Recorded by Moses Moon (known at the time as Alan Ribback) and assisted by Norris McNamara during 1963 and 1964, the collection includes audio recordings of interviews with civil rights leaders and participants as well as free-style recordings of mass meetings, voter registration events, and other gatherings organized by Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This collection provides a mostly unfiltered documentation of significant moments in the civil rights movement.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 115 reel to reel audio recordings containing interviews, mass meetings, demonstrations, and conversations concerning the civil rights movement, and in particular the voter registration drives organized by SNCC in Alabama and Mississippi in 1963 and 1964. Mass meetings were recorded in Greenwood, Mississippi; Americus, Georgia; Selma, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; Danville, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Indianola, Mississippi. Major demonstrations recorded include the March on Washington in August of 1963, Freedom Day in Selma, Alabama in October of 1963, and Freedom Day in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in January of 1964. Interviews with SNCC workers include Julian Bond, John Lewis, James Forman, Bruce Gordon, Prathia Hall, Ivanhoe Donaldson, Bob Moses, Avery Williams, Willie Peacock, Bruce Boynton and his mother, as well as dozens of others involved in the movement, who are named in the collection inventory. Many of those interviewed were actively involved in strategizing and carrying out SNCC demonstrations and political actions, and many were victims of death threats, beatings, unlawful arrest, police brutality, and torture and abuse in prison. These interviews contain detailed eyewitness accounts and personal testimony regarding these experiences, as well as personal history and thoughts about the movement, the South, and the future.
It is clear from what we know of the dates and locations of these recordings, as well as from documentation of these events in other sources, that many of these recordings are unique documents of important events in American history, which may also contain the commentary of important political and cultural figures who were involved in the movement. For example, an article by Howard Zinn recounts how an unidentified man recorded James Baldwin on October 7, 1963, Freedom Day in Selma, on the steps of the courthouse. Baldwin was furious at the lack of support from nearby federal agents as state troopers advanced on peaceful demonstrators. One of the tapes dated October 7, 1963, originally labeled "courthouse interviews," appears to be this recoding, although Baldwin is not named. The same article (available in The Howard Zinn Reader) recounts the mass meetings which led up to that demonstration, at which actor Dick Gregory gave a rousing sermon as his wife sat in jail for demonstrating in Selma. The Moses Moon Collection may be the only existing audio recording of that sermon as well as many other sermons and speeches.
Moses Moon changed his name after these recordings were made. He is referred to in the finding aid as Alan Ribback because that name is used on the recordings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in two series.Series 1 is in chronological order to the degree recording dates can be determined, and is based on the locations and dates provided by Moon in his description or gleaned from the recordings themselves and other secondary sources. Series 1 contains 17 groups of recordings.
Moon's original numbers are recorded in the column next to the descriptions. Following the first four Greenwood tapes, which are numbered sequentially, Moon's numbering system took the first two letters of the town in which the recordings were made, a one (1), a decimal, and then a tape number. Numbers preceding the town code refer to the recording day. "N" numbers were later assigned by Moon to the 7" reels only, after the original recordings were made, possibly during editing or when the tapes were made available to the Program in African American Culture.
Series 1, Original Tapes
1. Greenwood, Mississippi; Spring 1963; 4 7" reels
2. Chicago, Illinois; August 9, 12, 1963; 2 5" reels
16. Monroe County, Mississippi; August 1, 1964; 4 5" reels
17. Milton, Mississippi; August 16, 1964; 3 5" reels
Series 2, Preservation Masters consists of data DVDs for a portion of the collection.
Biographical / Historical:
Moses Moon was born Alan Ribback in 1928. During the 1950s until 1962, Ribback was the proprietor of the Gate of Horn, Chicago's premier folk music club, which featured performers including Bob Gibson, Odetta, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Jo Mapes, Peter, Paul and Mary, Lenny Bruce, and Shelley Berman. On December 5, 1962, Lenny Bruce was arrested during a performance at the Gate of Horn along with Ribback, George Carlin, and others. As a result of the arrest and Bruce's subsequent conviction for obscenity, the club was closed by the City of Chicago, and Ribback left Chicago with Norris McNamara, an audio technician, to record folk concerts taking place in the South as part of the growing civil rights movement. From the spring of 1963 until the summer of 1964, Ribback and McNamara recorded demonstrations and mass meetings and interviewed civil rights activists, primarily those involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Later, Ribback moved to New York and edited his recordings into an album called Movement Soul. Ribback married Delia Moon in 1971, took her last name and changed his first name to Moses. In 1979, Bernice Reagon Johnson, working with the Program on African American Culture at the Smithsonian, contacted Moon and borrowed the recordings of mass meetings for a 1980 program on the voices of the civil rights movement. In the late 1980s, Moon was stricken with a severe case of Guillain-Barre syndrome, which left him paralyzed. Moon donated the entire collection of original recordings shortly before his death in 1993.
Related Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations
The papers of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee are held by the King Library and Archives in Atlanta, Georgia; archives@thekingcenter.org.
Provenance:
Donated by Moses and Delia Moon in 1995.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Reference copies must be used. Tapes noted in the container list have digital reference copies in the Smithsonian Institution Digital Asset Management System (DAMS).
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but copyright status unknown. Contact Archives Center staff for additional information. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
African American civil rights workers. Search this
Moses Moon Civil Rights Movement Audio Collection, 1963-1964, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Partial funding for preservation and duplication of the original audio tapes provided by a National Museum of American History Collections Committee Jackson Fund Preservation Grant.
The bulk of this collection contains affidavits and legal papers filed in civil action suits which document acts of violence committed against Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) workers between 1961 and 1964. All activity documented occurred in Mississippi, and much of the violence that occurred was inflicted by police and white civilians. Also contained in this collection are materials relating to COFO, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, comprising a mission statement, and a document sent to the SNCC organization pertaining to voter registration of African-Americans living in Mississippi, all of which reflect the effort of the MFDP to have African-American Congressmen elected in Mississippi.
The last item in the half document box is a pamphlet entitled "Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story." Created in cartoon format, it appears to target a younger audience.
The oversize box contains Civil Rights newspapers published in Mississippi. Included are issues of "The Kudzu," the "Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Newsletter," and the AMississippi Free Press."
This primary source material from COFO and MFDP help document the massive, non-violent struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi in the early 1960's. The collection confirms evidence of backlash demonstrated by intolerance and violence that occurred as a result of this struggle.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into one series.
Biographical / Historical:
The Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) arose from the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), founded in 1960 to coordinate student sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina and elsewhere. COFO, was organized by Robert Moses in 1961, to secure the release of Freedom Riders in Mississippi. Many COFO workers were originally members of SNCC. COFO's goal was to increase the percentage of registered African-American voters in Mississippi, from the low 7% that existed in 1964.
In the summer of 1964, COFO was a key player in the organization of the Mississippi Summer Project. Prior to the summer, many white and African-American students, primarily from the South and the Northeast, organized to lead demonstrations, and to create political awareness among the large African-American population in Mississippi. During the summer, COFO was successful in setting up "freedom schools" and community centers throughout the state. This encouraged the emergence of young leaders who would teach African-Americans to articulate their needs and discontents within the existing socio-political structure in Mississippi. This activity, however, produced a severe white backlash, and many acts of violence occurred against COFO workers. These actions, many of them police instigated, are documented in this collection through affidavits and other legal documents on civil action.
Another accomplishment of COFO was the establishment of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. The MFDP enrolled the majority of African-Americans who were systematically denied access to the delegate selection process of the regular Mississippi Democratic Party (MDP). The MFDP organized itself along the same lines, contained many of the same rules, and divided into the same Congressional districts as the MDP. MFDP's goal, however, was to contest seats in Congress traditionally held by white Mississippians, in order to create a more equal representation of the state as a whole.
Edwin King was a white Methodist minister originally from Vicksburg, MI. Although raised with a traditional Mississippi upbringing, he had the opportunity, while attending Milsap College, to work with black students from Tougaloo College. This had a profound influence on his life. When he and his wife were graduated from Milsap College in the early '50's, they attended Boston University for graduate studies in seminary and social work, respectively, and decided that they could no longer live in the South. They were conscientious objectors to the racist attitudes of their neighbors and did not want to confront them (the neighbors or the attitudes). However, this was changed by a serendipitous dinner with Reverend Abernathy. Reverend King and several others were having dinner at a black restaurant in Montgomery, Alabama when everyone in the party was arrested. From that time, Reverend King and his wife were deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Ed King on September 17, 1996.
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.
Von Mohrenschildt, Dimitri Sergius, 1902-2002 Search this
Extent:
8.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Diaries
Motion pictures (visual works)
Sketches
Sketchbooks
Photographs
Date:
circa 1920s-circa 1973
Summary:
The William Christopher papers measure 8.2 linear feet and date from circa 1920s to circa 1973. Materials include biographical materials, correspondence, writings and notes, five diaries, subject/project files, printed materials, photographs, numerous sketches and eleven sketchbooks, and five short film reels containing amateur footage of New York City. The subject/project files include correspondence, printed materials, and two additional diaries about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Scope and Contents:
The William Christopher papers measure 8.2 linear feet and date from circa 1920s to circa 1973. Materials include biographical materials, correspondence, writings and notes, five diaries, subject/project files, printed materials, photographs, numerous sketches and eleven sketchbooks, and five reels of motion picture films, consisting of amateur footage of New York City. The subject/project files include correspondence, printed materials, and two additional diaries about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Biographical materials include address books, annotated memorabilia, awards and certificates, curriculum vitae and resume materials, and identification materials. Correspondence is with friends and fellow artists, including actress Osceola Archer and Henry Crapo, galleries, and others. Writings and notes include eleven notebooks, miscellaneous undated notes and papers, annotated drafts and writings by William Christopher, and writings by others. There are five diaries written by William Christopher from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Subject files document miscellaneous projects in which Christopher was involved and/or interested, and include several about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. containing correspondence, printed material, and two diaries written by Christopher during his attendance of the Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery.
Scattered personal business papers concern artwork sold and loaned and personal finances. Printed materials include clippings, exhibition catalogs and materials, magazines and programs, and posters. Photographs are of William Christopher, Henry Crapo, Margaret French, Charles Howard, Bernard Perlin, George Tooker, male models and figures, furniture, landscapes, buildings, and artwork.
Christopher's papers include over one hundred sketches and watercolors, eleven sketchbooks, an artwork by Dimitri Von Mohrenshildt, and one sketch by George Tooker. Also found among the papers are five film reels made by Christopher for an unfinished project, containing footage of New York City cityscapes and street scenes.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 10 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1940s-circa 1973 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1947-circa 1973 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1947-1970 (0.4 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 4: Diaries, circa 1940s-circa 1960s (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Series 5: Subject Files, 1943-1972 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 4, 9)
Series 6: Personal Business Records, circa 1950-circa 1972 (0.3 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1950s-circa 1972 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 4-5, 9, OV12)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1920s-circa 1970s (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 6, 8, MGP 4)
Series 9: Artwork and Sketchbooks, circa 1940s-circa 1970s (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 6-8, OV10-11, 13-18)
Series 10: Unidentified Project, Motion Picture Films, 1961 (0.5 linear feet; FC 19-23)
Biographical / Historical:
William Christopher was a painter, art instructor, and Civil Rights activist living and working in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont. He was born in Columbus, Georgia on March 4, 1924, and served in the U. S. Navy from 1941 to 1943.
Aided by grants and scholarships, Christopher studied in France at the Sorbonne, Academie Julian, and the Ecoles d'Art Americaines between 1946-1948. While there, he also studied with Ossip Zadkine. He returned to New York and studied with Amedee Ozenfant and Hans Hofmann between 1948 and 1950.
Christopher's painting was greatly influenced by his time spent in Paris and New York, and his later involvement with the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the march in Selma in 1965. His first U. S. solo exhibition was in 1952 at the Roko Gallery in New York, and he exhibited widely in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C. at the Nexus Gallery, the Boston Arts Festival, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Joan Peterson Gallery, Galeria Juana Mordo, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. In 1964, Christopher was invited to present his paintings to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the presentation of Dr. King's papers to Boston University. This is where Christopher met King.
Christopher moved to Hartland, Vermont in 1960, with his partner painter George Tooker. He remained there for the rest of his life. Christopher died in 1973.
Provenance:
William Christopher donated his papers to the Archives of American Art in 1972.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and not served to researchers.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection primarily consists of greeting cards and postcards but also includes political literature and a high school diploma relating to African Americans and their history and culture in American society.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents African American people, their history, and culture in American Society. Most of the materials are greeting cards and postcards. These materials contain both positive and negative images of African Americans with a few items illustrating how white society portrayed them for mainstream culture. Most of the materials, however, are intended for the African American consumer market and present black people and their customs in a more favorable light. Many of the images are of people that were considered the leaders of the black community including political, religious, and cultural figures. It is also notable for the holidays and events in African American history that are documented. There are also hand-held fans used as advertisements on one side and images of black Americans on the other side. In addition, there is a high school diploma, political literature, and sheet music. The bulk of the material was created after 1960 with images of events and people dating from the turn of the 20th century.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Susie Paige, a Philadelphia bookseller, collected the materials over three decades.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Program in African American Culture NMAH.AC0408
African American Portrait Tintypes NMAH.AC0515
African American Snapshots NMAH.AC0732
African American Cosmetic and Food Label Collection NMAH.AC0480
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, subject Afro-Americana NMAH.AC0060
African American Family Photograph Collection NMAH.AC1127
Scurlock Studio Records NMAH.AC0618
David Hoffman/Boaz Postcard Collection NMAH.AC0281
Provenance:
National Museum of American History purchased the collection from Susie Paige, of the Corner Store, in 1985. The collection includes a single card (circa 1918) and a rhyme book donated by Mr. Russell C. Carey.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
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.
James Baldwin was a writer and an activist and is one of the most prominent voices from his generation to bring light to issues of racial and sexual discrimination. This collection contains correspondence, photographs, manuscripts, and awards. The collection provides insight into his family, writing process, and travels during his lifetime.
Scope and Contents:
The James Baldwin Collection provides insight into Baldwin's life as a writer and activist. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, manuscripts, and awards. A significant portion of the collection are photographs by photojournalist Frank Dandridge. The collection focuses on Baldwin's grade school educational career, his writing process, as well as his thoughts about social equality and civil rights.
Arrangement:
The materials in this collection have been kept at the folder level and separated into six series. The materials have been ordered and organized based on the content. Series 6 has been broken down into a smaller subseries dedicated to the Frank Dandridge photographic prints. Series 8: Oversize Materials acts as an extension of the first five series, with materials that could not be housed with their corresponding materials due to size constraints. Within each series and subseries, the folders are organized as close to the collection's original order as when it was acquired.
Biographical Sketch:
James Arthur Baldwin (1924–1987) was born in Harlem, New York, on August 2, 1924, to Emma Berdis Jones, originally from Princess Anne, Maryland. He was reared by his mother and stepfather David Baldwin, whom Baldwin referred to as his father and whom he describes as extremely strict. He did not know his biological father. As the oldest of nine children, Baldwin took seriously the responsibility of being a big brother and his mother's right hand. He cared for and protected his three younger brothers and five sisters in a household governed by the rigid rules of their father, a Baptist preacher, originally from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, Baldwin, himself, became a preacher at the Fireside Pentecostal Assembly, where he developed a celebrated preaching style. Baldwin's brief experience in the church would have a sustained impact on his rhetorical style and on the themes, symbols, and biblical allusions in his writings. Baldwin's Pentecostal experience is, in fact, essential to understanding his complex views on Christianity, which he espoused in his speeches and publications. His experience would also serve in part as the underpinnings of his stance on religion. In The Fire Next Time, Baldwin proclaims, "If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, it is time we got rid of Him."
During his early teen years, Baldwin attended Frederick Douglass Junior High School, where he met his French teacher and mentor Countee Cullen, who achieved prominence as a poet of the Harlem Renaissance. Baldwin went on to DeWitt Clinton High School, where he edited the school newspaper The Magpie and participated in the literary club, just as Cullen had done when he was a student there. By high school graduation, he had met his close friends at DeWitt Clinton—Richard Avedon, Emile Capouya, and Sol Stein.
The 1940s marked several turning points in Baldwin's life. In 1942, he graduated from high school, and a year later he witnessed the New York Race Riots and experienced the death of his father. After this emotional loss, Baldwin felt more than ever it was important to play father figure to his siblings. He worked at menial jobs during the day, and at night he played guitar in Greenwich Village cafes and wrote long hours, trying to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer.
In 1944, Baldwin met Richard Wright, whose written work spoke to his heart and who would also become a mentor. Baldwin appreciated Wright's strong opinions about race in America, and he greatly valued their intellectual exchange. Wright helped Baldwin to obtain a fellowship to write his first novel, which enabled him to leave for Paris in 1948, where the older writer had relocated a few years earlier. However, the two were often at odds about the ways in which they approached race in their work. Baldwin wrote three essays explicating his critique of Wright's "protest art." This conflict eventually led to the demise of their friendship.
In 1948, at age twenty-four, Baldwin left the United States to live in Paris, France, as he could not tolerate the racial and sexual discrimination he experienced on a daily basis. Professor Kendall Thomas of Columbia Law School explains that Baldwin left his country because of racism and Harlem because of homophobia--two aspects of his identity that made him a frequent target of beatings by local youth and the police. Years later, when asked about his departure, Baldwin explained in a Paris Review interview: "My luck was running out. I was going to go to jail, I was going to kill somebody or be killed" (1984). In Paris, Baldwin began to interact with other writers. He reconnected with Richard Wright, and for the first time, he met Maya Angelou, with whom he maintained a close relationship.
Baldwin would spend the next forty years abroad, where he wrote and published most of his works. Between 1960 and 1970, Baldwin lived regularly in Istanbul, Turkey. Still, the violence and assassinations in the United States during the politically turbulent 1960s took an emotional toll on Baldwin. After the assassination of his three friends—Medgar Evers in 1963, Malcolm X in 1965, and Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968—Baldwin suffered an emotional breakdown and eventually moved to the South of France to recuperate. In 1970, he settled in a house in the village of St. Paul de Vence, where he would live the rest of his life.
During his years abroad, Baldwin returned to the United States frequently and considered himself a "transatlantic commuter." In 1955, he signed a lease for an apartment at 63 West 97th Street in New York, and from the mid 1960s on, he maintained a home at 137 West 71st Street in Manhattan. When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, Baldwin was actually living in California. Many of Baldwin's extended visits were to spend time with his large and beloved family and to participate in Civil Rights Movement events. He attended the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. Baldwin also participated in literary events, such as the 1965 conference titled "The Negro Writer's Vision of America" sponsored by the New School of Social Research in New York. During his presentation, Baldwin addressed the conference theme, stating, "I know a story which America denies. And it denies it for the very good reason that my story, once told, confronts it with the truth about itself. In fact, my story, once told, will liberate America. The possibility of liberation—the necessity of becoming responsible for one's own life—is what most people most profoundly fear."
Baldwin passed away on November 30, 1987, in his house in St. Paul de Vence after a short battle with stomach cancer. A week later, he was laid to rest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery in New York. Family members and friends participated in a large service during which Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, and Maya Angelou delivered touching remarks about their friend and brother. Angelou stated that Baldwin's love "opened the unusual door for me, and I am blessed that James Baldwin was my brother."
Literary and Civil Rights Timeline
1924 -- Born August 2nd
1938 -- Graduates from Frederick Douglass Junior High School, where his early ambitions in writing were encouraged by his teacher Countee Cullen, the Harlem Renaissance poet
1942 -- Graduates from DeWitt Clinton High School, where he was a member of the literary club and edited the school newspaper The Magpie
1944 -- Meets writer Richard Wright, who refers Baldwin's first draft of Go Tell It On The Mountain to Harper and Brothers publishing house
1945 -- Receives a $500.00 Saxton Fellowship from Harper and Brothers; the first draft of Go Tell It On The Mountain is rejected by Harper and Doubleday; Baldwin begins writing reviews for The Nation and The New Leader
1947 -- Publishes essay "History as Nightmare" in The New Leader
1948 -- Publishes essay "The Harlem Ghetto" and short story "Previous Condition" in Commentary; Baldwin moves to Paris
1949 -- Publishes "Everybody's Protest Novel," in which he critics Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Richard Wright's Native Son; jailed in Paris for eight days for theft (falsely accused of stealing hotel bed sheets)
1951 -- Publishes "Many Thousands Gone" in the Partisan Review; attack on Richard Wright leads to breakup; Baldwin completes Go Tell It On the Mountain in Switzerland, where he stayed three months with Swiss friend and lover Lucien Happersberger
1953 -- Publishes "Stranger in the Village" in Harper's Magazine; the essay is based on his stay in Switzerland
1954 -- Wins Guggenheim Fellowship; attends MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire
1955 -- Attends Yadao, an artists' community in Sarasota Springs, New York; revises Amen Corner during Howard University rehearsals and publishes it the same year; also publishes the collection of essays Notes of a Native Son and an autobiographical narrative "Equal in Paris," about being jailed in Paris in 1949, originally published in Commentary magazine
1956 -- Publishes Giovanni's Room with Dial Press; accepts National Institute of Arts and Letters Award and a Partisan Review fellowship; covers First Conference of Negro and African Writers and Artists at the Sorbonne, sponsored by Presence Africanize
1957 -- Publishes "Sonny's Blues" in the Partisan Review; Travels to the South on assignment for the Partisan Review, where he interviews student protests and meets with Martin Luther King, Jr.
1959 -- Awarded a two-year Ford Foundation grand to complete Another Country; Interviews film director Ingmar Bergman in Sweden; publishes essay "A Letter From the South: Nobody Knows My Name" in the Partisan Review ; apprentice on Elia Kazan's productions of Sweet Bird of Youth and J.B.
1960 -- Covers sit-ins in Tallahassee, Florida; interviews student at Florida A & M; published "They Can't Turn Back" in Mademoiselle Magazine; Richard Wright dies suddenly
1961 -- Publishes second collection of essays Nobody Knows My Name, Dial Press; publishes the essay "Alas, Poor Richard," another scathing critic of Richard Wright's work; appears on radio and television to promote Nobody Knows My Name and to speak about civil rights; meets Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X; completes Another Country; Swiss television produces "Stranger in the Village"; publishes the "Black Boy Looks at the White Boy"; makes first visit to Turkey at the invitation of Turkish actor Engin Cezzar
1962 -- Publishes Another Country, Dial Press, and it becomes a national best seller; Baldwin travels to West Africa; "Letter from a Region in My Mind" published in The New Yorker, later printed in The Fire Next Time as "Down at the Cross"
1963 -- Publishes The Fire Next Time to national acclaim; appears on the cover of May 17th issue of Time magazine; NAACP Field Secretary and friend Medgar Evers is assassinated on June 12 outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi; starts lecture tour for CORE in the South and the North; registers voters in Alabama for SNCC; wins Polk Memorial Award for outstanding magazine journalism; participates in March on Washington; travels to Nairobi, Kenya, with Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier to celebrate Kenya's independence
1964 -- Elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters; publishes the play Blues for Mr. Charlie, Dial Press, and theater production of Blues for Mr. Charlie appears at the historic American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) in New York; publishes Nothing Personal with photographer and high school friend Richard Avedon, Atheneum Books
1965 -- Debates William F. Buckley at Cambridge and receives standing ovation for his response to "Is the American Dream at the Expense of the American Negro?"; Malcolm X is assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity; Baldwin attends Selma to Montgomery March; publishes Going to Meet the Man, Dial Press; The play The Amen Corner is performed in New York, Israel, and Europe
1968 -- Publishes the novel Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, Dial Press; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; Baldwin speaks at the World Council of Churches in Sweden against apartheid in South Africa; testifies at a Congressional hearing in support of a commission to establish a national museum of African American history and culture; receives personal attacks from Soul on Ice author Eldridge Cleaver
1969 -- Publishes New York Times article "The Price May Be Too High" about black writers in a white publishing industry; directs John Herbert's "Fortune and Men's Eyes" in Istanbul, Turkey
1970 -- Becomes the subject of photographs and a short film From Another Place , both by Sedat Pakay in Istanbul; holds conversations with anthropologist Margaret Mead titled "A Rap On Race"
1971 -- Baldwin and anthropologist Margaret Mead publish the transcript of conversations held in New York in 1970 in a co-authored book titled A Rap On Race; publishes "An Open Letter to My Sister Angela Davis" in New York Times Review of Books; moves to a house in St. Paul de Vence in the South of France
1972 -- Publishes No Name In The Street, Dial Press; publishes the screenplay One Day When I Was Lost, based on Alex Haley's bestselling classic The Autobiography of Malcolm X .
1973 -- Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates secures rare interview with James Baldwin and Josephine Baker together in James Baldwin's house in St. Paul de Vence, France; Baldwin appears with television host and poet Nikki Giovanni on "Soul," and the transcript is published as a dialogue
1974 -- Publishes If Beale Street Could Talk, Dial Press; becomes the third recipient (after writer Tennessee Williams and dancer Martha Graham) of the prestigious Centennial Medal awarded to "The Artist As Prophet" by the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York
1976 -- Publishes what would be his only children's book Little Man, Little Man: A Story of Childhood, with illustrations by Yoran Cazac, Dial Press; publishes the book-length essay The Devil Finds Work
1978 -- Teaches a spring course in contemporary literature at Bowling Green State University in Ohio (returns in the fall of 1979 and 1981); awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Medal
1979 -- Publishes Just Above My Head, his sixth and last novel, Dial Press; goes into seclusion after friend and mentor Beauford Delaney dies in March; teaches at UC Berkeley in the spring and speaks in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Barbara; begins writing and lecturing on black English; publishes "Open Letter to the Born Again" in The Nation; meets Chinua Achebe at the University of Florida, African Literature Association; travels throughout the South
1982 -- Film makers Dick Fontaine and Pat Harley release television documentary of Baldwin' trip through the South "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
1983 -- Publishes selected poems in Jimmy's Blues, St. Martin's Press; teaches Afro American Studies at University of Amherst in the fall
1984 -- Hospitalized for exhaustion; works on the play The Welcome Table
1985 -- Publishes "Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood" in Playboy; American Playhouse dramatizes Go Tell It On The Mountain; publishes The Evidence of Things Not Seen, Holt, Rinehart & Winston Publishing; publishes The Price of the Ticket: Collected Non-Fiction, 1948–1985, St. Martin's Press
1986 -- Receives France's highest civilian recognition, the Legion of Honor; travels to the Soviet Union for an international conference and to London for a production of Amen Corner ; suffers fatigue and becomes ill
1987 -- Returns to St. Paul de Vence and is diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, which spreads to the stomach; grants his last interview to poet and journalist Quincy Troop in mid-November in bed at his home; dies November 30 and his friend and assistant publicly announces his death December 1; memorials are held in St. Paul de Vence and Harlem; is eulogized by Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Amiri Baraka at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York; body buried at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York
Provenance:
Acquired as a purchase from Baldwin's sister, Paula Baldwin Whaley in 2017.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access to collection materials requires an appointment.
Rights:
The NMAAHC Archives can provide reproductions of some materials for research and educational use.
Copyright and right to publicity restrictions apply and limit reproduction for other purposes.
Children participate in a dance and dramatic performance at the Ft. Dupont Activity Center in southeast Washington, D.C. They perform to music, narration, and a portion of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech.
Dance performance. Part of ACM Museum Events, PR, and Ceremonies Recordings. AV000800: #1, no sound, dated 19750215. AV003475: #2, dated 19750215. AV004350: p. 1, undated. AV003189: p. 2, undated. Poor or no sound.
Local Numbers:
ACMA AV003475
ACMA AV004350
ACMA AV003189
General:
Title transcribed from physical asset.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist at acmarchives@si.edu.
The papers of New Jersey sculptor Erna Weill measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1934 to 1983. The bulk of the papers concern Weill's portrait busts of prominent political and social figures. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, printed material, and writings. Of note are letters between Weill and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New Jersey sculptor Erna Weill measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1934 to 1983. The bulk of the papers concern Weill's portrait busts of prominent political and social figures. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, printed material, and writings. Of note are letters between Weill and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Born in Germany, Erna Weill (1904-1996) was a sculptor and educator in Teaneck, New Jersey. She was known for her portrait busts of notable figures in the Civil Rights Movement.
Provenance:
Donated 1983 by Erna Weill.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The collection, which measures 1.18 linear feet and dates from circa 1961-2004, documents the personal life and professional activities of Rev. H. Rhett James. The collection is comprised of awards, photographs, books, newspaper clippings, correspondence, invitations, newsletters, oral histories, resumes, audio- and videocassettes, and ephemera.
Scope and Contents note:
The Reverend H. Rhett James papers, which date from 1961 to 2004, document the personal and professional life of Reverend H. Rhett James. Very notable are the letters and correspondence between Reverend H. Rhett James and the United States of America President, Lyndon B. Johnson, and his cabinet. The papers include an oral history, a C.V., letters and correspondence, awards, black-and-white photographs, books, clippings. color photographs, ephemera, invitations, newsletters, photographic prints, signatures, audio cassettes, and videocassettes.
Arrangement note:
The collection is organized into four series: Series 1, Biographical, Series 2, Correspondence, Series 3, Writings, Series 4, Sound Recordings, and Series 5, Photogrpahs. One box contains Series 1, 2, and 3. Box 2 contains Series 3, and Box 4 contains Series 5.
Series 1, Biographical, 1961-2004, is comprised of a typed oral history interview with Dr. H. Rhett James, on December 21, 2002, for the Dallas Public Library's Oral History Project (Box 1/Folder 1), a typed C.V. (Box 1/Folder 2), and other biographical information in the form of newsletters, booklets, certificates, visitor passes, and card invitations.
Series 2, Correspondence, 1962-1999, is arranged alphabetically by correspondent's last name. It is comprised of typed correspondence and letters on various political and community issues. Members of Lyndon b. Johnson's administration figure prominently in this series. The miscellaneous folders contain reproduced correspondence and letters from the Lyndon B. Johnson museum. A set of original envelopes are at the end of folder 15.
Series 3, Writings, 1972, 1992, 1997, is comprised of two books and a NAACP position paper on Dallas Public Schools by Reverend H. Rhett James. The books are titled, The Audacity to Survive and Stamp your own Passport.
Series 4, Sound Recordings, 1972, 1975, 1981, undated, is comprised of 60 audio cassettes in a box. Three notable cassettes in the box contain Jesse Jackson sermons on Civil Rights, "Silver" Rights, social justice, the black church's role in Black Amerca, and religion's role in America. A majority of the tapes are sermons by H. Rhett James on mind consciousness, spiritual regeneration, empowerment, the Gospel, civil rights, social justice, and ecomonic betterment.
Series 5, Photographs, is comprised of autographed photographs by political personage, family photographs, and other photographs including H. Rhett James with prominent figures, notably one with Martin Luther King Jr. Autographed photographs include Lyndon B Johnson, Benjamin Hoover, ans Hubert Humphrey.
Biographical/Historical note:
Reverend H. Rhett James was an ardent pastor,African-American educator, and community activist, who played a role in Dallas and the larger Texas community during the Civil Rights era.
Reverend H. Rhett James (1928-2004) was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 1, 1928. He received his early education in the public schools of Topeka, Kansas, Nashville, Tennessee and San Antonio, Texas, he enrolled at Virginia Union University, Richomond Virginia. Upon graduation (Bachelor's 1950), he accepted a teaching position in San Antonio, and became the first African American to receive the Masters of Education Degree from Our Lady of the Lake College (1951).
Returning to his Alma Mater, Virginia Union, he taught in the Department of Education and Psychology and received his Masters of Divinty Degree (1958). Moving to Dallas to accept the pastorate of New Hope Baptist church, he enrolled in the Brite College, T.C.U. and became the first African American to receive the Masters of Theology Degree (1961). He rceived his Ph.D. degree in Urban Administration frm the University of Texas at Arlingotn (1981). He served as pastor of New Hope Baptist church until his retirement in 1986.
As a political and community activist, he headed scores of local organizations working for desegregation and human rights causes. He headed the N.A.A.C.P through severe local desegregation and human rights causes; founder and twelve year Board President of the Dallas O.I.C. (Opportunities Industrialization Center); the first black president of the Dallas War on Poverty (DCCAC); founding Board member of the Dallas Urban League and Board and Budget committee member for the Dallas United Way, ACLU, Southern Historical Association, UNCF and YMCA boards.
Rverend H. Rhett James died on March 14, 2004. He left one daughter and three sons.
Rights:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
This collection contains 369 African postage stamps from the post-independence period (circa 1960s-1970s). The stamps depict African leaders, traditional African art and artists, cultural performances, flora and fauna, and prominent visitors to the continent, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Pope Paul VI. A majority of the stamps come from Ghana, Togo, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire. Other countries represented include Gabon, Mali, Cameroon, Tunisia, Zambia, Morocco, Dahomey (now Benin), Libya, Gambia, Somalia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zaire (formerly the Belgian Congo and now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Upper Volta (now Burkina-Faso), Mauritius, South Africa, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Uganda, Egypt, Sudan and the Comoros.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in album by country.
General note:
Title provided by EEPA staff.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Kevin J. O'Shaughnessy Stamp Collection, EEPA 2007-0005, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
EEPA.2007-005
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
159 Video recordings (U-matic 3/4" video recordings)
1 Video recording (VHS 1/2" video recording)
15 Linear feet (15 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Video recordings
Videocassettes
Place:
United States -- Race relations
United States -- Rural conditions
Date:
1989-1994
Scope and Contents note:
The collection, which dates from 1989 to 1994 and measures 15 linear feet, documents the reminiscences of elderly members of various African-American churches in the Atlanta area, as well as individual church histories, outstanding personalities of the South, religious expression in the South, and styles of singing and worship. The collection is comprised of audiovisual materials.
Biographical/Historical note:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters, Inc. is the nation's largest regional interfaith cable network. AIB has been providing faith-based communities and nonprofit service organizations access to a larger audience since 1969. AIB remains a destination for international dignitaries and media representatives due to its unique programming platform, which promotes dialogue between all faiths, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. Seen in over 1,000,000 homes across 19 metro area counties, AIB is a self-supporting organization and does not allow the solicitation of funds or attacks on other faiths. Viewers can find Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others presenting their views.
Provenance:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters Oral History Collection, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
1 Video recording ((1 U-matic 3/4" video recording))
Container:
Box 4, Item 33
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
Atlanta (Ga.)
Date:
1990-1991
Scope and Contents note:
The AIB Collection of Afro-American Videos for 1990/1991, Ralph David Abernathy; In an interview with William Womack, Ralph David Abernathy talks about his life, the Civil Rights Movement, his relationship to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and his book "The Walls Came Tumbling Down." This interview was taped at Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters four months before the death of Mr. Abernathy.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. This item will require preservation reformatting before it can be accessed. Please contact the archivist for more information: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters oral history collection exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
2 Video recordings ((2 U-matic 3/4" video recordings))
Container:
Box 5, Item 45a, Item 46a
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
Atlanta (Ga.)
Date:
1986 January 20
Scope and Contents note:
Eighteenth Annual Ecumenical Service, Ebenezer Baptist Church, January 20, 1986; Tape 1 of 3
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. This item will require preservation reformatting before it can be accessed. Please contact the archivist for more information: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters oral history collection exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
3 Video recordings ((3 U-matic 3/4" video recordings))
Container:
Box 5, Item 45b, Item 45c, 46b
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
Atlanta (Ga.)
Date:
1986 January 20
Scope and Contents note:
Eighteenth Annual Ecumenical Service, Ebenezer Baptist Church, January 20, 1986; Tape 2 of 3
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. This item will require preservation reformatting before it can be accessed. Please contact the archivist for more information: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters oral history collection exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Video recording ((1 U-matic 3/4" video recording))
Container:
Box 6, Item 46c
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
Atlanta (Ga.)
Date:
1986 January 20
Scope and Contents note:
Eighteenth Annual Ecumenical Service, Ebenezer Baptist Church, January 20, 1986; Tape 3 of 3
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. This item will require preservation reformatting before it can be accessed. Please contact the archivist for more information: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters oral history collection exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Video recording ((1 U-matic 3/4" video recording))
Container:
Box 10, Item 84
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
Atlanta (Ga.)
Date:
1992 January 19
Scope and Contents note:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance, The Witness of Love, Grace United Methodist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, Sunday, January 19, 1992, Sponsored by the North Georgia Conference Committee on Religion and Race of the United Methodist Church
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. This item will require preservation reformatting before it can be accessed. Please contact the archivist for more information: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters oral history collection exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Video recording ((1 U-matic 3/4" video recording))
Container:
Box 11, Item 89
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
Atlanta (Ga.)
Scope and Contents note:
The Opening of "Hidden Treasures," an exhibition highlighting well-known and not so well-known African-American photographers in Atlanta. Of special interest are a series of photographs from the Civil Rights Movement, including insightful pictures of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Other highlights are photos dating from the late 19th century and early 20th century. The opening took place at the Apex Museum, a Museum of African-American culture, in Atlanta, GA.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. This item will require preservation reformatting before it can be accessed. Please contact the archivist for more information: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters oral history collection exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Video recording ((1 U-matic 3/4" video recording))
Container:
Box 15, Item 117a
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
Atlanta (Ga.)
Date:
1993-1994
Scope and Contents note:
Rev. Vivian is the Board Chairman of the Black Action Strategies and Information Center, Inc. (BASIC) in Atlanta, GA and the Board Chairman for the Center for Democratic Renewal - the Anti-Violence Network. He is also the National Director of Affiliates, SCLC. He served on Dr. Martin Luther King's Executive Staff serving under Dr. King's direct supervision.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. This item will require preservation reformatting before it can be accessed. Please contact the archivist for more information: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters oral history collection exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Video recording ((1 U-matic 3/4" video recording))
Container:
Box 15, Item 117b
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
Atlanta (Ga.)
Date:
1993-1994
Scope and Contents note:
Rev. Vivian is the Board Chairman of the Black Action Strategies and Information Center, Inc. (BASIC) in Atlanta, GA and the Board Chairman for the Center for Democratic Renewal - the Anti-Violence Network. He is also the National Director of Affiliates, SCLC. He served on Dr. Martin Luther King's Executive Staff serving under Dr. King's direct supervision.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. This item will require preservation reformatting before it can be accessed. Please contact the archivist for more information: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters oral history collection exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Video recording ((1 U-matic 3/4" video recording))
Container:
Box 15, Item 117c
Type:
Archival materials
Video recordings
Place:
Atlanta (Ga.)
Date:
1993-1994
Scope and Contents note:
Rev. Vivian is the Board Chairman of the Black Action Strategies and Information Center, Inc. (BASIC) in Atlanta, GA and the Board Chairman for the Center for Democratic Renewal - the Anti-Violence Network. He is also the National Director of Affiliates, SCLC. He served on Dr. Martin Luther King's Executive Staff serving under Dr. King's direct supervision.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. This item will require preservation reformatting before it can be accessed. Please contact the archivist for more information: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters oral history collection exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
