Scope and arrangement
The Muriel Rahn papers contain a scrapbook (1949-1950) covering Rahn's leading role in the opera The Barrier; it consists of news clippings, reviews, letters, and telegrams (some from Langston Hughes), programs, and photographs of a touring production. There are also contracts and letters for the 1953 national touring production of Carmen Jones.
A concert singer, Rahn frequently performed recitals of African American, classical, and popular music. The collection contains many pieces of manuscript music, copyist sheets, and music sheets. These include poems authored by Langston Hughes, set to music or arranged by a number of composers, including Hall Johnson, F. Norman, and William Grant Still, many with handwritten dedications to Rahn from Hughes. There are also music scores and sheet music by other authors, some annotated.
Dick Campbell Concerts, Inc., a management company owned by Rahn's husband, is represented by a brochure and promotional flyers portraying images of the artists and press information about them; and sheet music performed by the One World Ensemble, a quartet of vocalists Campbell organized representing four racial and ethnic backgrounds designed to show democratic principles at work. There are also letters regarding the dissolution of the company in 1956.