Scope and arrangement
The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) Photograph Collection depicts some of the Company's activities from 1967 through 1992. The collection consists of production scenes; individual and group portraits of actors, playwrights, and other theatrical personalities; views of its seasonal company members and productions including publicity scenes and actors in rehearsal and off-stage; views of award ceremonies, cast parties and other theatrical events; and shots of administrative, technical and artistic staff.
The Portrait series, comprising most of the collection, consists mainly of publicity photographs with attached resumes of actors who appeared in or may have auditioned for NEC productions including John Amos, Todd Davis, Patti Labelle, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Phylicia Rashad. Also included in the series are individual and group portraits of NEC's founders, Douglas Turner Ward, Robert Hooks, and Gerald Krone; group photos of NEC's first company (1967) and its 1978-1979 troupe; and portraits of playwrights Lonnie Elder III, Charles Fuller, and Leslie Lee. Also included are portraits of two recording executives, one identified as Tony Anderson.
The Production series consists of performance stills and related candid shots of NEC productions including touring companies, some of which are unidentified. The series consists of mostly photographs, but includes some contact sheets. Among the plays represented are "Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, "The River Niger" and "A Soldier's Play." Images include publicity portraits of performers, performance scenes, rehearsal shots, and group portraits of cast members. Documentation of "A Soldier's Play" includes images of three separate productions of the play and a research file containing reproductions of World War II photographs depicting African-American soldiers and airmen which were probably used in planning the production. Also included in this series are images of sets and props for unidentified productions.
The Events series documents the company's fund-raising benefits, anniversary parties and award ceremonies, and consists of photographs, contact sheets and slides. The series includes views of "The First Adolph Caesar Performing Arts Awards" (1987); the presentation of a proclamation to NEC founder Douglas Turner Ward by New York City Mayor Edward Koch and New York City official Carol Bellamy (ca. 1980s); the "Platinum at the Palladium" fund-raising event (n.d.); and slides of an unidentified event featuring singer Phyllis Hyman.
The Miscelleneous series consists of candid and posed portraits of NEC backstage and administrative staff, including Leon Denmark, General Manager of NEC; 41 negatives of identified and unidentifed production scenes and portraits; and shots of NEC advertisements, promotional items and a view of its theater lobby.
The collection does not document the majority of NEC's productions or other activities.