Descriptive Summary: b&w, a compilation reel created by Ernie Smith
1. "Sweet Sue"
Copyright: 1929
Performer(s): George "Shorty" Snowden and dancers; Hotfoot Bennett and Lizzie Highfly, Albert Hemingway and Buzz Saw Mamie, Shorty Stump and Liza Underdunk, George Snowden, Chick Webb Orchestra
2. Dance contest at Savoy Ballroom
Descriptive Summary: silent
Copyright: 1938
Corporate Creator: Paramount News Feature
Performer(s): Leon James and the Roy Eldridge Orchestra
3. Life in Harlem-A Documentary Film of American's Negro Metropolis
Descriptive Summary: Savoy ballroom scene, excerpt from 491.13
Copyright: 1940
Corporate Creator: Harry M. Popkin
Producer: Edward W. Lewis
4. A Day at the Races, excerpt
Descriptive Summary: Barn dance scene
Copyright: 1937
Corporate Creator: MGM
Producer: Sam Wood
Director: Sam Wood
Performer(s): The Marx Brothers
5. "The Shag"
Copyright: 1937
Descriptive Summary: Arthur Murray and four couples demonstrate the Shag
6. Eight Raggle Taggles
Copyright: 1939
Corporate Creator: Pictoreel
7. "Broome Street"
Copyright: 1941
Performer(s): Glen Gray, Casa Loma Orchestra and the Broome Street Dancers
8. "The Arts - Swing King Gives Benefit Concert"
Descriptive Summary: described by Andre Baruch, silent
9. "Jive - The dance of the Rising Generation"
Performer(s): British Lindy Hoppers
10. "Hot Chocolate" (REVERSE IMAGE)
Copyright: 1941
Corporate Creator: Soundie
Producer: Sam Coslow
Director: Josef Berne
Performer(s): Whitey's Lindy Hoppers including Frank Manning, Al Minns, Billy Ricker, Norma Miller, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with solos by Ben Webster and Harry Carney, "Cottontail"
11. "Sugar Hill Masquerade" (REVERSE IMAGE)
Copyright: 1942 Performance Date:
Corporate Creator: Soundie, Monoco Productions
Performer(s): Hot Lips Fuller and Rubber Arms Marshall, Walter Fuller and Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, Gene Krupa Orchestra with Roy Eldridge
Song Title(s): "After You've Gone"
12. Lindy Hoppers
Copyright: 1943
Performer(s): Leon James and others, Cootie Williams Orchestra
13. The Big Apple
Copyright: 1943
Performer(s): Whitey's Lindy Hoppers incl. Frank Manning, Norma Miller, Al Minns
14. Jammin' the Blues, excerpt
Descriptive Summary: excerpt from the movie
Copyright: 1944
Corporate Creator: Warner Brothers
Producer: Gordan Hollingshead
Director: Gjon Mili
Performer(s): dancers: Marie Bryant, Archie Savage, musicians: Lester Young, Ilinois Jacquet, Harry Edison, Jo Jones, Barney Kessel, Marlowe Morris, Gene Ramey
15. "Twelfth Street Rag", excerpt
Copyright: 1964
Performer(s): Al Minns and Leon James
16. "I'm Gonna Rock It Up at the Ball Tonight"
Copyright: 1950
Performer(s): Billy Haley and His Comets
17. The Sensational Congaroos
Copyright: 1948
Performer(s): Frank Manning and others introduced by Andy Kirk
18. Hellzapoppin', excerpt
Copyright: 1941
Corporate Creator: Universal
Producer: Jules Levy
Director: H.C. Potter
Performer(s): choreographed by Nick Castle and Frank Manning
Video reference copy
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the films are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
America's Jazz Heritage: A Partnership of the The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and the Smithsonian Institution provided the funding to produce many of the video master and reference copies.
Descriptive Summary: 498f., an Ernie Smith composite reel:
1. George "Shorty" Snowden and Dancers
Copyright: 1929
Performer(s): Chick Webb's Orchestra, George Snowden, dancers
Song Title(s): "Sweet Sue"
Descriptive Summary: dance contest, Snowden as emcee, three couples dance, see also 491.7-1
2. Paramount News: Harlem Hoofers Fry Their Corns
Descriptive Summary: dance contest in Harlem, no sound track
3. Cotton Club
Performer(s): Cora LaRedd and the Claude Hopkins Orchestra, Nina Mae McKinney, Milton Berle
Song Title(s): a. "Everybody's Truckin", LaRedd and Hopkins Orchestra b. Male comedy dancer c. "Good for Nothing Joe", vocals by McKinney d. Milton Berle e. Female dance routine
4. Cab Calloway's 'Jitterbug's Party'
Copyright: 1935
Corporate Creator: Paramount Pictures, UM&M TV Corp.
Producer: Adolph Zuckor
Director: Fred Waller
Performer(s): Cab Calloway
Song Title(s): a. "'Long About Midnight" b. "Call of the Jitterbugs"
Video reference copy available.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the films are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
America's Jazz Heritage: A Partnership of the The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and the Smithsonian Institution provided the funding to produce many of the video master and reference copies.
The collection documents the customs and culture of black gospel song and its performance in 19th- and 20th-century America. Dr. Reagon collected photographs, sheet music, and other primary and secondary sources chronicling the development and legacy of this medium, from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement, from blues to Gospel to classical to jazz.
Among the subjects included in this collection are trailblazers such as Charles Tindley, Thomas A. Dorsey, Rosetta Tharpe, Duke Ellington, and Nathaniel Dett. Noted performers are the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Harmonizing Four, the Hampton University Choir, and the Chick Webb Orchestra.
Scope and Contents:
The Bernice Johnson Reagon Collection of the African American Sacred Music Tradition documents the music, and the society, history, and customs from which it emerged. The materials were collected by Dr. Reagon during her tenure as Director of the Program in Black American Culture, Curator, and Curator Emerita at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (1977-1997). The records span the nineteenth century and greater part of the twentieth century. The collection is important because it allows an understanding of the interconnectivity of African American musical forms. Gospel, Jazz, and Protest Songs document the African experience in America through verse and melody. Dr. Reagon collected photographs, sheet music and other primary and secondary sources chronicling the development of African American sacred music tradition from its birth during the period of slavery through the creation of concert spiritual, gospel music, jazz and the performance of protest song in the century following Emancipation.
The records, which measure approximately six linear feet, contain photographs, sheet music, and what Dr. Reagon calls "cultural files" pertaining to figures in, types of, and history of African American music. The cultural file material formats include book, news and magazine articles, programs, bio-sketches, and music. Information about personalities such as Marian Anderson, La Verne Baker, Dorothy Love Coates, Nathaniel Dett, Thomas Dorsey, Frederick Douglass, Duke Ellington, and the Golden Gate Quartet are contained among the collection materials. Also, there are items on gospel trailblazers such as Charles Tindley, Thomas A. Dorsey, and Rosetta Tharpe. In addition, the collection features materials connected to historians and other scholars who participated in a number of teams Reagon organized to carry out specific research initiatives in sacred music traditions and the larger African American experience.
The collection, which was arranged by Dr. Reagon and staff, consists of four parts: a cultural file, a sheet music file, a photography file, and a negative file. The cultural file includes primary documents such as programs from historic performances, personal letters, press releases, and programs from scholarly conferences as well as secondary materials such as journal articles, excerpts from books, and biographical notes. The photography (and negative) files contain photographs of performers and scholars who have participated in the evolution of the African American sacred music tradition. The sheet music file encompasses songbooks and individual pieces of music.
Series 1: Cultural Files, ca. 1836 - 1994: The bulk of materials date from the 1920's to the 1960's. Four document boxes of materials which relate to prominent personalities, groups and events that contributed to the popularization of African American sacred music. Also included in this series is information on slave songs, the Civil War, the Black Church, the Civil Rights Movement, and popular music culture.
Series 2: Sheet Music, ca. 1901 - 1993: The bulk of materials date from the 1900's to the 1950's. Three document boxes of sacred music sheets and songbooks including concert, spiritual, and gospel arrangements. Also included are a few popular compositions, some written by classically trained musicians.
Series 3: Negative Files, ca. 1880's - 1993: The bulk of the materials ranges from 1940 to 1965. Two boxes document boxes of photographic negatives depicting gospel music performers and performances. Included .are contact sheets and individual negatives of varying sizes.
Series 4: Photographs and Illustrations, ca. 1822 - 1993: The bulk of materials range from the 1900's to the 1980's. Eight document boxes of photographs featuring gospel performers, performances, sacred rituals, sacred organizations, Civil Rights activity , and gospel music conferences (primarily black and white).
Biographical / Historical:
Bernice Johnson Reagon, noted vocalist, musician, curator, historian, writer and civil rights activist, provided the impetus for the Smithsonian Institution's research into African American sacred song and music traditions from 1977 until ca. 1997.
Dr. Reagon was born October 2, 1942 to a rural Georgia Baptist minister (Jesse Johnson) and his wife (Beatrice Wise) whose religious influence is evident in her research and performance style. She came of age during the 1960's Civil Rights era, and was a Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singer. The SNCC Freedom Singers were an African American group whose vocal singing style was an integral element in the civil rights struggles. The Singers traveled throughout the country performing protest songs such as "We Shall Not Be Moved" and "This Little Light of Mine". Their songs reflected the Black church theology of the era, emphasizing freedom, long denied, but fervently sought by civil rights activists and the people they represented.
At one march, Reagon was jailed along with hundreds of other demonstrators. This experience taught her the importance of music as a political act. Reagon reflected on this in the book We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey in the Rock... She founded Sweet Honey in the Rock, a highly regarded female a capella ensemble dedicated to performing traditional music of the African diaspora in 1973, started working full time at the Smithsonian Institution in 1974, and earned a Ph. D. from Howard University in 1975.
Reagon's life has combined political activism with music and cultural history. She began directing the Smithsonian's Program in Black American Culture in 1976. In 1988 she became a curator at the National Museum of American History and after retirement in 1993 continued her work in African American songs of protest and sacred traditions as a curator emeritus at the Smithsonian and a distinguished professor at American University.
Dr. Reagon has authored and edited numerous publications including, We'll Understand It Better By and By: African American Pioneering Gospel Composers, (Smithsonian Press, 1992) and We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey in the Rock...Still on the Journey (Anchor Books, 1993). She was principal scholar, producer and host of the National Public Radio series "Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions (1994). Dr. Reagon has served as consultant composer and performer for several film and video projects including programs for PBS,"Eye on the Prize" (Blackside Productions) and "We Shall Overcome" (Ginger Productions), and has won a number of awards for her scholarship and pioneering work (MacArthur Fellowship, 1989; the Charles Frankel Prize,1995 and the Isadora Duncan award, 1996).
Provenance:
Collection donated by Bernice Johnson Reagon.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Description: Original audio cassette, probably transferred from a transcription disc, of a radio broadcast from Southland Cafe in Boston
Corporate Creator: NBC
Performers: Chick Webb Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald
Song Titles:
"Chick Webb Theme"
"Let's Get Together"
"Poor Little Rich Girl"
"A New Moon and Old Serenade"
"Break 'Em Down"
" If I Didn't Care"
"Stars and Stripes Forever"
"I Never Knew Heaven Could Speak"
"My Wild Irish Rose"
"Chew, Chew, Chew, Chew Your Bubble Gum"
"Chick Webb Theme"
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.Only reference copies of audiovisual materials can be used.
Reference cassettes exist for the following audio discs: AC0584-OD0001 - AC0584-OD0088.
Collection Rights:
The Archives Center can provide reproductions of some materials for research and educational use. Copyright and right to publicity restrictions apply and limit reproduction for other purposes. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Ella Fitzgerald Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection, 1900-2012, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection, 1900-2012, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection, 1900-2012, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection, 1900-2012, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection, 1900-2012, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Collection is open for research. Only reference copies of audiovisual materials can be used.
Collection Rights:
The Archives Center can provide reproductions of some materials for research and educational use. Copyright and right to publicity restrictions apply and limit reproduction for other purposes. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Ella Fitzgerald Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
