Earl L. Baker was a composer, musician, singer, writer, and orchestral librarian. The Earl L. Baker papers consists of 2 screenplays, Artabanus and Totivo, original manuscript musical scores composed by Baker and others; and research material on the West, focusing on Buffalo Soldiers and Black Indians.
Earl L. Baker was born on the Arapahoe Indian Reservation in Denver, Colorado, on December 3, 1929. From 1958-1960, Baker worked as an orchestral librarian at the Music Library of New York Public Library, and from 1964-1979, he made guest appearances, as a singer, with the New York City and Metropolitan Operas. Baker was also a member of the Harry Belafonte vocal group and the vocal contractor and coordinator for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. He held the same position for the 1975 production of Scott Joplin's Treemonisha, and the 1975 Tony award winning production of Ira Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, on Broadway as well as the 1991 Japanese tour.
Baker actively collected research materials on Black Indians and their role in the U.S. military service dating to the Independence and Civil Wars. This passion culminated in two screenplays. Baker also composed music and wrote musicals, among them, The Other Wise Man.
The Earl L. Baker papers consists of 2 screenplays, Artabanus and Totivo, original manuscript musical scores composed by Baker, Antonio Carlos Gomes, and others; and research material on the West, focusing on Buffalo Soldiers and Black Indians.
The Earl L. Baker papers are arranged in three series:
Gift of the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital Volunteers Program, September 2001.
Accessioned by Nurah-Rosalie Jeter, January 2002.