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Creator
Feelings, Tom
Call number
Sc MG 875
Physical description
19.11 linear feet (42 boxes, 3 oversize folders)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Tom Feelings papers, Sc MG 875, 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.Restrictions apply

Tom Feelings was an internationally known artist, children's book illustrator, educator, and activist. The Tom Feelings papers consist mostly of materials related to his art and writing, both published and unpublished.

Biographical/historical information

Tom Feelings was a children's book illustrator, cartoonist, educator, and activist committed to educating people of color through his artwork, books, and lectures.

Born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, in 1933, Feelings was drawn to art at a very young age. From 1951-1953, Feelings attended the Cartoonist and Illustrators School (now School of Visual Arts) in New York City, after which he joined the United States Air Force (1953-1957) as an illustrator in the Graphics Division in London, England. After his service, while continuing his studies at the School of Visual Arts (1958-1960), Feelings created the comic strip, Tommy Traveler in the World of Negro History, which was published in the Harlem-based New York Age, and mostly depicted the urban Black community (the comic strip would be published as a book in 1991). From 1959-1964, he worked as a freelance artist and traveled to New Orleans for Look magazine and The Reporter magazine for featured articles titled "The Negro in the USA" and "Images of the South," respectively. After returning to Brooklyn and being inspired by the children of New Orleans, Feelings shifted his focus to illustrating children and began visiting schools in Bedford-Stuyvesant to encourage children to draw.

In 1964, Feelings moved to Ghana to work as an illustrator for African Review Magazine and to teach illustration at the Ghana Government Publishing House; his work was inspired by the complexity and beauty of Africa. Upon returning to the States in 1966, Feelings began freelance illustration for books of African stories including Bola and the Oba's Drummers (1967), The Tuesday Elephant (1968), and Black Folktales (1969). In 1971, Feelings was invited by the government of Guyana to work as a consultant and teacher for the Ministry of Education; he trained young artists in textbook illustration and oversaw the creation of children's books. Also during this time, Feelings collaborated with his then-wife, Muriel Feelings, on three children's books, Zamani Goes to Market (1970); Jambo Means Hello (1971), a Caldecott Honor Book (1972); and Moja Means One: A Swahili Counting Book (1974), another Caldecott Honor Book (1974). In 1974, Feelings returned to the United States and illustrated and wrote a number of renowned works such as his illustrated autobiography Black Pilgrimage (1972); Something on My Mind, with Nikki Grimes (1978), for which he won the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration; Daydreamers, with Eloise Greenfield (1981), which received a Coretta Scott King Honor Award; Now Sheba Sings the Song with Maya Angelou (1987); and Soul Looks Back in Wonder, with various authors (1993), which received the Coretta Scott King Award for Children's Literature. Feelings is best known, however, for The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo, with an introduction by John Henrik Clarke (1995). While it took him many years to complete the book, the end result is a "wordless book" illustrated in sixty black-and-white narrative paintings. The book, which depicts the reality and horrors of the forced journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean, won Feelings his fourth Coretta Scott King Award in 1995.

Feelings was the recipient of numerous other awards and citations, including an honorary doctorate from the School of Visual Arts in 1996. A documentary based on his life, Head and Heart (1977), written by Jimmie Mannas, won the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award for Best Overall Film and Best Documentary. Feelings exhibited and lectured nationally and internationally; published articles in Journal of African Children's and Youth Literature and The Horn Book Magazine, among others; contributed to other publications such as Junior Great Books (1992) and Talking with Artists by Pat Cummings (1992); and served on various boards and committees, including The Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage and the National Conference of Artists. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Studio Museum in Harlem and Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, among others. In 1990, Feelings moved to South Carolina, where he was a professor of art at the University of South Carolina until 1996. Feelings died of cancer in Mexico in 2003.

Scope and arrangement

The Tom Feelings papers consist of materials related to the personal and professional life of this artist, educator, writer, and activist. Materials include personal papers, such as resumes, a high school yearbook, awards and honors, family correspondence, and a family tree; and correspondence (personal, professional, and fan mail) with such notable individuals as Maya Angelou, Jacob Lawrence, Julian Mayfield, and Sonia Sanchez, among many others. Art and writing makes up the bulk of the collection; files consist of business records related to the sale and marketing of his artwork, publishing contracts, and mailing lists. Additionally, there are reproductions of published artwork, published and unpublished writing (which includes drafts, edited manuscripts, and final printed versions), and writing by other authors. Professional documents include materials related to Feelings's positions in Ghana and Guyana, roles on various boards of directors and committees, participation in conferences and workshops, events (exhibitions, readings, and book signings), and teaching. There is printed matter, which contains reviews of Feelings's various publications, interviews, and various clippings on or about Feelings and his work. Finally, there are subject files of various individuals, organizations, and topics, generally consisting of printed matter and most likely used by Feelings as research for his art and writing.

The Tom Feelings papers are arranged in six series:

  • Personal
    1939-2003
  • Correspondence
    1959-2004

    Since Feelings had both personal and professional relationships with many individuals, there may be some overlap in these two subseries. Most of these files are in the personal subseries, however. In some instances, the personal files only consist of letters sent by Feelings. Professional correspondence mainly consists of correspondence with publishers and agents; galleries and museums regarding exhibitions; institutions seeking lectures or conference participation; requests for interviews; and inquiries for permissions to publish Feelings's artwork. Fan mail contains letters from admirers and books, drawings, and letters from children's classes to which he spoke or visited.

  • Art and writing
    1944-2006

    This series consists of Feelings's artwork and writing, both published and unpublished, and corresponding business records. The Business records contain artist statements, copyright files, expenses, royalties and payments (for publications and speaking engagements), sales of artwork files, contracts, licensing statements, loan agreements, permissions to publish, lists of artworks, certificates of authenticity, marketing materials (press kits, price lists, press releases), exhibition materials (guest books and wall texts), and address lists. The Published subseries contains drafts (many of which are handwritten), manuscripts, mock-ups, and final versions (many of which are photocopies) of Feelings's artwork and writing; some of these files include correspondence with publishers or collaborators. Feelings's artwork, however, is mostly represented by the final printed versions of the publications in which his illustrations were used, whether for a periodical, book, brochure, poster, or card. The majority of this material is composed of various writing drafts for Feelings's two major publications, Black Pilgrimage and The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo. Materials related to the latter publication also include grant applications, marketing materials, and artwork reprints. The bulk of the Unpublished subseries consists of drafts of Feelings's autobiography; some of the writing used in Black Pilgrimage is repeated here. There also is a manuscript titled "The Talent That We Possess," which was an early version of the autobiography that ends with Feelings's stint in the service; most of this manuscript was incorporated into the later, more extensive version. Additionally, there is a large amount of writing on the Middle Passage, possibly intended for a longer publication, or one with more text subject. Feelings's various speeches and lectures also are included in this subseries. The final subseries, Writing by other authors, includes research material and writing (both published and unpublished) by colleagues, friends, and organizations with which he was affiliated.

  • Professional files
    1959-2005

    This series consists of Feelings's professional files, or materials related to employment, service, speaking engagements, exhibitions, and teaching. The Ghana subseries, which is only one folder, contains correspondence regarding Feelings's work as an illustrator. The Guyana subseries includes correspondence, clippings, publications, and a scrapbook related to Feelings's position with the Materials Production Unit (MPU), Ministry of Education. The material in the Committees and boards subseries mostly contains correspondence and printed matter regarding boards and committees in which Feelings participated, such as the National Council of Artists and the Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage, among others. The Conferences and workshops subseries mainly includes correspondence, conference programs, flyers, and posters for conferences and symposia, such as the "Middle Passage: Memory, History, Metaphor" symposium at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History; the UNESCO conference in Benin; and lectures and workshops that were part of Feelings's term as a cultural specialist for the United States Information Service (USIS) in Thailand. The Events subseries includes exhibition programs and flyers and posters for readings and signings. Finally, the Teaching and residencies subseries is mostly related to Feelings's time at the University of South Carolina; this material contains correspondence, meeting minutes, and syllabi. Additionally, there is a report that Feelings wrote after his residency at the National Book Foundation and United Neighborhood Houses' Settlement House.

  • Printed matter
    1949-2004

    This series contains reviews of Feelings's publications and exhibitions and general printed matter on or about Feelings (interviews, newspaper clippings, and articles).

  • Subject files
    1919-2004

    This series mostly contains printed matter related to various individuals, organizations, and topics, the majority of which was used by Feelings as research for his work. Some publications, mostly periodicals, are included in the Individuals and organizations subseries. In some cases, the subjects are friends and colleagues of Feelings, organizations with which he was affiliated, or topics in which he was interested.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchased from Kamili Feelings, executor of the Tom Feelings Estate, 2010.

Processing information

Processed by Lauren Stark, 2022.

Separated material

Transferred to the Art and Artifacts Division: posters and drawings.

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

Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.

Related Material

Head and Heart: Tom Feelings [motion picture] / edited and directed by Jimmie Mannas, Sc Visual VRA-224, Moving Image and Record Sound Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Tom Feelings artwork, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Archives at Yale University

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

Access restrictions

Student files closed until 50 years after most recent date; materials with personally identifying information have been redacted.