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Workshop for Children: African Culture

Creator:
Anacostia Neighborhood Museum  Search this
Names:
Anacostia Community Museum  Search this
Anacostia Neighborhood Museum  Search this
Collection Creator:
Anacostia Community Museum  Search this
Extent:
1 Sound recording (open reel, 1/4 inch)
Type:
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Music
Place:
Africa
Anacostia (Washington, D.C.)
Washington (D.C.)
United States
Date:
circa 1970
Scope and Contents:
Man leads children in a discussion about cities in West Africa and African culture, including African dance and African drumming. Children participate in a dance and singing lessons. Man also explains how the African talking drum is constructed and how the Yoruba language was reproduced using the talking drum, and shows an example of the Kente cloth of the Ashanti in Ghana. African drumming in the background throughout recording.
Workshop, including music and dance. Part of ACM Education Department Programs Audiovisual Records 1967-2008. Transcribed from physical asset: Percir Borde. Undated.
Local Numbers:
ACMA AV003488-2
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.
Topic:
African culture  Search this
Music  Search this
Talking drum  Search this
Kente cloth  Search this
Yoruba (African people)  Search this
Ashanti (African people)  Search this
Dance  Search this
African Americans  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Music
Citation:
Workshop for Children: African Culture, Record Group 09-007.7, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
ACMA.09-023, Item ACMA AV003488-1
See more items in:
Museum Events, Programs, and Projects, 1967-1989
Museum Events, Programs, and Projects, 1967-1989 / Series ACMA 09-007.7: ACM Education Department Programs Audiovisual Records
Archival Repository:
Anacostia Community Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa7a887ff40-8980-4bff-88f8-8d3b6c278dc4
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-acma-09-023-ref1574

Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone papers, circa 1860-2011, bulk 1940-2011

Creator:
Sarchiapone, Cosmos Andrew, 1931-2011  Search this
Subject:
Arbus, Diane  Search this
Cage, John  Search this
Glaser, Milton  Search this
Hay, Alex  Search this
Huebler, Douglas  Search this
Israel, Marvin  Search this
Johnson, Ray  Search this
Kelly, Ellsworth  Search this
Scull, Robert C.  Search this
Sonneman, Eve  Search this
Parsons School of Design  Search this
School of Visual Arts (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Push Pin Studios  Search this
Type:
Drawings
Ephemera
Illustrations
Music
Photocopies
Photographs
Posters
Prints
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Place:
New York (State) -- New York City -- Photographs
Citation:
Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone papers, circa 1860-2011, bulk 1940-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Conceptual art  Search this
Music--New York (State)--New York  Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Photography -- Study and teaching  Search this
Photography--New York (State)--New York  Search this
Theater--New York (State)--New York  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)16242
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)370445
AAA_collcode_sarccosm
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_370445
Online Media:

William Russo Music and Personal Papers

Creator:
Strayhorn, Billy (William Thomas), 1915-1967  Search this
Russo, William, 1928-2003  Search this
Photographer:
Claxton, William  Search this
Leonard, Herman, 1923-2010  Search this
Composer:
Kenton, Stan  Search this
Musician:
Mulligan, Gerry  Search this
Names:
Chicago Jazz Ensemble  Search this
Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this
Extent:
87 Cubic feet (188 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Motion pictures (visual works)
Music
Audiotapes
Business records
Photographs
Correspondence
Librettos
Awards
Posters
Programs
Scrapbooks
Scores
Lecture notes
Date:
1920-2002
Summary:
Papers and audiovisual materials documenting Russo's career in music.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes Russo's original and published music scores, parts and arrangements; audiovisual materials including recordings of broadcasts of Russo's radio show, performances of Russo's compositions, including performances by Duke Ellington, and film and video recordings of Russo's productions in theater and opera; and personal papers such as correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, publicity files, contracts, etc. Among the most significant items in the collection are experimental jazz arrangements for Stan Kenton in the late 1940s-early 1950s, undated arrangements for Gerry Mulligan, Russo's original arrangement of Duke Ellington's Sacred Concert, scores to his first and second symphonies, and scores and libretti to several early rock operas. The photographs include images of persons such as Ellington, Kenton, and Billy Strayhorn, and photographs by jazz photographers Herman Leonard and William Claxton. 2007 addendum includes correspondence, mostly between Russo and his family; eighteen diaries for 1946-1967 (not all years are present) with sparse entries, some in Italian; and additional music manuscripts, parts, scores and libretti.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into nine series.

Series 1: William Russo's Music

Series 2: Teaching Notes

Series 3: Correspondence

Series 4: Publicity, Programs, and Reviews

Series 5: Posters and Artwork

Series 6: Photographs

Series 7: Books and Lecture Notebooks

Series 8: Memorabilia

Series 9: Audiovisual Materials
Biographical / Historical:
William Russo, renowned American jazz composer, arranger, and founder of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, had a music career that spanned five decades and included performance, conducting and composition. During his career he worked with such diverse talents as Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Leonard Bernstein, Cannonball Adderly, Yehuidi Menuhin, Dizzy Gillespie, Seiji Ozawa, and Billie Holiday. Although critics acknowledged Russo mainly for his pioneering contributions to the big-band jazz canon, his talents extended to a far wider range of musical styles, creating groundbreaking jazz scores, rock operas, classical works, film scores, and educational textbooks on jazz orchestration and arrangement. In all, he composed over 200 pieces for jazz orchestra with more than 25 recordings of his work. In 1990, Russo received a Lifetime Achievement award from NARAS, the organization that presents the Grammy Awards.

As a young trombonist, Russo studied with Lennie Tristano, the pianist and theorist who became a leader in the progressive jazz movement. During the late 1940s, Russo led the revolutionary Experiment in Jazz band. At age 21, he became one of the chief composers/arrangers for the Stan Kenton Orchestra, one of the most innovative and influential jazz orchestras of the postwar era. In his four years with Kenton, Russo penned such classic Kenton works as "23° North – 82° West," and "Frank Speaking."

Russo made several major jazz recordings under his own name before his classical "Symphony No. 2 in C (TITANS)" received a Koussevitsky award in 1959; it was performed by the New York Philharmonic that same year under Leonard Bernstein, who had commissioned the work. This award marked Russo's "official" entry into the world of classical music. Russo continued to write major symphonic works throughout his career, including his 1992 grand opera, "Dubrovsky."

After his tenure with Kenton, in the early 1950s, Russo led his own successful bands, The Russo Orchestra in New York, and the London Jazz Orchestra, before returning to Chicago to form the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in 1065. With the Ensemble, he presented Duke Ellington's "First Concert of Sacred Music" in 1967. This was one of the rare times when Ellington allowed one of his compositions to be arranged and performed by a jazz orchestra other than his own, and was a reflection of Ellington's respect for Russo. Shortly after this performance, Russo composed a rock cantata, "The Civil War," that led him into the field of rock opera. After concentrating on classical music again in the 1970s, in the late 1980s, Russo began to re-explore the history of jazz through his revived Chicago Jazz Ensemble. In 1995, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble made history with the first-ever complete live performance of Gil Evans' and Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain" in its original form. Recent Russo works that premiered in Chicago included "Chicago Suite No. 1," and "Chicago Suite No. 2," a recording that was published posthumously in the spring of 2003.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

William Russo Transcription and Arrangement of Duke Ellington's First Concert of Sacred Music, 1967-1968 (AC0406)
Provenance:
Bequeathed to the Smithsonian by William Russo. Papers collected after Russo's death in 2003. The 2007 addendum sent by Russo's sister and daughter were also part of the bequest.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but an oil painting is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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.
Occupation:
Composers -- 20th century  Search this
Topic:
Opera  Search this
Jazz musicians -- United States  Search this
Jazz  Search this
Music -- 20th century  Search this
Genre/Form:
Motion pictures (visual works)
Music -- Manuscripts
Audiotapes
Business records -- 20th century
Photographs -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 20th century
Librettos
Awards
Posters -- 20th century
Programs
Scrapbooks
Scores
Lecture notes
Citation:
William Russo Music and Personal Papers, 1920s-2002, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0845
See more items in:
William Russo Music and Personal Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep888a8d92a-3927-49c1-ace4-466bb766a9d6
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0845
Online Media:

Duke Ellington Collection

Creator:
Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this
Names:
Duke Ellington Orchestra  Search this
Washingtonians, The.  Search this
Ellington, Mercer Kennedy, 1919-1996 (musician)  Search this
Strayhorn, Billy (William Thomas), 1915-1967  Search this
Collector:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Musical History  Search this
Extent:
400 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Phonograph records
Papers
Photographic prints
Posters
Sound recordings
Scrapbooks
Music
Clippings
Awards
Audiotapes
Place:
New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century
Harlem (New York, N.Y.) -- 20th century
Washington (D.C.) -- 20th century
Date:
1903 - 1989
Summary:
The collection documents Duke Ellington's career primarily through orchestrations (scores and parts), music manuscripts, lead sheets, transcriptions, and sheet music. It also includes concert posters, concert programs, television, radio, motion picture and musical theater scripts, business records, correspondence, awards, as well as audiotapes, audiodiscs, photographs, tour itineraries, newspaper clippings, magazines, caricatures, paintings, and scrapbooks.
Scope and Contents:
Dating approximately from the time Duke Ellington permanently moved to New York City in 1923 to the time the material was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1988, the bulk of the material in the Duke Ellington Collection is dated from 1934-1974 and comprises sound recordings, original music manuscripts and published sheet music, hand-written notes, correspondence, business records, photographs, scrapbooks, news clippings, concert programs, posters, pamphlets, books and other ephemera. These materials document Ellington's contributions as composer, musician, orchestra leader, and an ambassador of American music and culture abroad. In addition, the materials paint a picture of the life of a big band maintained for fifty years and open a unique window through which to view an evolving American society.

The approximate four hundred cubic feet of archival materials have been processed and organized into sixteen series arranged by type of material. Several of the series have been divided into subseries allowing additional organization to describe the content of the material. For example, Series 6, Sound Recordings, is divided into four subseries: Radio and Television Interviews, Concert Performances, Studio Dates and Non-Ellington Recordings. Each series has its own scope and content note describing the material and arrangement (for example; Series 10, Magazines and Newspaper Articles, is organized into two groups, foreign and domestic, and arranged chronologically within each group). A container list provides folder titles and box numbers.

The bulk of the material is located in Series 1, Music Manuscripts, and consists of compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and other composers. Series 6, Sound Recordings also provides a record of the performance of many of these compositions. The materials in Series 2, Performances and Programs, Series 3, Business Records, Series 8, Scrapbooks, Series 9, Newspaper Clippings, Series 11, Publicity and Series 12, Posters provide documentation of specific performances by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Ellington was a spontaneous and prolific composer as evidenced by music, lyrical thoughts, and themes for extended works and plays captured on letterhead stationery in Series 3, Business Records, in the margin notes of individual books and pamphlets in Series 14, Religious Materials and Series 15, Books, and in the hand-written notes in Series 5, Personal Correspondence and Notes.

During its fifty-year lifespan, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra were billed under various names including The Washingtonians, The Harlem Footwarmers and The Jungle Band. The soloists were informally called "the band", and Series 3 includes salary statements, IOU's, receipts and ephemera relating to individual band members. Series 1, Music Manuscripts contains the soloists' parts and includes "band books" of several soloists (for example; Harry Carney and Johnny Hodges) and numerous music manuscripts of Billy Strayhorn. The changing role of Strayhorn from arranger hired in 1938 to Ellington's main collaborator and composer of many well-known titles for Duke Ellington and His Orchestra including "Take The A' Train" and "Satin Doll" can be traced in these music manuscripts. Series 7, Photographs and Series 2, Performances and Programs contain many images of the band members and Strayhorn. This Collection also documents the business history of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Series 3, Business Records contains correspondence on letterhead stationery and Series 11, Publicity contains promotional material from the various booking agencies, professional companies, and public relations firms that managed the Orchestra.

The materials in the Duke Ellington Collection provide insight into public and institutional attitudes towards African Americans in mid-twentieth-century America. The business records in Series 3 beginning in 1938 and published sheet music in Series 1 depict Duke Ellington's progression from an African-American musician who needed "legitimization" by a white publisher, Irving Mills, to a businessmen who established his own companies including Tempo Music and Duke Ellington, Incorporated to control his copyright and financial affairs. Programs from the segregated Cotton Club in Series 2, Performances And Programs and contracts with no-segregation clauses in Series 3: Business Records further illustrate racial policies and practices in this time period. The public shift in perception of Duke Ellington from a leader of an exotic "Jungle Band" in the 1930s to a recipient of the Congressional Medal Of Freedom in 1970 is evidenced in Series 2, Performances And Programs, Series 12, Posters, Series 7, Photographs and Series 13, Awards. Reviews and articles reflecting Ellington's evolving status are also documented in Series 8, Newspaper Clippings, Series 9, Scrapbooks, Series 10, Newspaper and Magazine Articles.

The materials in the Duke Ellington Collection reflect rapid technological changes in American society from 1923-1982. Sound recordings in Series 6 range from 78 phonograph records of three minutes duration manufactured for play on Victrolas in monaural sound to long-playing (LP) phonograph records produced for stereo record players. Television scripts in Series 4, programs in Series 2 and music manuscripts (for example, Drum Is A Woman) in Series 1 demonstrate how the development of television as a means of mass communication spread the Orchestra's sound to a wider audience. The availability of commercial air travel enabled the Ellington Orchestra to extend their international performances from Europe to other continents including tours to Asia, Africa, South America and Australia and archival material from these tours is included in every series.

Series 4, Scripts and Transcripts and Series 6, Audio Recordings contain scripts and radio performances promoting the sale of United States War bonds during World War II, and Series 7, Photographs includes many images of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra's performances for military personnel revealing the impact of historic events on Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Series 2: Programs and Performances, Series 9, Newspaper clippings and Series 8, Scrapbooks document the 1963 Far East tour aborted as a result of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

The Duke Ellington Collection contains works by numerous twentieth-century music, literature, and art luminaries. Series 1, Music Manuscripts contains original music manuscripts of William Grant Still, Eubie Blake, Mary Lou Williams, and others. Series 4, Scripts and Transcripts contains a play by Langston Hughes, and Series 12, Posters contains many original artworks.
Arrangement:
Series 1: Music Manuscripts, circa 1930-1981, undated

Series 2: Performances and Programs, 1933-1973, undated

Series 3: Business Records, 1938-1988

Series 4: Scripts and Transcripts, 1937-1970

Series 5: Personal Correspondence and Notes, 1941-1974, undated

Series 6: Sound Recordings, 1927-1974

Series 7: Photographs, 1924-1972, undated

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1931-1973

Series 9: Newspaper Clippings, 1939-1973, undated

Series 10: Magazine Articles and Newspaper Clippings, 1940-1974

Series 11: Publicity, 1935-1988

Series 12: Posters and Oversize Graphics, 1933-1989, undated

Series 13: Awards, 1939-1982

Series 14: Religious Material, 1928-1974

Series 15: Books, 1903-1980

Series 16: Miscellaneous, 1940-1974
Biographical / Historical:
A native of Washington, DC, Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899. Edward was raised in a middle-class home in the Northwest section of Washington described by his sister Ruth--younger by sixteen years--as a "house full of love." Ellington himself wrote that his father J.E. (James Edward) raised his family "as though he were a millionaire" but Edward was especially devoted to his mother, Daisy Kennedy Ellington. In 1969, thirty-four years after his mother's death, Ellington accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom with these words, "There is nowhere else I would rather be tonight but in my mother's arms." Both his parents played the piano and Ellington began piano lessons at the age of seven, but like many boys he was easily distracted by baseball.

In his early teens, Ellington sneaked into Washington clubs and performance halls where he was exposed to ragtime musicians, including James P. Johnson, and where he met people from all walks of life. He returned in earnest to his piano studies, and at age fourteen wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" also known as "Poodle Dog Rag." Ellington was earning income from playing music at seventeen years of age, and around this time he earned the sobriquet "Duke" for his sartorial splendor and regal air. On July 2, 1918, he married a high school sweetheart, Edna Thompson; their only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, was born on March 11, 1919. Duke Ellington spent the first twenty-four years of his life in Washington's culturally thriving Negro community. In this vibrant atmosphere he was inspired to be a composer and learned to take pride in his African-American heritage.

Ellington moved to New York City in 1923 to join and eventually lead a small group of transplanted Washington musicians called "The Washingtonians," which included future Ellington band members, Sonny Greer, Otto Hardwicke and "Bubber" Miley. Between 1923 and 1927, the group played at the Club Kentucky on Broadway and the ensemble increased from a quintet to a ten-piece orchestra. With stride pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith as his unofficial guide, Ellington soon became part of New York's music scene; Smith proved to be a long-lasting influence on Duke's composing and arranging direction. At the Club Kentucky, Ellington came under the tutelage of another legendary stride pianist, "Fats" Waller. Waller, a protege of Johnson and Smith, played solos during the band's breaks and also tutored Ellington who began to show progress in his compositions. In November 1924, Duke made his publishing and recording debut with "Choo Choo (I Got To Hurry Home)" released on the Blu-Disc label. In 1925, he contributed two songs to Chocolate Kiddies, an all-black revue which introduced European audiences to black American styles and performers. By this time Ellington's family, Edna and Mercer, had joined him in New York City. The couple separated in the late 1920's, but they never divorced or reconciled.

Ellington's achievements as a composer and bandleader began to attract national attention while he worked at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, from 1927 to 1932. The orchestra developed a distinctive sound that displayed the non-traditional voicings of Ellington's arrangements and featured the unique talents of the individual soloists. Ellington integrated his soloists' exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, their high-squealed trumpets, their sultry saxophone blues licks and Harlem's street rhythms into his arrangements. In the promotional material of the Cotton Club, the band was often billed as "Duke Ellington and His Jungle Band." With the success of compositions like "Mood Indigo," and an increasing number of recordings and national radio broadcasts from the Cotton Club, the band's reputation soared.

The ten years from 1932 to 1942 are considered by some major critics to represent the "golden age" for the Ellington Orchestra, but it represents just one of their creative peaks. These years did bring an influx of extraordinary new talent to the band including Jimmy Blanton on double bass, Ben Webster on tenor saxophone, and Ray Nance on trumpet, violin and vocals. During this ten year span Ellington composed several of his best known short works, including "Concerto For Cootie," "Ko-Ko," "Cotton Tail," "In A Sentimental Mood," and Jump For Joy, his first full-length musical stage revue.

Most notably, 1938 marked the arrival of Billy Strayhorn. While a teenager in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Strayhorn had already written "Lush Life," "Something To Live For" and a musical, Fantastic Rhythm. Ellington was initially impressed with Strayhorn's lyrics but realized long before Billy's composition "Take the A' Train" became the band's theme song in 1942 that Strayhorn's talents were not limited to penning clever lyrics. By 1942, "Swee' Pea" had become arranger, composer, second pianist, collaborator, and as Duke described him, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine." Many Ellington/Strayhorn songs have entered the jazz canon, and their extended works are still being discovered and studied today. Strayhorn remained with the Ellington Organization until his death on May 30, 1967.

Ellington had often hinted of a work in progress depicting the struggle of blacks in America. The original script, Boola, debuted in Carnegie Hall in November of 1943, retitled Black, Brown and Beige. The performance met with mixed reviews, and although Ellington often returned to Carnegie Hall the piece was never recorded in a studio, and after 1944 was never performed in entirety again by the Ellington Orchestra. Nonetheless, it is now considered a milestone in jazz composition.

After World War II the mood and musical tastes of the country shifted and hard times befell big bands, but Ellington kept his band together. The band was not always financially self-sufficient and during the lean times Ellington used his songwriting royalties to meet the soloists' salaries. One could assign to Ellington the altruistic motive of loyalty to his sidemen, but another motivation may have been his compositional style which was rooted in hearing his music in the formative stage come alive in rehearsal. "The band was his instrument," Billy Strayhorn said, and no Ellington composition was complete until he heard the orchestra play it. Then he could fine tune his compositions, omit and augment passages, or weave a soloist's contribution into the structure of the tune.

In 1956, the American public rediscovered Duke and the band at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. The searing performances of tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves on "Diminuendo and Crescendo In Blue," his premiere soloist, alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges on "Jeep's Blues", and the crowd's ecstatic reaction have become jazz legend. Later that year Duke landed on the cover of Time magazine. Although Ellington had previously written music for film and television (including the short film, Black and Tan Fantasy in 1929) it wasn't until 1959 that Otto Preminger asked him to score music for his mainstream film, Anatomy of a Murder, starring Jimmy Stewart. Paris Blues in 1961, featuring box-office stars Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier in roles as American jazz musicians in Paris, followed.

Ellington's first performance overseas was in England in 1933, but the 1960s brought extensive overseas tours including diplomatic tours sponsored by the State Department. Ellington and Strayhorn composed exquisite extended works reflecting the sights and sounds of their travels, including the Far East Suite, 1966. They wrote homages to their classical influences; in 1963, they adapted Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and celebrated Shakespeare's works with the suite Such Sweet Thunder in 1957. With Ella Fitzgerald, they continued the Norman Granz Songbook Series. Ellington also began to flex his considerable pianist skills and recorded albums with John Coltrane (1963), Coleman Hawkins (1963), Frank Sinatra, and Money Jungle (1963) with Charles Mingus and Max Roach. The First Sacred Concert debuted in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral in 1965. In his final years, Ellington's thoughts turned to spiritual themes and he added a Second (1968) and Third (1973) Concert of Sacred Music to his compositions.

In his lifetime, Duke received numerous awards and honors including the highest honor bestowed on an American civilian, the Congressional Medal Of Freedom. In 1965, Ellington was recommended for a Pulitzer Prize to honor his forty years of contribution to music but the recommendation was rejected by the board. Most likely he was disappointed, but his response at the age of sixty-six was, "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young."

Ellington never rested on his laurels or stopped composing. Whenever he was asked to name his favorite compositions his characteristic reply was "the next five coming up," but to please his loyal fans Ellington always featured some of his standards in every performance. Even on his deathbed, he was composing the opera buffo called Queenie Pie.

Duke Ellington died on May 24, 1974 at seventy-five years of age. His funeral was held in New York's Cathedral of St. John The Divine; he was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. His long-time companion Beatrice "Evie" Ellis was buried beside him after her death in 1976. He was survived by his only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, who not only took up the baton to lead the Duke Ellington Orchestra but assumed the task of caring for his father's papers and his legacy to the nation. Mercer Ellington died in Copenhagan, Denmark on February 8, 1996, at the age of seventy-six. Ruth Ellington Boatwright died in New York on March 6, 2004, at the age of eighty-eight. Both Mercer and Ruth were responsible for shepherding the documents and artifacts that celebrate Duke Ellington's genius and creative life to their current home in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

William H. Quealy Collection of Duke Ellington Recordings (AC0296)

Rutgers University Collection of Radio Interviews about Duke Ellington (AC0328)

Duke Ellington Oral History Project (AC0368)

Duke Ellington Collection of Ephemera and realated Audiovisual Materials (AC0386)

Annual International Conference of the Duke Ellington Study Group Proceedings (AC0385)

Robert Udkoff Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0388)

Frank Driggs Collection of Duke Ellington Photographic Prints (AC0389)

New York Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society Collection (AC390)

Earl Okin Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0391)

William Russo Transcription and Arrangement of Duke Ellington's First Concert of Sacred Music (AC0406)

Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0415)

Music manuscripts in the Ruth Ellington Collection complement the music manuscripts found in the Duke Ellington Collection.

Carter Harman Collection of Interviews with Duke Ellington (AC0422)

Betty McGettigan Collection of Duke Ellington Memorabilia (AC0494)

Dr. Theodore Shell Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0502)

Edward and Gaye Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0704)

Andrew Homzy Collection of Duke Ellington Stock Music Arrangements (AC0740)

John Gensel Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0763)

Al Celley Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC1240)

Materials at Other Organizations

Institute of Jazz Studies
Separated Materials:
Artifacts related to this collection are in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) and include trophies, plaques, and medals. See accessions: 1989.0369; 1991.0808; 1993.0032; and 1999.0148.

"
Provenance:
The collection was purchased through an appropriation of Congress in 1988.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the original and master audiovisual materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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.

Copyright restrictions. Consult the Archives Center at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Paul Ellington, executor, is represented by:

Richard J.J. Scarola, Scarola Ellis LLP, 888 Seventh Avenue, 45th Floor, New York, New York 10106. Telephone (212) 757-0007 x 235; Fax (212) 757-0469; email: rjjs@selaw.com; www.selaw.com; www.ourlawfirm.com.
Occupation:
Composers -- 20th century  Search this
Topic:
Big bands  Search this
Pianists  Search this
Bandsmen -- 20th century  Search this
Jazz -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Musicians -- 20th century  Search this
Music -- Performance  Search this
African American entertainers -- 20th century  Search this
African Americans -- History  Search this
Popular music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
African American musicians  Search this
Genre/Form:
Phonograph records
Papers
Photographic prints
Posters
Sound recordings
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Music -- Manuscripts
Clippings
Awards
Audiotapes
Citation:
Duke Ellington Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0301
See more items in:
Duke Ellington Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep850a376a1-6b6d-48bc-9076-cffef76fea2c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0301
Online Media:

Blues people Negro music in white America by LeRoi Jones

Author:
Baraka, Amiri 1934-  Search this
Physical description:
xii, 244 pages 22 cm
Type:
Music
Musique
Annotations (Provenance)
Criticism, interpretation, etc
jazz
Jazz
Place:
États-Unis
United States
USA
Date:
1963
20th century
Topic:
African Americans  Search this
African Americans--Music--History and criticism  Search this
Blues (Music)  Search this
Blues (Music)--History and criticism  Search this
Jazz  Search this
Jazz--History and criticism  Search this
African Americans--History  Search this
Black musicians  Search this
Black or African American  Search this
Blues  Search this
Noirs américains  Search this
African American  Search this
African Americans--Music  Search this
Afroamerikanische Musik  Search this
Geschichte  Search this
Zwarten  Search this
Civilization  Search this
African American influences  Search this
Civilisation  Search this
Influence noire américaine  Search this
Call number:
ML3556 .J77
ML3556.J77
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_10148

Dan Emmett and the rise of early Negro minstrelsy

Author:
Nathan, Hans 1910-  Search this
Subject:
Emmett, Daniel Decatur 1815-1904  Search this
Emmett, Daniel Decatur  Search this
Physical description:
xiv, 496 pages illustrations, facsimiles 25 cm
Type:
Biography
Music
Biographies
Musique
Songs
Minstrel music
Musique de minstrel show
Place:
United States
États-Unis
Date:
1962
19th century
To 1901
19e siècle
Jusqu'à 1901
Topic:
African American composers  Search this
African Americans  Search this
African Americans--Music--History and criticism  Search this
Blackface entertainers  Search this
Blackface--History  Search this
Minstrel shows  Search this
Minstrel shows--History  Search this
Popular music  Search this
Racism against Black people--History  Search this
Blackface (Artistes du spectacle)  Search this
Blackface--Histoire  Search this
Compositeurs noirs américains  Search this
Musique populaire  Search this
Noirs américains--Musique--Histoire et critique  Search this
Noirs américains  Search this
Racisme à l'égard des personnes noires--Histoire  Search this
Spectacles de ménestrels (Théâtre américain)  Search this
Spectacles de ménestrels (Théâtre américain)--Histoire  Search this
Minstrel show  Search this
Musique noire américaine  Search this
Noirs américains dans les arts du spectacle  Search this
Call number:
ML410.E54 N2
ML410.E54N2
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_9032

Shakespeare and music by Edward W. Naylor

Author:
Naylor, Edward W (Edward Woodall) 1867-1934  Search this
Subject:
Shakespeare, William 1564-1616 Knowledge and learning  Search this
Shakespeare, William 1564-1616 Knowledge Music  Search this
Shakespeare, William 1564-1616 Knowledge Music  Search this
Shakespeare, William 1564-1616 Et la musique  Search this
Physical description:
xii, 212 pages illustrations, music 21 cm
Type:
Books
Criticism, interpretation, etc
Music
Musique
Date:
1965
1931
16th century
17th century
16e siècle
17e siècle
Topic:
Music and literature  Search this
Music in literature  Search this
Music--History and criticism  Search this
Musique dans la littérature  Search this
Musique et littérature  Search this
Musique--Histoire et critique  Search this
Learning and scholarship  Search this
Music  Search this
Call number:
ML80.S52 N3 1965
ML80.S52N3 1965
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_9089

A bibliography of North American folklore and folksong

Author:
Haywood, Charles 1904-  Search this
Physical description:
2 volume (xxx, 1301 pages) maps (on lining papers) 25 cm
Type:
Bibliography
Folklore
Music
Bibliographie
Musique
Bibliographies (form)
bibliographies
Bibliographies
Criticism, interpretation, etc
Place:
United States
États-Unis
Amérique du Nord
Date:
1961
Topic:
African American folklore  Search this
African Americans  Search this
African Americans--Bibliography  Search this
African Americans--Music  Search this
African Americans--Music--History and criticism  Search this
Folk songs  Search this
Folk songs--Bibliography  Search this
Folk songs--History and criticism  Search this
Folklore  Search this
Folklore--Bibliography  Search this
Indians of North America--Bibliography  Search this
Music  Search this
Indians of North America--Music--History and criticism  Search this
Chansons folkloriques  Search this
Chansons folkloriques--Bibliographie  Search this
Chansons folkloriques--Histoire et critique  Search this
Folklore--Bibliographie  Search this
Noirs américains  Search this
Noirs américains--Bibliographie  Search this
Peuples autochtones--Bibliographie  Search this
71.55 folklore: general  Search this
African Americans--Folklore  Search this
Indians of North America  Search this
Indians of North America--Music  Search this
Iwi taketake  Search this
Volkskunst  Search this
Volksmuziek  Search this
Call number:
Z5984.U5 H42 1961
Z5984.U5H42 1961
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_9161

Music in Aztec & Inca territory

Author:
Stevenson, Robert Murrell  Search this
Physical description:
xi, 378 pages music 27 cm
Type:
Music
Criticism, interpretation, etc
Date:
1968
Topic:
Aztecs  Search this
Aztecs--Music--History and criticism  Search this
Incas  Search this
Incas--Music--History and criticism  Search this
Aztèques--Musique--Histoire et critique  Search this
Incas--Musique--Histoire et critique  Search this
Aztecs--Music  Search this
Incas--Music  Search this
Musica (Mexico)  Search this
Call number:
ML3549 .S84
ML3549.S84
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_9197

Songs of the American West Compiled and edited by Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer, & David Cohen. Drawings by Steven M. Johnson

Compiler:
Lingenfelter, Richard E.,  Search this
Cohen, David 1942-  Search this
Dwyer, Richard A.,  Search this
Physical description:
1 score (xii, 595 pages) illustrations 29 cm
Type:
Scores
Songs and music
Chansons folkloriques
Folk music
Folk songs
Music
Musique notée
Musique
Notated music
Partitions (Musique)
Songs
Place:
West (U.S.)
West United States
Date:
1968
Topic:
Folk music  Search this
Folk songs, English  Search this
Call number:
M1629 .L75
M1629.L75
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_9231

A year from Monday new lectures and writings

Author:
Cage, John  Search this
Physical description:
x, 167 pages 25 cm
Type:
Books
Music
Musique
Date:
1967
Topic:
Music  Search this
Musique  Search this
Music--Philosophy and aesthetics  Search this
Call number:
N40.1.C127 A1
N40.1.C127A1
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_9591

Mablick, Serpentine, Welcome Back Rain in Banana

Artist:
Schieve, Catherine, 1956-  Search this
Collection Creator:
Asch, Moses  Search this
Distler, Marian, 1919-1964  Search this
Folkways Records  Search this
Extent:
1 Sound recording (sound-tape reel, analog, 7 in.)
Type:
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Music
Local Numbers:
FW-ASCH-7RR-1423
Participant or Performer Note:
Catherine Schieve and Gene Menger
General:
scripts and letter from Barton McLean, 6-25-80

CDR copy
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. No duplication allowed listening and viewing for research purposes only.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Genre/Form:
Music
Collection Citation:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
CFCH.ASCH, Item FW-ASCH-7RR-1423
See more items in:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection
Moses and Frances Asch Collection / Series 9: Audio Recordings / Open Reel Tapes
Archival Repository:
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5e5a0f729-0e8e-414e-a9d8-2f7e12b84a9f
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-cfch-asch-ref19901

Orchestral Compositions

Composer:
Hovhaness, Alan, 1911-2000  Search this
Collection Creator:
Asch, Moses  Search this
Distler, Marian, 1919-1964  Search this
Folkways Records  Search this
Extent:
3 Phonograph records (analog, 78 rpm, 10 in.)
Type:
Archival materials
Phonograph records
Music
Date:
1947
Contents:
Lousadzak : The coming of light : concerto no. 1 for piano and string orchestra, imitating the tar, kanoon, oud, and saz -- Tzaikerk : Evening song.
Local Numbers:
FW-ASCH-78-2993

Disc
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
New York Disc 1947
Participant or Performer Note:
Maro Ajemian, piano, orchestra, Alan Hovhaness, conductor (in the 1st work) ; Anahid Ajemian, violin, Phillip Kaplan, flute, [Saul Goodman, timpani], orchestra, Alan Hovhaness, conductor (in the 2nd work).
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. No duplication allowed listening and viewing for research purposes only.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Genre/Form:
Music
Collection Citation:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
CFCH.ASCH, Item FW-ASCH-78-2993
See more items in:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection
Moses and Frances Asch Collection / Series 9: Audio Recordings / 78 RPM
Archival Repository:
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk507b97eed-f244-4c6f-ab5a-326dd48de494
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-cfch-asch-ref23835

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16

Creator:
Grieg, Edvard, 1843-1907  Search this
Collection Creator:
Asch, Moses  Search this
Distler, Marian, 1919-1964  Search this
Folkways Records  Search this
Extent:
1 Sound recording (sound-tape reel, analog, 7 in.)
Type:
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Music
Local Numbers:
FW-ASCH-7RR-4216
General:
CDR copy; in DAMS system; digitized by Elizabeth Hambleton, 6/4/2013
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. No duplication allowed listening and viewing for research purposes only.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Genre/Form:
Music
Collection Citation:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
CFCH.ASCH, Item FW-ASCH-7RR-4216
See more items in:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection
Moses and Frances Asch Collection / Series 9: Audio Recordings / CD / CDR copy
Archival Repository:
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk58b2d3d3d-c390-4dbb-b1bb-4a64c6b4b1ab
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-cfch-asch-ref25902

Funeral, Igbo-Ora, Nigeria

Photographer:
Houlberg, Marilyn  Search this
Collection Photographer:
Houlberg, Marilyn  Search this
Extent:
1 Slides (photographs) (col., 35mm.)
Culture:
Yoruba (African people)  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Music
Color slides
Place:
Nigeria
Africa
Date:
1970
Scope and Contents:
Original title reads,"R6-5, Igbo-Ora funeral."
Local Numbers:
R6-5
General:
Title source: Marilyn Houlberg and EEPA staff based on slide information
Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. Email: elisofonarchives@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Topic:
Rites and ceremonies -- Africa  Search this
Clothing and dress -- Africa  Search this
Mod. architecture/cityscape -- Photographs  Search this
Musical instruments  Search this
Cultural landscapes  Search this
Genre/Form:
Music
Color slides
Collection Citation:
Marilyn Houlberg Nigeria Collection, EEPA 2005-002, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
EEPA.2005-002, Item EEPA 2005-0002-00220
See more items in:
Marilyn Houlberg Nigeria collection
Marilyn Houlberg Nigeria collection / Series 2: Egungun Festivals / Egungun
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo7559b202c-badb-480e-a72b-d765ed446129
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-eepa-2005-002-ref1238

Rez metal inside the Navajo Nation heavy metal scene Ashkan Soltani Stone and Natale A. Zappia ; all photos by Ashkan Soltani Stone

Author:
Soltani Stone, Ashkan  Search this
Zappia, Natale A.,  Search this
Physical description:
1 online resource (xi, 93 pages) illustrations
Type:
Music
Electronic books
Place:
Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah
Date:
2020
Topic:
Heavy metal (Music)  Search this
Navajo Indians  Search this
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies  Search this
Call number:
E99.N3 S655 2020 (Internet)
Restrictions & Rights:
3-user
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1153342

Eubie Blake Letter and Music Manuscripts

Composer:
Blake, Eubie (James Herbert), 1883-1983  Search this
Donor:
Dwyer, Lawrence  Search this
Extent:
0.15 Cubic feet (1 folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Music
Correspondence
Date:
1969 - 1969
Summary:
Collection consists of one letter and six music manuscripts by James H. "Eubie" Blake.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of one handwritten letter by Eubie Blake to Professor John Garvey, director of the University of Illinois Jazz Band, dated August 3, 1969. There are five undated manuscripts in Blake's hand of his arangements for the songs Manda, Poor Archie, Brittwood Rag, March of the Senegalese, and the W.C. Handy song, Yellow Dog Blues. In the letter Blake requests that Garvey, when playing any of these songs (for which he enclosed the manuscripts,) please mention his (Blake's) name as the arranger.

In the letter Blake also mentions Here Tis, but that manuscript was not included in this donation.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged in one series.

Series 1: Letter and Music Manuscripts, 1969
Biographical / Historical:
James Herbert "Eubie" Blake, noted ragtime pianist, was born February 7, 1883 in Baltimore, Maryland. Some government records show his birth year as 1887. His parents Emily "Emma" Johnston and James Sumner Blake had formerly been enslaved. Blake was their only child to live to maturity. Blake learned to play the pump organ and the piano while still a young child. Blake began his career as a pianist, songwriter, and arranger in 1915 in Baltimore playing piano in Aggie Shelton's bordello. He formed a songwritng partnership with Noble Sissle in 1915. In 1921, their musical Shuffle Along became a hit on Broadway and ran for fourteen months. Blake's career spanned his entire life. Perhaps his most recognizable song, I'm Just Wild About Harry, is considered a standard of the American musical canon. His life was the subject of the Broadway musical, Eubie, that premiered in 1978.

Blake married twice first to Avis Elizabeth Cecelia Lee (1881-1939) the daughter of Lawrence and Florence Lee. After her death from tuberculosis in March 1939, Blake married Marion Gant Tyler (1896-1982), widow of Willie Tyler, violinist, and daughter of James H. Gant and Nattie Thomas, on December 27, 1945 in Norfolk, Virginia. Marion acted as his business manager until her death.

Blake died in Brooklyn, New York, on 1983 February 12. He and Marion are both buried in Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.

Sources

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, page 114. Death certificate for Avis Blake, dated 1939, New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database Family Search, accessed July 5, 2019

Certificate of Marriage for James Hubert Blake and Marion Louise Gant, dated 1945 December 27, Virginia Marriage Certificates, 1936-1988, Family Search, accessed July 5, 2019
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution by Lawrence Dwyer in 2016.
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.
Topic:
Arrangement (Music)  Search this
Jazz  Search this
Genre/Form:
Manuscripts -- Music -- 1960-1970
Music -- Manuscripts
Correspondence -- 1960-1970
Citation:
Eubie Blake Letter and Music Manuscripts, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1400
See more items in:
Eubie Blake Letter and Music Manuscripts
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep89742b2ae-423b-45b2-b29f-5cba8c7594b8
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1400

Clotilde Arias Papers

Topic:
Star-spangled banner (Song)
Donor:
Arias, Roger  Search this
Creator:
United States. Dept. of State  Search this
Arias, Clotilde, 1901-1959  Search this
Thompson, J. Walter (advertising agency).  Search this
Extent:
3 Cubic feet (8 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Immigration records
Music
Contracts
Correspondence
Compact discs
Scrapbooks
Sheet music
Parts (musical)
Songbooks
Photographs
Commercial art
Date:
1919-1957
2009
Summary:
This collection documents the life and career of Peruvian musician, composer, and translator Clotilde Arias. Her work includes a Department of State-commissioned translation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" titled "El Pendón Estrellado", advertising jingles, original compositions, and translations of music originally written in English. She also was heavily involved in numerous Pan-American organizations including La Unión de Mujeres Americanas/United American Women.This collection contains correspondence, music manuscripts, photographs,newspaper clippings and printed materials, and four compact discs.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the life and career of Clotilde Arias, who was chosen by the U.S. State Department to write a Spanish translation to "The Star Spangled Banner," during the years of the Good Neighbor Policy. In addition to materials related to her translation of the National Anthem, entitled "El Pendón Estrellado," the collection includes music manuscripts, lyrics, composition notebooks, parts for instruments, and correspondence with the State Department. This collection also contains papers related to Arias's work in advertising, her work as a translator, and her own business records. Personal papers include correspondence, immigration and naturalization documents, printed material, and photographs as well as items from a scrapbook. Also included are compact discs containing images from items in the collection.
Arrangement:
This collection is composed of six series.

Series 1: Personal Papers, 1923-1956

Series 2. Music Materials, 1921-1953

Series 3. "El Pendón Estrellado"/"The Star Spangled Banner," 1919-1954, 2009

Series 4. "Himno de las Américas"/"Hymn of the Americas," 1939-1945

Series 5. Miscellaneous Printed Materials, 1942-1956

Series 6. Photographs and Scrapbook, 1939-1957
Biographical / Historical:
Clotilde Arias was a Peruvian-born musician, composer, and translator who lived in New York City following her migration from Iquitos, Peru, to the United States in the 1920s. Her full name was Maria Clotilde Arias and she briefly took her husband Jose Anduaga's last name during their marriage from 1929 to 1942 but was known most often as Clotilde Arias. With Jose Anduaga, Arias had one son, Roger Arias. While she is known for her Department of State-commissioned translation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" titled "El Pendón Estrellado," Arias worked diligently as a translator and musician in a variety of contexts as well as working with a variety of organizations that promoted Pan-Americanism. Prior to her life in the United States, Arias worked for the Iquitos newspaper El Oriente writing satirical pieces related to local issues. Arias died in 1959 in New York City.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, by Clotilde Arias's son, Roger Arias in 2010.
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.
Occupation:
Composers  Search this
Topic:
Translations  Search this
Translators  Search this
Good neighbor policy  Search this
National songs  Search this
advertising  Search this
Women musicians -- 1930-1950  Search this
Women musicians  Search this
Advertising agencies  Search this
Women in the advertising industry  Search this
Women -- Peru  Search this
Women composers  Search this
Music by women composers  Search this
Women composers -- United States  Search this
Pan-Americanism  Search this
Commercial art  Search this
Jingles (Advertising songs)  Search this
Jingles (Advertising songs) -- Writing and publishing  Search this
Minorities in advertising  Search this
Music in advertising  Search this
Women translators  Search this
Naturalization records  Search this
Genre/Form:
Immigration records
Music -- Manuscripts
Contracts
Correspondence -- 20th century
Compact discs
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Sheet music -- 1920-1960
Parts (musical)
Songbooks
Photographs -- 20th century
Commercial art
Citation:
Clotilde Arias Papers, 1919-1957, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1164
See more items in:
Clotilde Arias Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8ac4199a3-dcfe-4246-bf83-82fa845a0eca
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1164
Online Media:

Bobby Short Papers

Creator:
Short, Bobby  Search this
Names:
Carlyle Hotel New York, New York  Search this
Hildegarde, 1906-2005  Search this
Mercer, Mabel, 1900-1984  Search this
Minnelli, Liza  Search this
Putney, Charles  Search this
Photographer:
Bull, Clarence Sinclair, 1896-1979  Search this
Extent:
13.6 Cubic feet (35 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Clippings
Business records
Music
Contracts
Photographs
Passports
Posters
Scrapbooks
Concert programs
Place:
New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century
Date:
1908-2006
Summary:
Bobby Short was a singer and pianist whose career spanned seven decades. An interpreter of American popular music, he became a performer in childhood and remained active until his death. He is best known for his more than 35 years as performer-in-residence at the Hotel Carlyle's Café Carlyle in New York City. This collection contains personal papers and photographs as well as business papers, musical materials and photographs relating to Mr. Short's career as a performing artist.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of personal materials relating to Mr. Short's childhood, family, and friends as well as business materials relating to his career as a performer. These include photographs, correspondence, business documents, periodicals, musical materials, manuscripts and awards. Most of the material is arranged chronologically. The container list is detailed as to the type and date of the materials.

Series 1, Personal Materials, circa 1908-2005. This series is divided into four Subseries: Early Life in Danville, Illinois; Awards, Honors, and Milestones; Personal Ephemera and Miscellaneous Publications; and Original Artworks owned by Bobby Short. Subseries 1 includes poems written in childhood and two high school annuals. Subseries 2 includes numerous citations and awards as well as three Grammy nominations. Subseries 4 contains small prints and sketches as well as larger works by various artists.

Series 2, Correspondence, circa 1950-2005. This Series is divided into three Subseries: Personal Correspondence; Correspondence with Celebrities and Notable People; and Business Correspondence and Related Materials. The material is arranged chronologically. The material in Subseries 1 and 2 consists of letters, telegrams, invitations, and notes.

Series 3, Photographs, circa 1908-2005. This Series is divided into six Subseries: With and of Family and Friends; With Celebrities and Notable People; Other Performers, Notable People, and Autographed; In Performance; Publicity, Fashion, and Advertising; and Photographs of Artworks Depicting Bobby Short.

Subseries 1 contains a number of early family photographs and early photographs of Bobby Short. Subseries 1 and 3 include photographs by Carl Van Vechten. Subseries 1 and 5 include photographs by Horst, Hurrell, and Scavullo. Subseries 4 contains photographs of Bobby Short in performance, both alone and with others.

Series 4, Contracts and Related Documents, 1953-2005. This series is divided into six Subseries: Appearances in the United States and Foreign Countries; Film, Radio and Television Appearances; Recording Contracts, Royalty Statements and Related Materials; Print, Radio and Television Advertising; Licensing Proposals; and Union and Labor Department Documents.

Subseries 1 is arranged as follows: Hotel Carlyle Contracts; United States Contracts arranged alphabetically by state. These are followed by foreign contracts arranged alphabetically by name of country. Subseries 2 is arranged as follows: contracts and related materials for radio appearances, television appearances and appearances in films. Subseries 3 consists of recording contracts and royalty statements arranged chronologically and by company. Subseries 4, 5, and 6 are arranged chronologically.

Series 5, Programs, Publicity, and Promotion, 1956-1996. This series is divided into three Subseries: Programs for Performances by Bobby Short; Newspaper Clippings and Magazines; and Promotional Materials.

Subseries 1 consists primarily of programs for performances at concert halls. Subseries 2 consists largely of newspaper and entertainment magazine notices from the 1950s and 1960s. Subseries 3 includes flyers, announcements and table cards.

Series 6, Special Events, 1963-2003. This series consists of materials relating to special events such as charity benefits and anniversary celebrations at which Short performed or was otherwise involved. Several of these events benefited the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Series 7, Musical Materials, circa 1920s-1995. This series consists of a variety of materials relating to music; publications, sheet music, lyrics, recording contracts, album covers, and two 45 rpm recordings. Song lists, discographies, and articles about music are included.

Series 8, Theatrical Productions as Producer or Investor, 1979-1988 This series consists of contracts and performance materials for productions for which Bobby Short acted as a producer and/or investor. Programs, correspondence, and publicity materials are included; also partnership documents and financial statements.

Series 9, Manuscripts, Research, and Publishing Materials, circa 1954-1997. This series is arranged in two Subseries: Writings: Bobby Short; Writings: Others.

Subseries 1 includes a partial manuscript for Black and White Baby and research and other materials for a proposed volume, Black Lady Singers, that was not written. Subseries 2 consists of miscellaneous writings by others including a partial script for a play, Tinsel Town, and a film script, Johnny Twennies.
Arrangement:
The papers are arranged in nine series

Series 1, Personal Materials, circa 1908-2005

Subseries 1, Early Life in Danville, Illinois, 1924-1942

Subseries 2, Awards, Honors and Milestones, 1964-2005

Subseries 3, Personal Ephemera and Miscellaneous Publications, 1937-2002

Subseries 4, Original Artworks Owned by Bobby Short, 1841-1990s

Series 2, Correspondence, circa 1938-2005

Subseries 1, Personal Correspondence, 1950s-2004

Subseries 2, Correspondence with Celebrities and Notable People, 1962-2004

Subseries 3, Business Correspondence and Related materials, 1938-2005

Series 3, Photographs, circa 1908-2005

Subseries 1, With and of Family and Friends, circa 1908-2005

Subseries 2, With Celebrities and Notable People, circa 1953-1990s

Subseries 3, Other Performers, Notable People, and Autographed, circa 1920s-1990s

Subseries 4, In Performance and Related Subjects, circa 1940s-2001

Subseries 5, Publicity, Fashion, and Advertising, circa 1930s-2000s

Subseries 6, Photographs of Artworks Depicting Bobby Short, circa 1960s-1990s

Series 4, Contracts and Related Documents, circa 1953-2005

Subseries 1, Appearances in the United States and Foreign Countries, circa 1953-2005

Subseries 2, Radio, Television, and Film Appearances, 1978-2000

Subseries 3, Recording Contracts, Royalty Statements and Related Materials, 1955-2003

Subseries 4, Print, Radio and Television Advertising, 1976-1997

Subseries 5, Licensing Proposals, 1984-2000

Subseries 6, Union and Labor Department Documents, 1981-2005

Series 5, Programs, Publicity, and Promotion, 1956-1996

Subseries 1, Programs for Performances by Bobby Short

Subseries 2, Newspaper Clippings and Magazines

Subseries 3, Promotional Materials

Series 6, Special Events, 1963-2003

Series 7, Musical Materials, circa 1920-1995

Series 8, Theatrical Productions as Producer or Investor, 1979-1988

Series 9, Manuscripts, Research, And Publishing Materials, circa 1954-1997

Subseries 1, Writings: Bobby Short

Subseries 2, Writings: Others
Biographical / Historical:
Bobby Short (Robert Waltrip Short) was born to Rodman and Myrtle Short on September 15, 1924, in Danville, Illinois. He was one of six surviving children. As part of the town's relatively small African American community, the Short family maintained a middle-class standard of living, even during the Great Depression. Rodman Short pursued several occupations but spent most of his life as a coal miner in West Virginia and was seldom at home. Myrtle Short, a domestic worker, was a fastidious housekeeper who expected a high standard of deportment in her children. In Bobby Short's first memoir, Black and White Baby, he wrote: "Except for our color, we conformed in almost every degree to the image of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant-in our manners, our mores, and our way of life." Music was an important part of that life; many members of the extended family played instruments or sang, some professionally. Short first played a song by ear at the family upright piano when he was four years old and began his life-long love affair with words and music. Church, school, vaudeville, and minstrel shows provided his earliest musical influences and repertoire; his innate musicality and enthusiasm enabled him to become a skilled performer at an early age. By the time he was ten years old, he was playing and singing in local night spots and as far away as Indianapolis. At twelve, he was playing in vaudeville, at times billed as "the Miniature King of Swing." At thirteen, he returned to Danville, attended high school, and after graduating in 1942, left his home town to begin his professional life in earnest.

Short spent the 1940s and early 1950s as an increasingly successful entertainer in sophisticated night clubs and jazz venues in Chicago and other Midwestern cities, California, and New York, as well as Paris and London. While his early repertoire featured novelty songs and boogie-woogie, as he matured he embraced the standards of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and other notable composers and song writers. He enthusiastically promoted the work of African American composers such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and Andy Razaf. His encyclopedic knowledge of popular songs, both the well-known and the obscure, gave his performances a freshness that delighted his audiences.

In 1956, Short moved to New York City, taking up residence in a Carnegie Hall studio apartment. His career as a "saloon singer" (his words) continued in New York and in frequent visits to the Midwest and California. He appeared in theatrical roles and began recording for Atlantic Records. In 1968 his concert at Carnegie Hall with Mabel Mercer led to his engagement at the intimate Café Carlyle at the Hotel Carlyle. He remained there, playing for six months of the year, for the rest of his life. His performances at the Carlyle made him a darling of society and an icon of sophisticated New York style. In the early 1970s his album "Bobby Short Loves Cole Porter" introduced him to a larger audience; he published his first memoir, Black and White Baby, in 1971.

Short recorded numerous albums, earning several Grammy nominations. He appeared on radio and television, occasionally acted on stage and was seen in small roles in several films. He produced "Black Broadway," a theatrical review featuring many veteran performers he had long revered; he was instrumental in the revival of Alberta Hunter's career. Four Presidents--Nixon, Carter, Clinton and Reagan--invited him to perform at the White House. When he was not at the Café Carlyle, he traveled extensively in the United States and abroad, appearing in both night clubs and symphony halls. Success enabled him to purchase a villa in the south of France. His second memoir, Bobby Short, the Life and Times of a Saloon Singer, was published in 1995. Short earned many awards and honors during his lengthy career and was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 1999. He died in New York on March 21, 2005.

Sources: Short, Bobby. Black and White Baby, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company,1971. Short, Bobby (with Robert Mackintosh). Bobby Short, the Life and Times of a Saloon Singer, New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1995.
Related Materials:
Objects (2006.0071): awards, clothing, medals, and a music portfolio, including thirteen sound recordings (1984.0134), are housed in the Division of Music, Sports, and Entertainment (now Division of Cultural and Community Life), National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Provenance:
Bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution by Bobby Short.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow. Researchers must use photocopies of scrapbooks due to the fragility of the originals, unless special access is approved.

Technical Access: Listening to sound recordings requires special appointment; please inquire.
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.
Topic:
Entertainment  Search this
Works of art  Search this
African American entertainers -- 20th century  Search this
Vaudeville  Search this
Pianists  Search this
Nightclubs  Search this
Popular music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Musicians -- 20th century  Search this
Music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Genre/Form:
Correspondence -- 20th century
Clippings
Business records -- 20th century
Music -- Manuscripts
Contracts
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 20th century
Passports
Posters
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Concert programs
Citation:
Bobby Short Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0946
See more items in:
Bobby Short Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep82bf0cb88-a022-4ff9-bc01-f891d61c9ed7
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0946
Online Media:

Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone papers

Creator:
Sarchiapone, Cosmos Andrew, 1931-2011  Search this
Names:
Parsons School of Design -- Faculty  Search this
Push Pin Studios  Search this
School of Visual Arts (New York, N.Y.) -- Faculty  Search this
Arbus, Diane, 1923-1971  Search this
Cage, John, 1912-1992  Search this
Glaser, Milton  Search this
Hay, Alex  Search this
Huebler, Douglas  Search this
Israel, Marvin  Search this
Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this
Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923-  Search this
Scull, Robert C.  Search this
Sonneman, Eve  Search this
Extent:
49.2 Linear feet
0.367 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Drawings
Ephemera
Illustrations
Music
Photocopies
Photographs
Posters
Prints
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Place:
New York (State) -- New York City -- Photographs
Date:
circa 1860-2011
bulk 1940-2011
Summary:
The papers of New York City photographer, conceptual artist, and musical composer Cosmos Sarchiapone measure 49.2 linear feet and 0.367 GB and date from circa 1860-2011, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1940-2011. The collection includes biographical material and personal business records; correspondence; extensive writings, including written and recorded music compositions; teaching files; printed material and published sound and video recordings; photographic material; artwork; artifacts; and unpublished sound recordings and born-digital material. Highlights of the collection are more than 40,000 photographic images documenting New York's avant-garde art scene of the 1970s, along with celebrity parties, concerts, exhibition openings and other occasions in the art, music, and theater world. Extensive and somewhat rare printed materials offer users a visual chronical of the downtown art world in the form of posters from the 1970s, including a number of Milton Glaser's, and hundreds of exhibition announcements, theater programs, and playbills.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York City photographer, conceptual artist, and musical composer Cosmos Sarchiapone measure 49.2 linear feet and 0.367 GB and date from circa 1860-2011, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1940-2011. The collection includes biographical material and personal business records; correspondence; extensive writings, including written and recorded music compositions; teaching files; printed material and published sound and video recordings; photographic material; artwork; artifacts; and unpublished sound recordings and born-digital material. Highlights of the collection are more than 40,000 photographic images documenting New York's avant-garde art scene of the 1970s, along with celebrity parties, concerts, exhibition openings and other occasions in the art, music, and theater world. Extensive and somewhat rare printed materials offer users a visual chronical of the downtown art world in the form of posters from the 1970s, including a number of Milton Glaser's, and hundreds of exhibition announcements, theater programs, and playbills.

Biographical material and personal business records include address books, calendars, legal paperwork, life documents, resumes, and other material. Correspondence is both personal and professional in nature. Personal correspondence is between Cosmos and friends, family, and pen pals. Professional correspondence is with curators, publishers, and estates and mostly concerns Cosmos's artwork, photographs, or objects he lent for exhibition or publication.

Writings include general writings and notes, including a book layout for a book never realized; fifteen notebooks containing Cosmos's writings about projects, dreams, and miscellany; music compositions in both written form and on sound recordings; and scattered writings by others, including manuscripts and theater scripts.

Teaching files document photography courses taught by Cosmos at the School of Visual Arts in 1974-1976, and the Parsons School of Design in 1980.

Printed materials and commercially published sound and video recordings in the collection are extensive and reflect Cosmos's unique interests and inspirations, and his tendency to save and collect material discarded or rejected by others. There are books and periodicals featuring Cosmos's work, annotated by Cosmos, or of special significance to Cosmos. There is also a list of books in Cosmos's library. Some of the periodicals concern Push Pin Studios and Milton Glaser. There is a large group of ephemera, such as announcements, catalogs, press releases, programs, playbills, posters, and assorted items covering several decades of New York exhibitions, events, concerts, and performances. There are posters for exhibitions, events, performances, film screenings, and concerts. Some of the clippings and other ephemera may have been removed from scrapbooks or other compilations, and some remain collated and mounted on mat board. Some of the printed materials may have been used by Cosmos as source materials.

Photographic material makes up a significant portion of the collection (14.5 linear feet), and illustrates the breadth of Cosmos's documentation of New York City, capturing the avant-garde art and theater worlds, the people and streets, self-portraits, and numerous other subjects. There are images of named people and people at parties, of exhibitions and performances, of New York City streets and buildings, of a more personal and family nature, of artwork, and of miscellaneous subjects. There are also collected photographs, some of which are vintage. There is a large group of unidentified and unsorted negatives, slides, and contact sheets. Where they existed, labeling and descriptive notes have been preserved with the unidentified materials.

Artwork is also quite extensive (10.5 linear feet) and found in a variety of genre, format, and media. There is also a small subseries of artwork by others. One group of artwork consists of titled or named art projects and series, often executed in the form of series that spanned decades. This group includes Cosmos's Reciprocal project that incorporated his photographic work. For this project, he would photograph notable figures, including John Cage, Robert Scull, and others, and ask them to photograph him. There are also several folders of Cosmos's work focusing on photographer Diane Arbus.

A group of artwork identified as "compilations" consist primarily of photocopies of compiled presentations of documents, photographs, fragments, writings, drawings, printed materials and ephemera, and bits and pieces of Cosmos's titled work. These compilations were prepared by Cosmos for individuals in the art world to whom he was close. The original compilations were then photocopied and presented to the intended receiver. The subseries of compilations contains both originals and photocopied versions that do not always correlate with one another. Also found among the artwork are drawings, illustrations, a few paintings, collages, and sketchbooks by Cosmos. Artwork by others includes an artist book, drawings, a sketchbook, and prints by Milton Glaser, Alex Hay, Douglas Huebler, Marvin Israel, Ray Johnson, Ellsworth Kelly, and Eve Sonneman.

Found within the collection are three dimensional artifacts, including eight cameras and other items Cosmos saved and collected to incorporate into his photographs.

There is a large series of unpublished sound recordings and born-digital material, some of which is clearly identified and labeled, and some of which is unidentified. When known, labeling has been incorporated into the folder titles in the container inventory. Users should note that sound recordings that were clearly identified and associated with other projects were arranged in context with those related materials.

Printed material (series 5), photographic material (series 6), and artwork (series 7), include many photocopies. Cosmos used the photocopy process to make copies of his work to share with others, and as a creative form of art in itself, experimenting with tonality, collage, and the degeneration of images from repeated copying. Photocopies were also made of articles, newspapers, and various source material and ephemera that he collected. Many photocopies have descriptive labeling on the back. For some photographs and projects, photocopies are the only form of documentation located in the collection.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nine series

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material and Personal Business Records, circa 1949-2011 (1 linear foot; Box 1, 44, OV 49)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1940s-2011 (.7 linear feet; Box 1-2)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1947-2000s (4.2 linear feet; Box 2-6, 44, OV 50-51)

Series 4: Teaching Files, 1970s-1980s (1.9 linear feet; Box 6-8, 44, OV 52)

Series 5: Printed Material, Published Sound, Video Recordings, 1894-2000s (8.3 linear feet; Box 8-13, 44-45, OV 53-73, RD 105)

Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1860-2000s, bulk 1970-2010 (14.5 linear feet; Box 14-26, 46-47, OV 74-80)

Series 7: Artwork, 1947-2000s (10.5 linear feet; Box 27-34, 47-48, OV 81-104)

Series 8: Artifacts, 1960s-2000s (1.5 linear feet; Box 34-35)

Series 9: Sound Recordings and Born-Digital Material, 1950s-2000s (6.6 linear feet; Box 36-43, 0.367 GB; ER01-ER02)
Biographical / Historical:
Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone (1931-2011) was a documentary photographer, musical composer, and conceptual artist who worked in New York City.

Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone was named Cosime Sarchiapone at birth, and was also known as Cosmos, Cosmos Savage, and Richard Savage. His parents, Lois and Aldo, had seven children, including twins Cosmos and Damian. Born in Manhattan, Cosmos graduated from the La Guardia High School of Music and Art in New York City in 1948 and from Syracuse University in 1958 with a concentration in music composition and studio art. After college, he studied musical composition with John Cage at the New School in 1961, art history with Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University from 1963-1965, illustration with Marvin Israel from 1966-1971, design with Milton Glaser from 1968-1973, and photography with Diane Arbus from 1970-1971. He taught photography at the School of Visual Arts from 1974-1976, and at Parsons School of Design in 1980. In the early 1970s, he led experimental theater workshops at Columbia-Barnard University.

Between 1968-1969, Cosmos worked with Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast at their Push Pin Studios, a graphic design and illustration studio.

Sometime between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Cosmos began photographing New York City, capturing the art and theater worlds, the people and streets, self-portraits, and numerous other subjects. As a freelance photographer for New York magazine (founded by Milton Glaser) and other mass-market publications, Cosmos photographed Andy Warhol and his circle, Halloween parties at the Waldorf, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon convention, the Jesus Joy Jubilee at Carnegie Hall, the Beat Poets' reunion and private parties attended by Hollywood actors and directors, often capturing the overlapping worlds of art, movies and music. Cosmos's photographs have been published in numerous books and publications. His work was featured in several exhibitions in the 1970s, including shows at the Jamie Gallery, the Fine Arts Building, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. But he created the bulk of his work for himself and much of it remains unpublished.

Throughout the 1970s, Cosmos documented the avant-garde art scene in New York City. He captured performances at The Kitchen and La Mama, the offices of New York magazine and Push Pin Studios, Tom O'Horgan's Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, and much more. He photographed performances and installations at 112 Greene Street in SoHo, an interdisciplinary art space that nurtured the experiments of a number of now significant American artists, dancers and musicians, including Chris Burden, Vito Acconci, Suzanne Harris and Phillip Glass, all of whom were photographed by Cosmos. He also photographed numerous images of 112 Greene Street's sister space, Matta-Clark's FOOD, an artist-run eatery at the corner of Prince and Wooster Streets where exotic meals were offered up as both performance art and nourishment. Cosmos used his camera as a way to get close to artists he admired, including Diane Arbus, Milton Glaser, and Marvin Israel.

According to Milton Glaser, "Cosmos was a brilliant photographer who was never without a camera….He was always everywhere. In terms of documentation of that period, there was no one like him."

Cosmos often incorporated aspects of his photography into conceptual art pieces, including two serial works that Cosmos made from fragments of Diane Arbus' discarded photographs, transforming her iconic work. Many of Cosmos's conceptual art pieces often took the form of a series, and were continuously revisited. In Reciprocal, Cosmos photographed figures—including those he admired like John Cage, Meyer Schapiro, Robert Scull, and others—then asked each to photograph him. Many of Cosmos's art projects were based in photographic documentation of his "performances", as in Sheet Music, where he is seen tearing a white sheet outside Bloomingdale's during the 'white sale.' Cosmos's convictions about smoking, its hazards, and the nefarious actions of tobacco companies led to several related projects, among them, Photo Arrest, where Cosmos captured on camera people smoking illegally in hospitals, classrooms, grocery stores, and elevators.

Cosmos created scores for plays and dance performances, including Churchyard by the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1970, and numerous Off-Off Broadway theater productions in the 1960s. He wrote an opera, Vox Humana #3. The opera is about three heroines of history: Antigone, Joan of Arc, and Patty Hearst, and synthesizes a variety of media, including music composition, stage direction, and video (Patty Hearst in Chains), into a four hour performance that was staged at La Mama in 1976 and The Kitchen in 1977.

Cosmos lived at Westbeth Artists' Community from 1970-2011, but had largely withdrawn from the world by the 2000s. Cosmos Sarchiapone died in 2011.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives of American Art in 2015 by Tom Sarchiapone, Cosmos Sarchiapone's brother, via Catherine Morris, curator and friend of Cosmos.
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 copy requires advance notice.
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:
Composers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Art -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Conceptual art  Search this
Music--New York (State)--New York  Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Photography -- Study and teaching  Search this
Photography--New York (State)--New York  Search this
Theater--New York (State)--New York  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Ephemera
Illustrations
Music
Photocopies
Photographs
Posters
Prints
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone papers, circa 1860-2011, bulk 1940-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.sarccosm
See more items in:
Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9bf441ea1-b8c9-46c4-a9ec-01ea133658fb
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-sarccosm
Online Media:

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