The John Rosamond Johnson papers, 1879-1975 (inclusive).

Marshall, Thurgood, 1908-1993

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g26t2z (person)

Thurgood Marshall (b. July 2, 1908, Baltimore, Maryland – d. January 24, 1993, Washington, D.C.) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court's 96th justice and its first African-American justice. Before becoming a judge, Marshall was a lawyer who was best known for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education, a 1954 decision that ruled t...

Handy, W. C., 1873-1958

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wj3h4j (person)

W. C. Handy, also known as William Christopher Handy (born Florence, Alabama, November 16, 1873-died March 25, 1958, New York, New York), known as the "Father of the Blues," is credited with helping popularize blues music. In 1896, he joined W. A. Mahara's Minstrels, as its trumpeter-bandleader and began a theatrical production that featured African American music. In the early 1900s, he started writing his own music with the first published commercial blues song "Memphis Blues," which became a ...

Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x45pvz (person)

Dean Acheson, U.S. Secretary of State, born Dean Gooderham Acheso, in Middletown, Connecticut, on April 11, 1893. After being educated at Yale University (1912-1915) and Harvard Law School (1915-18) he became private secretary to the Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis from 1919 to 1921. A supporter of the Democratic Party, Acheson worked for a law firm in Washington, D.C., before President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him Under Secretary of the Treasury in 1933. During World War II (1941),...

La Guardia, Fiorello H. (Fiorello Henry), 1882-1947

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ch0ffm (person)

Fiorello Henry La Guardia (born Fiorello Enrico La Guardia; December 11, 1882 – September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945. Known for his irascible, energetic, and charismatic personality and diminutive stature, La Guardia is acclaimed as one of the greatest mayors in American history. Though a Republican, La Guardia was frequently cross-endorsed by other part...

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m43ks8 (person)

Duke Ellington (b. Edward Kennedy Ellington, April 29, 1899, Washington, DC–d. May 24, 1974, New York, NY) was a composer, pianist, and jazz orchestra leader. He began piano lessons at 7 and wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag", in 1914. Ellington became a more serious piano student as a teenager after hearing poolroom pianists in Washington, DC. Ellington moved to Harlem, ultimately becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1920s. He began a regular booking at the Cott...

Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fc5sfw (person)

Born in Princeton, New Jersey, on April 9, 1898, Paul Robeson was a multitalented man whose artistic and political career spanned over four decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s. Known worldwide during the 1930s and 1940s, he fell from prominence in the 1960s because of the political controversy that surrounded him during the McCarthy era. Robeson was a talented dramatic actor whose performance of Othello in this country in 1943-44 once held the record for the ...

Waters, Ethel, 1896-1977

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hn5zmk (person)

Ethel Waters (born October 31, 1896, Chester, Pennsylvania–d. September 1, 1977, Chatsworth, California) was a musician and actress. She got her start in the 1920s in Baltimore, Maryland and also toured on the black vaudeville circuit. She began her singing career in Atlanta and then Harlem in the 1920s. She starred in many films and was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was the first African-American to star on her own television show and the first African-Am...

Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kd21ds (person)

Carl Van Vechten was an American novelist, critic, essayist, book collector, and photographer. From the description of Carl Van Vechten collection of papers, 1922-1964. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122455166 From the guide to the Carl Van Vechten collection of papers, 1911-1964, (The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature.) Carl van Vechten (1880-1964) was an American photographer, writer,...

Mercer, Johnny

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65140xb (person)

Johnny Mercer (1910-1976) was born John H. Mercer in Savannah, Georgia, the son of George Anderson Mercer. He was educated in Savannah public schools and at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. He worked with his father in the real estate loan business before heading to New York in 1929 with the Savannah Town Theater group for a National Little Theater contest. He remained in New York to try for a stage career. He became a well-known lyricist and moved to California, where he produced many hit s...

Burleigh, H. T. (Harry Thacker), 1866-1949

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j67hms (person)

African American composer H.T. (Harry Thacker) Burleigh was born in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1866. In 1892, he enrolled in the National Conservatory of Music in New York City where he also took a job as assistant to composer Antonin Dvorak. Burleigh graduated in 1896 and continued teaching sight singing at the Conservatory until 1898. In 1894, he became the first African American to hold the position of baritone soloist at St. George's Episcopal Church in lower Manhattan, a position he held for 50 ...

Johnson, J. Rosamond (John Rosamond), 1873-1954

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h70grj (person)

American composer and singer, brother of James Weldon Johnson, known for composing the music to "Lift every voice and sing" for which his brother wrote the lyrics. From the description of Letter of J. Rosamond Johnson to A.J. Hanna, 1944 February 20. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 70259141 Black American composer, singer, and stage performer. From the description of The J. Rosamond Johnson papers, 1879-1975 (inclusive). (Yale University). WorldCat ...

Johnson, Nora Ethel.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64x5t5f (person)

Vallée, Rudy 1901-1986

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wh30f1 (person)

Bandleader, singer, saxophonist, actor, and publisher. From the description of Autograph card signed : [n.p.], [197-?]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270913282 Rudy Vallee was one of the most popular vocalists of the pre-swing era. With his megaphone and nasal voice, he will forever be remembered as the archetypal image of the early crooners. Born in Island Pond, Vermont, in 1901, Hubert Prior Vallee grew up in Westbrook, Maine, where he played drums in his high school band...

Robinson, Bill, 1878-1949

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vh5szq (person)

Jazz dancer. From the description of Autograph card signed : [n.p.], [194-?]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270904716 ...

Duke, Vernon, 1903-1969

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6280g8k (person)

< Born Vladimir Alexandrovitch Dukelsky, Parafianove, Minsk 1916 1919 Studied composition with Reinhold Glière and Marian Dombrovsky at the Kiev Conservatory 1920 Fled the Revolution with his family, settling first in Constantinople ...

Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65m63m5 (person)

British novelist, playwright, and short story writer, most well-known for his autobiographical novel "Of Human Bondage". From the description of Letter, signed : St. Jean-Cap Ferrat (France), to James R. Parish, Brockton, Mass. 16 June 1961. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 62718967 William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was a British author. From the description of W. Somerset Maugham letters, 1919-1927. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 144652236 ...

Dennée, Charles, 1863-1946

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zw25p8 (person)

Romberg, Sigmund, 1887-1951

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66w98qs (person)

Sigmund Romberg, prolific American composer and conductor of Hungarian birth, born Nagykanizsa, July 29, 1887; died New York, Nov. 9, 1951 who wrote over 70 operettas and 2,000 songs. From the description of Sigmund Romberg collection 1918-1950 1920-1940 (bulk). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71130015 ...