Katherine Dunham papers, 1906-2009.

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 ...

Dunham, Katherine, 1909-2006

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67q9rd4 (person)

Legendary dancer, choreographer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham was born June 22, 1909, to an African American father and French-Canadian mother who died when she was young. At an early age, Dunham became interested in dance. However, she did not seriously pursue a career in the profession until she was a student at the University of Chicago.During her studies, Dunham attended a lecture on anthropology, where she was introduced to the concept of dance as a cultural symbol. Intrigued by this ...

Belafonte, Harry, 1927-2023

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q63gmd (person)

Born to immigrant parents in Harlem on March 1, 1927, Harry Belafonte spent much of his youth in his mother's home country of Jamaica. Though difficult, life in Jamaica was full of rich cultural experiences that influenced Belafonte's art. At the beginning of World War II, Belafonte returned to Harlem with his mother and brother. He had trouble integrating into the new environment and later dropped out of high school to join the U.S. Navy. After Belafonte was honorably discharged, he went bac...

Ellis, Lucille, 1919-1998

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wf4qvs (person)

Lucille Ellis (October 5, 1919 - November 12, 1998) was an African American dancer, who became a prominent member of the Katherine Dunham Dance Company and later a respected teacher of the Dunham Technique and stager of Dunham's work. Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Ellis joined Dunham's troupe in Chicago, Illinois while still a teenager. Dunham selected Ellis for the production, Tropical Pinafore (1940), which she was staging and choreographing for the American Negro Light Opera Association in Ch...

Katherine Dunham Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r895fq (corporateBody)

The Katherine Dunham Company was an African American modern dance troupe founded by Katherine Dunham to serve her unique artistic vision. The company would go through several iterations involving various changes of name and personnel over the course of its more than twenty years of existence (approximately 1937-1960). In 1930, while still a student at the University of Chicago, Dunham formed Ballet Nègre, one of the first black ballet companies in the United States. The company would give its fi...

McQueen, Butterfly, 1911-1995

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6301vqw (person)

Buttterfly McQueen (b. 1911) was an African-American actress. The films she was in include "Gone with the Wind", "Affectionately Yours", Mildred Pierce", "Duel in the Sun", and "Amazing Grace". While living in Harlem in the 1970s, she did community relations and recreation work for the City Park System. She is in the Black filmmakers Hall of Fame. From the description of Butterfly McQueen papers, 1960s. (University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center). WorldCat record id: 77224219 ...

Duke, Doris, 1912-1993

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m33mhr (person)

Born on November 22, 1912, Doris Duke was the only child of James Buchanan (J.B.) Duke, a founder of the American Tobacco Company and Duke Energy Company and a benefactor of Duke University, and Nanaline Holt Duke. Inheriting a bulk of her father's estate in 1925, which included Duke Farms in New Jersey, Rough Point in Newport, R.I., and a mansion in New York City, Doris was soon dubbed by the press as "the richest girl in the world." Although Doris did her best to live a private life, she carri...

Langston, C. H. (Charles Hughes), 1821?-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6157w99 (person)

Quinn, Anthony P.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63n400t (person)

Robeson, Paula

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p56cjr (person)

Quinn, Anthony, 1915-2001

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nh5dpq (person)

First Mexican-American actor to win an Academy Award, Anthony Quinn's most notable film roles were the title character in Zorba the Greek for which he received his fourth Oscar nomination and the circus strongman in Fellini's La Strada. He had a prolific career on film playing especially villains and a wide variety of ethnic types. On Broadway he replaced Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire and played opposite Laurence Olivier in Thomas Becket. Quinn was also a painter and writer. ...

Baker, Josephine

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q83xgp (person)