Federal Writers' Project Negro Group papers, 1927-1940.

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 ...

Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62g8fd2 (person)

James Weldon Johnson was a publisher, educator, lawyer, composer, artist, diplomat, and civil rights leader. Together with his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, he wrote the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which came to be known as the "Negro National Anthem", as well as a large number of popular songs for the musical stage of the early twentieth century. Johnson also served as consul of the United States to Venezuela and Nicaragua. He wrote several books and served as editor of the New York Age. ...

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 ...

Federal Writers' Project (N.Y.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n639z6 (corporateBody)

The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was established in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). From the description of Federal Writers' Project Negro Group papers, 1927-1940. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702186237 ...

Moon, Henry Lee, 1901-1985

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jt092p (person)

Journalist; Mr. Moon d.1984. From the description of Reminiscences of Henry Lee Moon and Robert C. Weaver : oral history, 1980. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 309742018 ...

Hill, Abram, 1911-1986

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60g3nz6 (person)

McKay, Claude, 1890-1948

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61837fr (person)

Author, poet. Born in Jamaica. From the description of Claude McKay letters and manuscripts 1915-1952. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122682552 From the guide to the Claude McKay letters and manuscripts, 1915-1952, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.) Claude McKay (1890-1948), novelist and poet. From the description of Claude McKay collection, 1853-1990 (bulk 1922-19...

Calloway, Cab, 1907-1994

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66h50vz (person)

Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was a Black American singer, songwriter, dancer, bandleader, conductor and actor. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist of the swing era. His niche of mixing jazz and vaudeville won him acclaim during a career that spanned over 65 years. Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the most popular dance bands in the United States from the ea...

United States. Works Progress Administration (N.Y.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c57k13 (corporateBody)

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a Federal program created in 1935 to provide employment for Americans left jobless by the Depression. At the time it was discontinued in 1943, the WPA was employing 8 million people. In addition to building roads and bridges, WPA employees conducted numerous projects devoted to the humanities. One such project was a survey of records of historical interest in local government offices throughout the U.S. The records in this collection are the result of ...

Curtwright, Wesley

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62r49r4 (person)

Gellert, Lawrence

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67s7p9w (person)

Composer and author. From the description of Papers, 1927-1978. (Indiana University). WorldCat record id: 708580886 Very little information on Lawrence Gellert is available. He was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 14 September 1898, came to the United States when he was seven, and grew up in New York City. For health reasons, he moved to Tryon, N.C., probably in the late 1920s or early 1930s. From 1933 to 1937, Gellert traveled through North Carolina, S...

Ellison, Ralph, 1914-1994

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jm28tt (person)

African American author, born Ralph Waldo Ellison (1914-1994) in Oklahoma to a family who migrated from South Carolina. From the description of Ralph Ellison papers, 1990-1994. (University of South Carolina). WorldCat record id: 32828103 African American author and educator. Born 1914; died 1994. From the description of Ralph Ellison papers, 1890-2005 (bulk 1930-1994). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70983760 Ralph Ellison began writing seriously in 1939....

Poston, Ted, 1906-1974

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jq1kt6 (person)

Ted Poston was the first full-time African-American journalist for the "New York Post." There he covered many major black oriented news stories as well as mainstream items, working from 1936 until his retirement in 1972. Prior to this appointment, he wrote for the "Pittsburgh Courier," "Amsterdam News," and the "New York Contender." He was also on the staff of the Federal Writers' Project. From 1940-1945 Poston was a member of the "Black Cabinet," an informal network of African Americans serving...