speaks at Harlem rally with Dick Gregory and Adam Clayton Powell in support of civil rights struggle in Mississippi. Serves as Interim Minister of Washington, DC Mosque. Begins work on Autobiography with Alex Haley. Denounces the March on Washington as a farce. Delivers speeches "The Black Revolution" and "Message to the Grassroots". Suspended and silenced for "Chicken Coming Home to Roost" remark, following President Kennedy's assassination.
  • 1964
    Vacations in Miami with his family on invitation from Cassius Clay (Mohammad Ali). Officially leaves Nation of Islam, citing pressures from "officials" within the organization. Files certificate of incorporation for the Muslim Mosque, Inc. Delivers speech "The Ballot or the Bullet". Leaves on a six-week trip to the Middle East and Africa. Launches the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Leaves on a four-month trip to the Middle East and Africa. Addresses meetings in Paris and London. Speaks at rally in Harlem in support of Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
  • 1965
    Speaks at several OAAU rallies in Harlem. Flies to Los Angeles in late January to meet with two former secretaries filing paternity suits against Elijah Muhammad. Travels to Selma, Alabama, on February 4, and the next day to London. East Elmherst home firebombed in the early morning of February 14. Flies the same day to Detroit where he gives his last major speech at a public rally. Addresses an OAAU rally at the Audubon Ballroom on February 15 and is evicted from his Queens home the next day. Gunned down at the Audubon Ballroom on February 21 while addressing an OAAU rally.

Scope and arrangement

This collection consists of a partial manuscript, a series of fragments, and two versions of an unpublished chapter of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published posthumously by Grove Press in 1965.

The 243-page partial manuscript includes handwritten corrections and notes by Malcolm X and collaborator Alex Haley, and consists of seven chapters: "Nightmare," "Mascot," "Homeboy," "Laura," "Harlemite," "Trapped," and "Icarus."

This collection contains thirteen fragments. One is an 8-page fragment of the chapter "Hustler," and a 6-page fragment includes text also featured in the unpublished chapter, "The Negro." The remaining fragments are short notes and drafts by Malcolm X written or typed on small pieces of paper.

Two versions of an unpublished chapter, "The Negro," are included in this collection. The first is a heavily-edited 45-page version; the second is a clean, typescript of 25 pages.

Administrative information

Custodial history

Estate of Alex Haley; Sold by Kimball M. Sterling, Inc, October 1992; Gregory Reed Collection; Purchased by NYPL from Guernsey's, in 2018.

Source of acquisition

Guernsey's, September 2018.

Processing information

Processed by Cheryl Beredo and Serena Torres in 2018.

Related Material

The Malcolm X collection (Sc Micro R-6270), Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library.

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

Further restrictions on reproductions may apply.