Collection documents the career of Jeni LeGon as a dancer, dance instructor, and actress.
Scope and Contents:
Collection documents LeGon's career as a dancer, dance instructor, and actress. Materials include biographical information, correspondence, photographs, early travel itineraries, schedules, personal calendars, printed advertisements, invitations to dance events, programs, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and awards. The collection is arranged into four series: Series 1, Biographical Information and Publicity, 1930s; Series 2, Theatre and Motion Picture Film, 1935-1945, undated; Series 3, Dance Instruction and Performances, 1953-2002, undated; and Series 4: Tributes and Awards, 1979-2002.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series:.
Series 1, Biographical Information and Publicity
Series 2, Theatre and Motion Picture Film, 1935-1945
Series 3, Dance Instruction and Performances, 1953-2002, undatred
Series 4, Tributes and Awards, 1979-2002
Biographical / Historical:
Jeni LeGon was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1916. Her long, successful career as an African American dancer and actress began in musical theatre and vaudeville. In the 1930s she traveled across the southern United States performing first with the Whitman Sisters company and then with her half-sister, Willa Mae Lane, as the LeGon and Lane song-and-dance team. By 1935, LeGon was working under contract with Fox Studios, RKO Pictures, and MGM performing with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Waters and Al Jolson, and Fred Astaire. Throughout the years she performed on Broadway and in other theaters and clubs including the Apollo, Cafe de Paris, Howard, Paramount, and Lincoln. Beginning in the 1950s she offered dance instruction in Los Angeles, California at the Jeni LeGon Dance Studio and Drama and Dance Playhouse; and in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she taught tap and pointe. She died on December 7, 2012 at the age of ninety-six.
Related Materials:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program Collection (AC0808)
Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection (AC0491)
Program in African American Culture Collection (AC0408)
Frank Schiffman Apollo Theatre Collection (AC0540)
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Jeni LeGon in 2002.
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.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Peggie L. Hartwell, 2002 June 3 and July 10. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift in memory of Ernest (Ernie) R. Smith, Jazz Historian
Object number:
2015.275.16.1a
Restrictions & Rights:
Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift in memory of Ernest (Ernie) R. Smith, Jazz Historian
Object number:
2015.275.33.1a
Restrictions & Rights:
Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
2.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Photographs
Date:
1920-1970
Summary:
The papers of African-American painter Palmer C. Hayden date from 1920-1970 and measure 2.4 linear feet. The collection contains biographical material, including 32 diaries documenting Hayden's daily activities, scattered correspondence relating to art sales and Hayden's work for the Works Progress Administration, printed material, 47 sketchbooks compiled over a period of almost forty years, and photographs of Hayden and his artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African-American painter Palmer C. Hayden date from 1920-1970 and measure 2.4 linear feet. The collection contains biographical material, including 32 diaries documenting Hayden's daily activities, scattered correspondence relating to art sales and Hayden's work for the Works Progress Administration, printed material, 47 sketchbooks compiled over a period of almost forty years, and photographs of Hayden and his artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1920-1969 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 2: Diaries, 1938-1967 (Boxes 1-2; 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1922-1967 (Box 2; 2 folders)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1926-1969 (Box 2; 2 folders)
Series 5: Sketchbooks and Sketches, 1924-circa 1960 (Boxes 2-6; 1.8 linear ft.)
Series 6: Photographs, 1932-1970 (Box 6; 4 folders)
Biographical / Historical:
Born Peyton Cole Hedgeman, in Widewater, Virginia in 1890, Palmer Hayden received his first art instruction through correspondence courses, then studied in 1925 with Asa Grant Randall at the Boothbay Art Colony, in Maine, specializing in marine subjects. In 1927, Hayden's seascape, Schooners, won first prize for "Distinguished Achievement in Fine Arts" in the Harmon Foundation's first awards ceremony. With that award, and an additional grant from a patron, Hayden was able to continue his studies in Paris, where he further developed his skills in seascapes and ethnic subject matter. Hayden was among the first African-American artists to use African-American subjects and designs in his painting.
Hayden returned to the United States in 1932 and worked steadily over the next several years for the United States government, including the Treasury Relief Art Project and the Works Progress Administration. In 1944 Hayden began work on his noted Ballad of John Henry series of twelve paintings that would occupy him for a decade. In his later work, Hayden continued to focus on African-American themes, capturing both rural gatherings in the South and the urban milieu of New York.
Palmer Hayden died in 1973.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Palmer C. Hayden in 1970 and a portion of it was microfilmed shortly after receipt.
Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
