Countee Cullen-Harold Jackman memorial collection

The Cullen Jackman Memorial Collection (1881-1995) documents the artistic and creative nature of those of African descent.One interesting feature of this collection is the large number of original manuscripts, poetry and correspondence Harold Jackman managed to obtain. There are such jewels as an original handwritten poem by noted poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar along with an original draft of Giovionni's Room by literary great, James Baldwin. They knew Mr. Jackman throughout Harlem and the artistic world of African Americans where he maintained contact with such noted personalities and scholars as Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, W.C. Handy, Arna Bontemps and most certainly Countee Cullen. The collection contains many of the letters and postcards Harold Jackman received from his colleagues and friends.

The largest series contained in the Cullen Jackman Memorial Collection is the Cultural Productions series. This series is composed of items such as playbills, broadsides and news clippings that document artistic expressions of African Americans, predominately from the 1930's to the late 1950's. There are autographed items by several premier performers in their respective fields. The coverage of the material spans from theatrical and operatic play bills to dance performances and announcements of art exhibits. Here are found autographed playbills from the legendary Marian Anderson, articles on Bill "Mr. Bojangles" Robinson and even a picture program of "Gone With the Wind."

Carl Van Vechten, a noted photographer and collector who claimed a prominent position within the African-American community of celebrities contributed a wealth of photographs to the collection. Most of the people photographed were those influential African Americans who found their way into New York City. There are numerous portraits of people such as Alvin Ailey, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Josephine Baker. The photographs are compiled in two sub series; one being the Carl Van Vechten photographs and the other being publicity shots and film stills by several studios and artists.

Another valuable asset to the Cullen Jackman Memorial Collection is the sheet music representing more than sixty-four years of copyrighted and dated material. There are several of the classics from folk music as well as pieces that were unpublished and handwritten. Coordinating with the rest of the collection, such music and literary legends like W.C. Handy, Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen contributed a significant amount with tunes like "East St. Louis," "To a Brown Girl Dead," and an entire musical, Simply Heavenly, where several scores are included. In this group there is also the Negro National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing”, as well as several famous folk tunes by Pete Seeger like "If I Had a Hammer" (translated into several languages).

A selection of more than ninety audio tapes create an important portion of this collection. Dating between the late 1960's and the 1980's, the cassettes record numerous noted scholars, personalities and conferences. Famous elders such as Pigmeat Markham, Eubie Blake and Butterfly McQueen have been preserved by this collection along with such scholars as Dr. John Henrik Clarke and Amiri Baraka. To illustrate the diversity of these tapes there are recordings of Rev. Jesse Jackson and Andrew Young, representing the political arena. Finally there are several interviews of Ms. Ivie Jackman, the sister of Harold Jackman and the founder of the Harold Jackman Memorial Committee.

The last body of materials are periodicals that range from popular and scholarly journals to newsletters. While a large portion of the periodicals’ content focuses on the arts, there are several sources that cover topics of a more political or historical nature such as The Crisis, The Black Man and The Journal of African History. Periodicals such as Fire serve as primary documentation into the literary and artistic edges of the Harlem Renaissance. There are various newsletters from many artistic organizations like "The Black Theatre Alliance Newsletter" and several bulletins from the Historical Black Colleges and Universities as well as from other noted universities. More recent and popular magazines included are Ebony and Jet Magazine.