Tag: 20th century

Kykunkor Souvenir Program Booklet

Courtesy of the New York Public Library/Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

A booklet from a 1934 musical drama by the Sierra Leonean composer Asadata Dafora.

Creators: Martha Drieblatt

Date of Creation: ca. 1935

Place of origin: New York, New York

Physical measurements: 31 x 23 centimeters, 16 pages

Materials: Paper

Process by which it was made: Printed by Cooper & Aronson

Current location: New York Public Library/Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Further Reading

Heard, Marcia Ethel. “Asadata Dafora: African Concert Dance Traditions in American Concert Dance.” Doctoral dissertation, New York University, 1999.  

New York Public Library. Asadata Dafora Papers Finding Aid.  <http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20812.> Accessed July 12, 2019.

Martin, John. “The Dance: A Revival, ‘Kykunkor’ is Restored to Its Original Form and Excellence – Week’s Programs.” The New York Times, January 13, X, 8, 1935.

Perpener III, John O. “Asadata Dafora,” <https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/themes-essays/african-diaspora/asadata-dafora/.>

Stiehl, Pamyla A. “The Curious Case of Kykunkor: A Dansical/Musical Exploration and Reclamation of Asadata Dafora’s Kykunkor, or the Witch Woman (1934).” Studies in Musical Theatre, 3(2):143-156, 2009.

Information contributed by Amimbola Cole Kai-Lewis.

“A Masterly Trick, or, Chick and the Beautiful Italian”

Courtesy of the Nickels and Dimes Collection, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

A New Nick Carter Weekly dime novel, the third issue in a trilogy focused on a fictional criminal organization called the Black Hand.

Creators: Chick Carter (pseud.), but can be attributed to Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey (1861-1922). John R. Coryell (1851-1924) is the creator of the Nick Carter character.

Date of Creation: August 7, 1909. Reprinted in thick book format with New Magnet Library nos. 718 and 1268 in 1912 and 1929.

Place of origin: New York City

Physical measurements:  31 pages; approx. 5” x 7”.

Materials: Paper, ink

Process by which it was made: Stereotyping

Current location: Northern Illinois University: Nickels and Dimes, From the Collections of Johannesen and LeBlanc.

Information contributed by Nancy Caronia.

“Unwritten History of Slavery”

Table of Contents for the Unwritten History of Slavery: Autobiographical Account of Ex-Negro Slaves (1945), Fisk University Social Science Institute. Image courtesy of Drew University, Madison, New Jersey.

A 1945 collection of interviews with formerly enslaved African Americans.

Creators: Ophelia Settle Egypt, J. Masuoka, Charles S. Johnson

Date of Creation: 1945

Place of origin: Nashville, Tennessee

Physical measurements: 8 inches x 11 inches, 322 pages plus 5-page introductory note and table of contents.

Materials: Paper

Process by which it was made: Printing

Current location: Drew University Library, Madison, NJ.

Further Reading

“NAACP History: Carter G. Woodson.” NAACP.org. Online. https://www.naacp.org/naacp-history-carter-g-woodson/.

Smith, John David, “Dubois and Phillips – Symbolic Antagonists of the Progressive Era.” The Centennial Review 24, no. 1 (Winter 1980): 88-102.

Stevenson, Louise L. “The New Woman, Social Science, and the Harlem Renaissance: Ophelia Settle Egypt as Black Professional.” The Journal of Southern History 77, no. 3 (Aug. 2011): 555-594.

[Woodson, Carter G.], “Book Review: American Negro Slavery by Ulrich Bonnell Phillips.” Journal of Negro History 4, no. 1 (Jan. 1919): 102-103. Online. 

Yetman, Norman R. “Making the Collection Known.” Under Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938. The Library of Congress. Online. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snintro12.html

Information contributed by Anne M. Ricculli.

Trilce

A book by the poet César Vallejo, manufactured by inmate-workers at the Lima penitentiary.

Creators: César Vallejo

Date of Creation: 1922

Place of origin: Lima

Physical measurements: 18.6 x 13 cm; 121 pages.

Materials: Paper and ink

Process by which it was made: Printed

Current location: Numerous copies across various libraries and private collections.

Information contributed by Carlos Aguirre.

Catálogo de Tipos, Orlas y Rayas

Courtesy of Biblioteca Nacional de México.

A catalogue of the printing type at Mexico’s government printing office, created by its workers in 1913.

Creators: Talleres de Imprenta y Fototipía de la Secretaría de Fomento.

Date of Creation: 1913

Place of origin: Mexico City

Physical measurements: 33cm, 106 pages.

Materials: Paper and ink

Process by which it was made: Printed

Current location: Biblioteca Nacional de México

Information contributed by Corinna Zeltsman.

Libreta by Lydia Cabrera

Courtesy of the Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries

A handwritten text that contains religious information from not just the Lucumí religion, but also the Congolese Palo Monte tradition, and the Dahomean/Beninois-derived religion known as Arará.

Creators: Lydia Cabrera

Date of Creation: ca. 1950

Place of origin: USA

Physical measurements: 3 5/8” x 5 1/2,″ 100 pages.

Materials: Notebook with printed, illustrated cover.

Process by which it was made: Machine-made book with handwritten text and illustrations.

Current location: Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida. Part of the Lydia Cabrera Papers.

Information contributed by Martin Tsang.

Recording Ledgers of the Victor Talking Machine Company

Courtesy of the SONY Archives.

In 1917, the Victor Talking Machine Company sent two of its recording experts on a phonographic expedition through Latin America and the Caribbean. On this ledger, the experts recorded various performers and pieces they encountered.

Creators: George Cheney and Charles Althouse

Date of Creation: 1917

Place of origin: From Camden, NJ to Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and back to Camden, NJ.

Physical measurements: 12″ x 7″, 380 pp.

Materials: Paper, ink

Process by which it was made: Handwriting

Current location: SONY Archives, New York City.

Further Reading

Gronow, Pekka. “The Record Industry: The Growth of a Mass Medium.” Popular Music 3 (1983): 53–75.

Katz, Mark. Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music. Rev. ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.

Schmidt Horning, Susan. Chasing Sound: Technology, Culture, and the Art of Studio Recording from Edison to the LP. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.
Taylor, Timothy D., Mark Katz, and Tony Grajeda, eds. Music, Sound, and Technology in America: A Documentary History of Early Phonograph, Cinema, and Radio. Durham; London: Duke University Press, 2012.

Information contributed by Sergio Ospina Romero.